Tina

Tina and a baby octopus (on her spoon)

Tina and I are church friends.  That is to say, we met at the Oasis Fellowship that we both attend.  Tina (Wang Na Ting) is from JiangXi Province and has worked in Macau for two years.  She is a nurse at Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) hospital.  Interestingly, she taught herself Cantonese while in college, and her English is very, very good.  She's a lot of fun to hang out with and is always buying things for Angie and me on Taobao (the equivalent of Amazon in China).  

Because of my friendship with Tina and also because of a recent teaching demonstration that I attended, I've become aware of a catch-phrase that's recently become popular in China.  It is "left-over women."  Apparently, women in China should ideally get married before they are 27.  If they are older than that age, it is an indication that they are too picky and are in someway undesirable.  I think it is incredibly ironic, as there are more men than women in China, so women can really afford to be picky if they want!  

This is the article that was referenced in the teaching demo I attended and that describes the phrase in more detail:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21320560

Oh, and here is what I was eating with Tina the night I took her photo (above).  It is pumpkin-chicken broth soup with mushrooms, chicken, and udon noodles.  Love it!