A Bite of China

                On Wednesday April 17^th, 2013 at 7 in the evening, I attended an event titled “A Bite of China”. A Bite of China was a free culinary art performance hosted by Confucius Institute at North Carolina State University and the China Cuisine Association that took place in Bostian hall. The event was open to students and faculty as well as the general public. Upon arrival I was greeted by student’s a part of the Chinese Students Association, given a pamphlet about the chefs that would be cooking that night, what they would be cooking, and told to take any seat I pleased. I also received a book entitled Chinese Taste that has small excerpts about Shunde, the district of Guangdong from which the chefs came, and more information about the meals they would be preparing that evening.

                The meals the chefs prepared were interesting as I had never heard of many of them. The meal that caught my attention the most was fried milk. Being born and raised in the South of the United States I had heard of a multitude of fried items, but never milk.  Watching Chef MA Chenggen was interesting as he was very fluid with his movements keeping the milk from burning. I am still not sure about how I feel about this dish as I did not get the opportunity to taste it, but if I ever get the chance to do so in the future I will definitely do so.

                The event was mostly in Cantonese, as this was the language he chefs spoke, but there were translators. This event gave those who attended the opportunity to not only see traditional Cantonese cuisine being prepared but also a chance to immerse themselves in a language they may not be familiar with. I thought it was a wonderful idea to host the event in this manner as it may have inspired some to take the language or learn to prepare some of the meals. This event has global dimension for this very reason. It was very low-key and personal as members of the audience were able to taste the food that was prepared as well as ask the chefs questions about the ingredients they were using and so on. At the end of the event some even got the chance to take pictures with the credible chefs.

                 As a student in her sixth year of Chinese language study I could understand bits and pieces of what the chefs were saying, but seeing as how I am learning Mandarin I could not understand all of it.  Regardless I enjoyed hearing the language being spoken by natives, and listening to audience members attempt to ask questions in the dialect. The experience was lovely overall even though I never got the chance to try any of the dishes prepared. So technically

 I didn't get my bite. The dishes did smell wonderful and according to all that tried them, they were all delicious. There were some mixed feelings in the crowd about some of the dishes however. As I sat in the audience I met a girl from a different district in China and she expressed to me how many of the dishes being prepared disgusted her due to the mixing of different ingredients like milk and beef. I believe that this would come to a shock to many people but it shouldn't as meals are not even prepared the same across the United States and China is much larger leaving more room for variation and the creation of local dishes.

                “A Bite of China” was a fun event and while it had its flaws, it was difficult to see of the dishes being prepared, it was still a wonderful educational experience for all that attended.

Tasting the first dish, Chicken in Four Seasonings

Chinese Brush Paintings by Ellen Ko

                On March 25^th, 2013 I made a trip to the Crafts Center on NC State’s campus with a friend of mine to look at the painting on display there by Ellen Ma-Lin Ko. Ellen Ko is local artist and Crafts Center instructor who has much practice in the art of traditional Chinese brush painting. From a young age she was taught by two well-known artists in Taiwan whose names are Lin Shen-Jean and Shao Yu-Huan. After graduating from the World College of Journalism in Taiwan, she continued to actively practice painting. Her work has been shown in many local arts shows in the Raleigh area as well as in Atlanta.

      

                 

                  By completing these paintings Ms. Ko is keeping a tradition alive. This style of art has been around for thousands of years and generally incorporates natural scenes. Two of the most commons, and those used by Ellen Ko herself, are landscapes and flower and bird paintings. Different types of brushes are used throughout the painting and these brushes are held in a particular way to achieve a certain brush stroke. The colors used in the paintings depend on what season the painting is supposed to be in and the subjects in the composition. There are also lines of poetry and seals on the paintings to help invoke a deeper sense of understanding in the painting which Ms. Ko also does.

          http://www.asia-art.net/chinese_brush.html

                Art is important and holds meaning around the world. Paintings can transcend borders, cultures, and people as language is not required in order to enjoy it or critique it. Although there is Chinese written on these paintings, as mentioned, one can still view the painting and form their own opinion. This exhibit has global significance for this very reason. The exhibit exposes all who see it to a different form of traditional painting from a culture they may not be familiar with. They are thus able to experience first-hand art that does not have roots in this country and are able to form opinions about it after being “up close and personal”.

                I quite enjoyed the exhibit. Art is a beautiful thing that comes in many different forms and this particular form speaks to me. It looks beautiful without it having a large amount of detail. It is free flowing and seems to match the theme of nature that the art form is attempting to convey. While all of the paintings were lovely I have to say that my favorite two were titles Birds on a branch and Birds with autumn leaves. This is just personal preference as I love the way in which the small birds are painted. They both put a smile on my face and make me happy. 

               My friend Jordan, who attended the exhibit with me, agreed with me on his favorite two paintings. “I thought the exhibit was quite impressive. The brush paintings, particularly those of the small birds, had nice qualities that I enjoyed.”

                I hope to attend more exhibits and events at the crafts center in the future, as this was my first experience and I enjoyed it greatly. The staff was quite lovely and polite as well. If you are in the area I would encourage you to visit this exhibit. 

My Gamelan Experience

On Monday February 4^th, 2013 I received the opportunity to join the Arts Village on a trip to UNC-Chapel in order to play the various instruments of the Gamelan. At 6:00 pm that evening we left to head towards the music practice rooms of Chapel Hill. As we made our way to the room we were told to take off our shoes. When we entered the room, I was welcomed by the smell of incense, giving it a calming atmosphere. The man, whose name evades me, that instructed my peers and me on the Gamelan, was an American student in his third year of his Master’s in music. He asked us to sit where there was space in front of an instrument in the rather small practice room. He told us that the instruments were traditionally seen as sacred and asked that we not step over the instruments but maneuver around them. Once we were settled He began to tell us what a Gamelan is, where the particular set we would be playing came from and what it was made of.

Gamelan is a general term used for traditional musical ensembles of the Pacific Islands, generally in Indonesia. A Gamelan set consists of different instruments all forged by the same creator. Depending on the area in which the gamelan is from the instruments are generally the same, yet they may differ in name.

These are the names of the particular instruments we used which were forged in Java and made of bronze.  The set was originally made 21 years ago and was used to accompany shadow puppetry. Approximately 13 years ago these instruments were wrapped in Javanese newspaper, cigar paper, and twine and put on a ship to the University of Chapel Hill. Gamelan Nyai Saraswati is the name of the ensemble at UNC Chapel Hill and the students and faculty have done multiple performances using this particular set.

After he was done explaining the background on the instruments, we were told we would be playing a simple song known as Singanebah. He first told what he called the “keyboard instruments” (e.g. the gambang and celempung) to begin playing according to the numbers he called out. After they knew what to do he moved on to the other instruments such as the bonang barung and the kenong. It was very difficult to understand what he explained to us at first but once we began to play it seemed to come naturally. It was still rather difficult to keep the pace though.

 This is a sample of the song that we played. 

After completing the piece we learned that the piece was cyclical meaning they did not have an ending nor a beginning. We also learned the piece was essentially a nursery rhyme, but for beginners we did very well.

The closest that I have ever been to Indonesia is a course on the Pacific Islands. Through this event I was able to experience a portion of the culture of the Javanese people by learning more about this particular type of music. It was a much more enlightening experience as it was hands-on rather than simply a lecture on the matter partnered with the watching of YouTube videos.

As an International Studies student music lover, I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to play a few of the instruments that are a part of Gamelan. Music is a huge part of my life; however, I generally use my voice as my instrument as opposed to actually using my hands to play a physical one.

Playing the kenong for the first time was a completely new experience as the music is not written in typical Western style (which is to be expected) but generally scribbled down on a scrap sheet of paper.

This is the written format of the piece that we played during my time at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Not only was this a new experience, but I walked away from the event knowing much more about Gamelan, something I barely knew anything about previously. I hope to get the opportunity to play in a Gamelan again and play the instruments that I did not have time to play. The instruments were beautiful with their intricate designs making them very unique in my eyes.

I would encourage anyone to play in one if they ever get the chance.