James the chef

We just made it in time to pick James up from school. The traffic was bad with slow tractors and then every traffic light was against us. He’d had a great day at the beach with his class for their treat day. We got ice cream then went home.

He and I set to in the kitchen. He said I could be the sous chef and he’d tell me what to do. He got out his recipe and all the burger ingredients, reminding me I had to wash my hands before we started. He chopped the onion, made breadcrumbs, decided chopping parsley was a hassle so he’d do it in the blender which worked fine. We added a dash or Worcestershire sauce and some tomato puree. Salt and pepper weren’t on the recipe but he thought he’d add a grind of salt but no pepper. I suggested we beat up an egg to bind it all though that wasn’t in the recipe and he was amenable to that and got a mug and a fork to beat up the egg.

The Chinese family arrived early - Phil had just got home and #2 daughter was still working - with lots of food. She brought sticky rice wrapped round chicken wings, a pork dish with veg, kimchi and more pork plus a soup made with watermelon skin and with huge ribs in it and also an egg and milk and spring onion custard. I was impressed Thomas tried it all. (And yes I tried it all too!). Her daughter was on her phone the whole time even when I tried chatting with her. She told me she hates it here, has no friends and her class is too noisy. Poor girl. 13 is a difficult age without all that.

On my phone I showed the mother where we had lived in Hong Kong and she showed me where they lived. She said she had to come here for the children’s safety and future. The lived on the 26th floor and had to keep inside as police let off tear gas outside. She goes to English class once a week but had made no friends though they have been here almost 2 years. She hadn’t got a job. The children had moved schools which is why James has only known Isaac for 6 months. They’ll be in the same class at middle school but James is worried about making friends as Isaac is the only boy he knows in his new class. I do hope it works out.

On a lighter note - a gull had nested in guttering outside James’s room and the remaining fledgling has been on the flat roof for 3 weeks. The parents still feed it. It stood on the glass bit of roof flapping its wings which we could see from our sofa in the room below so we all went out to see if it would take off. The neighbours were holding their baby at their upstairs window looking down at it too. However it decided to have a little sit down and was still there when we left.

Here’s James with his burgers. We made 9, one each, but the Chinese daughter (whose name I didn’t catch) took two so #2 daughter didn’t get one.