Shelley and Yaping have made a plan to show me around a lot because they want me to get comfortable getting around and knowing where some things are. My neighbors Marsha and Frank help me, too.
So yesterday Shelley took me to People’s Square, Nanjing Road, and The Bund. My feet can hardly take the 5 + miles I walk almost every day. I am sure I will build up endurance.
It has been one beautiful day after another, but the pollen is evil. Everyone is coughing and sneezing here, including me. The seeds and cotton-type stuff from trees blow around quite a bit.
I met Cindy at the American dinner party last week. Today, I met Cindy at 9:30 and her driver drove us in this nice van out to the wholesale warehouses. We bought imported foods much cheaper than we could in shops here in town. It was probably 45 minutes drive out there. (Her husband is a consultant for a new medical care clinic. She has never lived outside the US. So the company has a car and driver on call for her. She tells them where she wants to go. The non-English speaking driver then drives her there and back.) She took her friend Amanda with us. Amanda speaks enough Mandarin to ask for the special jam Cindy wanted. We all just chatted the whole ride. I bought some raspberry jam, butter, American cheese, almonds and pecans (nuts are very expensive here) and pasta for when the boys come.
Then we dropped Amanda off and Cindy took me to Ikea. I bought two small fry pans and two pots, a few spatulas, plates, knives, forks, and few more coffee cups. I have one hot plate already. I was going to buy a microwave, but maybe we can just re-heat food in our pots. I can buy a microwave online if I want. Everyone buys everything online these days! Then I had salmon for lunch at Ikea. Very nice.
Hanging out with Mormons is different, but the same. The Mormons are a bunch of very nice people who live moderately, most of them enjoy travelling, and they have various jobs. They have a network of Americans built in since they go to church. Today I was with Cindy, the wife of a doctor, and Amanda, the wife of a consulate agent. They discussed what dishes they would bring to Sunday’s church dinner. They joked that the Mormons in Minnesota are famous for many varieties of jello and jello salads. They were going to make Hawaiian Haystacks, which I had never heard of (rice and various toppings). They do not suffer my pain of searching for coffee, since they don’t drink it.
That reminds me, Cindy has a coffee pot that came with her apartment. She is going to loan it to me while I am here, I think. Two of her grown daughters come into town tomorrow. I will ask her after May 6 about the coffee pot. They are going to travel to Beijing this coming week.
This coming Monday is a holiday, so I think I will have time this weekend to work, since many people have plans.
Here are pictures. I have been inspired by Debby Bacharach’s poems. Maybe I will write one soon.
