Dinner at Jesse's

Friday after school, Karen J. and I joined a large group of mostly new (and some from last year) young teachers for a "get out of Tienmu" night to Jesse's, a famous local establishment in the Yangminshan hills. I had been there once last year with Ralph and Joyce, and then, as now, the first course was a dish of pleasantly spiced peanuts, which tested one's chopstick dexterity. I was pleased to note, that although I rarely use chopsticks now, I dropped nary a peanut. These little morsels are habit forming and one tends to fill up before the rest of the courses start magically appearing.

Donna, smiling here as she holds a plate of sesame chicken, is a new upper school counselor this year. She has joined us on some of our Saturday morning biking expeditions, and usually DOES wear a smile like this. I found the sesame chicken to be flavorful, but the one piece I ate was tough and chewy. I wouldn't order this dish again.


Christine, a new substitute, and Karen are viewing the flaming beef. Yep, I know what you are thinking. It's shaped like a bird, it should be poultry of some sort. That's what I thought, too.


Anyway, this dish comes out with flaming salt packed on each side of the foil packet, and when the flame goes out, it is ready to open and enjoy. It was ok, spiced well, with thin slices of beef and vegetables.


Lynn, a lower school ESL teacher who has been here for seven years, is dishing up some of the remains of one of Jesse's signature dishes, spicy eggplant. My tablemates all enjoyed this dish, I tried it, but just couldn't get past the texture (can you say mush???) of the eggplant.


Finally, the fruit, signaling the end of dinner. In between the peanuts and this fruit, there was sesame chicken, pineapple shrimp, (my favorite) beef, two different fishes, a strange-looking tofu dish, and of course, rice. I had stopped eating long before the fruit, but nevertheless, it was a welcome sight.

This is Greg and Christine. As said earier, Christine is a substitute, who has recently taken over the middle school "School Within a School" program. Her husband, Greg, is participating in intensive Mandarin classes, and will be working at our psuedo-embassy when those are completed. All in all, it was a nice enough evening, but I don't plan another foray with a group that large for a long, long time.