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Chinese Immigrants Get a Taste Of Home
Xu Zhang, left, Shi-Hsin Wan and Jin-Xin Zhang have Chinese food for lunch at a Germantown community center.
(By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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"Socialization is the most important part of the program -- especially for those living alone," Mower said.
When Ailing Chen came to Montgomery County four years ago, she knew very few people. She and her husband moved to the United States to be closer to her daughter, who was educated here. But they felt isolated and were thinking of moving back to China, she said through an interpreter.
But then a neighbor told them about the program, and she fell in with a new community with friends that she said now feel "like family."
Chen even met a woman from her home town who went to her high school. Soon they were referring to each other as "cousins," she said, and calling each other on the phone.
She comes a few times a week, she said, for the exercise, especially the tai chi. But she also got information about a health clinic in Silver Spring that she uses.
On the wall are translations for some key phrases for places like the post office, such as: "What's the cost for a letter to Shanghai, China?"
The center is open from 9:30 in the morning until about 3 p.m., but perhaps the highlight of the day is noon, when lunch is served. During lunch one day last week, the seniors feasted on white fish, rice, vegetables and bean curd.
No one used a fork and knife.
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