Stuffing the Pi with the Xian'r

I was getting nervous because I didn’t have any more contact lenses and the window during which I could secure them was closing fast.  I reckoned that the Lens Crafter’s store down in San Li Tun was going to be shut by five or six.  After that, they’ll likely be closed for a week.  That can only mean a rather blurry New Years Holiday season. 

I got there just as I started a client call.  So I walked around, outside, eyeing the store, seeing if the closing hours were listed on the door.  They weren’t and besides, normal rules don’t apply just now.  I decided to march in and grab them, mid-call.  I said: “Uh huh.  Of course”, into the phone and muting, showed her my old box of lenses.  I held up five fingers and she returned with five boxes.  She rang me up and leaving I realized that I had never even looked at the boxes, as I usually would, to confirm that they got the right prescription.  No worries.  They did. 

Now, tonight it’s time to bao jiaozi.  We have a few close guests over.  Two kids are rolling the dough.  The rest of everyone, myself included is stuffing the pi with xian’r.  Nobody except my wife seals them up properly.  Most of them are too full or closed sloppily.   The skin is a bit thick.  But when they're done, nobody really cares. 

After a while I find out that a few of the kids have been baoing Cheetos.  I say: “hey, don’t waste food.”  I feel like an old man who has just yelled “Hey, don’t waste food.”  The first batch of dumplings is out now.  The stuffing is tasty, but as suspected there is too much skin and so I take to just eating just the filling. 

It’s not like being back in Shandong for New Years.  But we’re all enjoying ourselves, staying up to till final hour, to begin the Year of the Rooster.  Someday my girls will teach their kids to bao jiaozi when the season turns.

Friday, 01/27/17