In this case, they divided us up into groups of about eight and shared us among inhabitants of a couple of nearby apartment buildings. Our hostess was Madame Yee:

She was a jolly and efficient person who guided us to the table

and then vanished, only to reappear whenever another dish was ready on her stove, or when she thought we needed a refill:

It turned out that she knew almost no English. Some of the hosts, we heard later, had kids or grandkids at home who knew English; their communication fared a little better. Madame Yee sure can cook, though - she even made us zong-zi, special steamed rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves that are always made for the Dragon Boat Festival!
No comments:
Post a Comment