THE TASTE OF MEMORY.13 03/18/21

This is our last class for the current project, and we will miss our wonderful students. Spica has returned from Taiwan and is finally in the same time zone as us all! Hong sent So Sim’s gifts for Spica and me to her place and she showed us all on zoom. Beautifully knitted masks with internal cloth covers for extra protection and bright neck warmers. Thank you So Sim!!

We were joined by Don Lee, Board Chairman of Homecrest Community Services. It’s always a pleasure to welcome Don to our class. He’s such a staunch supporter of the senior centers and our work. Don proudly told us that 80% of the members have been vaccinated and the majority of the staff. What a caring and responsible organization, staffed by people who genuinely care. We were also joined by Karen Zhou, Executive Director and Hong and Fanny, Administrative Staff.

We began by each sharing a gesture of thanks and friendship, which we taught to the class. Next, students flipped through their book and jotted down words that sprang to mind. Using these as inspiration they drew a simple shape which represented a word, they liked the most. 

Creating a cover for their book required them to choose a piece of colored cardstock as the background. The Chinese language lends itself to poetry and metaphor so different ways of translating The Taste of Memory were discussed. Students chose one and used white copy paper to sketch the symbols, decide on their size and design the font. Colored markers were used to complete the title, which was then cut out. This same method was employed for their name. Students could add their title in English or create a unique one. 

Karen screen shared examples of her cover page and discussed the inspirations - warmth and togetherness were chosen from her list of words and a wave shape in a complementary color was integrated into the page’s composition. Students chose a high contrast or complimentary colored cardstock or paper and set to work listening to Hong Kong Cantopop while they created their cover page. They used this colored paper or cardstock to cut out shapes to decorate their page and experimented with the placement of the title and their name. 

Finally, we shared last week’s homework, their recipe page composition. Pun shared the story of her Apple Soup recipe, which was a last request from her Mum before she passed away. Making this dish always reminds Pun of her mother. Margaret told us the story behind this dish, which her father used to always buy from the store. But when store after store closed it became increasingly hard to find so Margaret decided to make it herself. Jing Wei recommended that you must always buy meat with some fat on it to make the dish on her recipe page. Hui Fang commented that it’s better to cook for yourself rather than eat in a restaurant as the cooks often put too much oil and salt in the dish. 

Mui’s bright yellow background formed an excellent contrast to the pastel pinks and blues of her dishes and spoons. Even though she can’t join our class each week, Miu is a keen student, watching the recorded videos and submitting her homework. Susanna also can’t join us in person. She incorporated arrows into her composition to focus the eye on the bowl where all the spices and sauces were mixed and then to the finished dish. Stella was unable to join us today and we all commented on how much fun her page is. Bright and colorful, with steps clearly marked and methods highlighted in yellow.

Sook Fong cleverly incorporated different shapes in which to write the recipe’s directions. So Sim’s page is carefully composed so the steps are easy to follow. She added a clever touch...thin strips of paper to represent the steam rising from the freshly cooked dish. The center of Lao Yu’s composition features the mixing bowl where sauces and spices are added. JuLisa carefully cut out matching a shape around each step and used a contrasting color to highlight the corresponding directions. Ru Ping chose yellow cardstock for the background which helped to highlight her ingredients and utensils. She used a complementary color for each step. 

After the students’ work had been honored and their achievements acknowledged, Don Lee spoke of the difficulties and challenges faced during the past year. He thanked everyone for sharing their memories, remarking it shows the good side of humanity. Karen Zhou congratulated the students for completing The Taste of Memory project, of which she has heard great things from her staff. She’s also been following our posts of students’ work and those of her staff, on social media. She was impressed to see the progression students have made and commented that they were “drawing like professionals”. It was clear that attending this class made them happy. Karen complimented Spica and my dedication and patience in working with the seniors and also in overcoming technical difficulties. She was pleased to note that the seniors were adapting to the new technology evidenced by them being able to mute/unmute themselves and share their work. 

Spica and I want to express our sincerest gratitude to all our students who never say can’t but always...what else? Why not! We are also indebted to Hong who records and uploads the classes each week, as well as reaching out to our students whenever we have asked. I would like to add a huge thank you and congratulations to Spica who has done a phenomenal job in teaching the class each week, translating for me and keeping me in the loop. Spica, you truly are amazing!