Saturday, September 4, 2010

Ahhh…Saturday

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It’s the first weekend in September and FINALLY we have a gorgeous day!  It’s a sweet and sunny 79 degrees and ZERO humidity!  Lot’s of college football on the TV to watch and the air conditioning is OFF and the windows are OPEN!  We’ve got the Michigan game to watch this afternoon and North Carolina to watch tonight.

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Last night we went out to dinner for some Asian food at one of our favorite restaurants here in Greensboro called Asian Phoenix.  It serves a variety of Asian food from Chinese and Thai to Japanese and Vietnamese.  A co-worker of my husband’s was in town from China.  His English name was “Tommy” but later in the evening I found out his real name is Tao Lin.  He said that because he works for an American company even though he was Chinese, all the Chinese employees choose an English name.  It was such a pleasure to finally meet the man my husband talks to on the phone most evenings during the week from our house because of the time difference between China and here.  “Tommy” was so kind and polite and was eager to share a photo of his wife and adorable 5 year old daughter with us.  We learned that he was a fan of basketball and Michael Jordan and liked the University of North Carolina because he knew Jordan once played ball there.  During the day before our dinner, I picked up a Carolina baseball hat and a long sleeved T-shirt to give to him as a gift to remember his trip.  He was so sweet and appreciative of the gift but I think it might have embarrassed him a little.  We really just wanted to show him some kindness.  I’ll have my husband try and explain it to him again next time he talks with him. 

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This was his first visit to the USA.  Last week he was in Harrisburg PA and was taken to a Chinese restaurant there and when we asked him about it he shook his head and said “not very good”.  He left Harrisburg for Greensboro earlier this week and for the past few days my husband has been taking him out to lunch and dinner and showing him some more of American’s finest cuisine :)  There is not much to pick from out near my husband’s office but they did mange to experience a  Panera,  an Olive Garden,  and Prissy Polly’s in Kernersville for the true southern country BBQ experience (“Tommy” especially liked the hushpuppies).  And then because my husband thought he was getting ready for something more “familiar”  he decided to take him to Asian Phoenix and I got to tag along.

“Tommy” thought the food was delicious.  We could tell that he was a bit relieved to have what he considered “real” food. He order Kung Pao Chicken, I had the Lee’s Curry Shrimp with my favorites broccoli and jumbo shrimp, and my husband had their Phoenix Chicken which is a batter dipped and fried chicken with a spicy honey sauce.  The platters of food were large and we had lot’s of leftovers to bring home.  After a day of watching football and me not being in the mood to cook…guess what we had for dinner.  Leftovers! 

“Tommy” left this morning to finish to rest of his trip in Portland Oregon.  He was a pleasure to meet and he asked me when I was coming to visit China.  Hmmm…I have been know to say “Never” about traveling to China but I might have to reconsider especially after meeting such a warm and genuinely nice person.

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