The stage was set. Everyone was dressed in their New Year's best. We were all in our places for the big day. The family photo was actually taken after dinner but I think it's a good way to start this entry. This shows the people we spent the evening with. Julia and her father, Shi Jing, picked us up at about 4:00PM. Two hours earlier than last year. Linda and I had been given special clothes to wear for the occasion. I think you'll agree they look great on us and we look great in them. Of the seven people there, only one was bilingual in any practical sense. Linda and Julia's mom, Sun Limin, communicate some way. I really don't know how women do that but it is really amazing to see. Sitting around was a little nerve wracking for me so I was relieved when we began to make jiǎozi or dumplings.

Shi Jing, Julia's father, made the dough (I think). Then he divided the dough ball into four pieces, rolled out one of the pieces into a long piece of dough and sliced it with the knife. Then he rolled each small piece into a flat round shape and gave them to either his mother or me. We filled the dough with filling and crimped the sides together to form the dumpling. Her's were beautiful, mine needed work. With concentration I could do pretty well, although I am much slower than grandmother.

Shi Jing also made some dumplings. His looked just like his mother's

Meanwhile, in the kitchen - a space that is really too small for 2 people - Linda and Limin worked to prepare the other dishes. There were 9 or 10 dishes this year. Most of them were meat or seafood with one snow pea and one with tofu and vegetables and Kimshi (Korean fermented vegetables). Also Linda brought a couple of dishes as well. Limin had made a soysauce and wasabi mixture that was very strong. She kind of challenged me with the shrimp to take a big swipe of wasabi with the shrimp. She started it so we got into a bit of a competition about who could eat the most wasabi / soysauce with their shrimp. I think she won. The wasabi here is wonderfully strong so the sinus clearning is strong and zesty. After eating and eating (I did try to eat slower this year and more responsibly) the jiǎozi (dumplings) were made and served. The vegetarian ones were good but the ones with pork were outstanding. These are also good with wasabi.

Linda trys her hand at slinging the dish around inside the skillet. This was harder than it looked. The pan is very heavy and you have to throw the food up over itself. I managed to to keep it in the pan but didn't mix it very well. I watched Limin prepare all of the food except the dumplings. Traditionally on Chinese New Year the daughter-in-law cooks all of the food. Shi Jing helped clean up but she did the rest. When we got there she had most of the ingredients chopped or diced setting neatly in bowls. The sesame oil, corn oil, salt, and sechuan spice was handy for adding. You could tell she had done this a time or two. She chopped bamboo to add with a huge cleaver that would've taken a couple fingers if I would have tried. This is what I call real stir-frying using quite a bit of oil though which I don't like to do.
The table set with all the dishes. The shrimp dish is in the middle of the table. If you look closely, you can see the wasabi in the soy sauce.

After dinner we went over to Julia's parents apartment for some karaoke. Julia and her father started off with a duet, then Linda and I sang. Since none of you have ever heard me sing through a microphone, let me assure you that you are lucky. I'm not very good, but I am enthusiastic.
Shi Jing, on the other hand is a very talented singer. His repertrorie is only in Chinese, however.

Toward the end, we were trying to sing We Are The World and I got into some serious lip syncing. Everyone laughed so of course I kept going.
Since it was getting close to midnight, we went driving around the city to find a place to take pictures. We were mostly too far away but I did get a couple to show how smokey it was. From where we were we could turn 360 degrees and see fireworks going off everywhere. I'll do a separate post on that.

This is the end of this adventure. We'll see you all in a few months.