Getting Out and About

I thought once I got settled here I'd have lots of time to write. Boy, was I wrong. There are still things unsettled, but we've decided not to live life waiting for the other shoe to drop. Also, with the weather finally taking a turn for the better, I've been getting out more. Larry and I even broke down and bought bicycles so we can take family jaunts around the city. As terrifying as that initially sounded to me, Suzhou is pretty bike-friendly. We can ride around the lake on the sidewalk, hardly ever riding on the actual road. We haven't made that trek yet, but we've gone out several times to Times Square and to a neighboring compound. The city suddenly became a little less daunting and new freedoms have been opened up. I don't have to wait for Mr. Liu to bring me to the store, I can just peddle down the road. Larry's bike is like Katie's and they can really fly. My bike looks like Miss Gulch's bike in Wizard of Oz. Larry likes to hum that tune every time I ride. All I need is the wicker basket.

I've also come out of my proverbial shell and decided be to social. The Expat group went to Pearl City and a giant garden center last week. The amount of pearls this city outputs is bewildering. I learn something new each time I go. No, I don't go a lot, or I'd have to put the girls to work. This past trip taught me about lasered pearls and all shops invaribly have a back room. Some of the women, who have been here for several years, are no longer overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of cheap pearls, but are going for the size and quality. I'm still in the honeymoon stage, in awe of everything. The garden center was busy with locals stocking up on blooming plants and shrubs. I bought a rosemary plant and four little cacti. I told the girls if they could keep the plants alive, we'd get a furry pet after the summer break.

The reason I bought four plants is we have an addition to our family. Linda, our favorite waitress from Casa Zoe, is staying with us. She is teaching us Chinese and we are teaching her English. It's like being immersed in the language and I'm actually starting to really understand. She's so sweet and is great with girls. She's from the Hunan provence, a fifteen hour bus ride. Her English is fair, but limited to restaurant-speak. When she first came to the house and I showed her which bedroom and bathroom was hers, she asked if it was ok if she took a shower. I told her it was her bathroom, she then asked if she had to wear a bathing suit because at her current apartment, the bathroom was co-ed. She showed me some pictures. Not completely awful, but seeing her bundled up with earmuffs and mittens to go to bed was pretty tough. She had tears in her eyes when she arrived with her one little bag, so thankful and so ready to help.

The whole tribe went back to Shang Tang Street last weekend. Last August we went there, but I was still in a daze and didn't really take a close look in any of the stores. This time, with Mr. Liu and Linda helping keep track of the girls, I was really able to explore. Paper cutting, silk, painted combs, more pearls, embroidery...so beautiful. The local artists/craftsmen still try to jip the lao weis, but I'm getting much better at my negotiating skills. Knowing just a little of the language helps a lot, too. Larry and I think we are getting such great deals, but when we tell Linda about our bargains, she tells us we got ripped off. We've been instructed by her not to buy anything without her or Mr. Liu. The girls love the pretty fans and umbrellas. We get a price of 10RMB (@ $1.30). Nope, too expensive, those two can get three fans for 10RMB. At all the shops we encountered this. Haggling, though, is half the fun now. After eight months the fear is gone. My mantra "I don't need any of this stuff...just walk away". Now the shop keepers cuss at me for being so cheap or at least it sounds like they are. Linda hasn't taught me any of the really colorful words...yet. We also tempted fate and sampled some street vendor food. So many of these little shops sell some kind of food, whether it be dumplings, fresh veggies, fish, noodles, nuts...and unknown delicacies. We tried a kind of roasted flat bread with yummy, spicy seasoning. So good!

Larry had to go to Shanghai Friday, so Linda and I tagged along. Larry and I met with our accountant, dropped him off afterwards and Mr. Liu took us to Yu Yuen. She'd never been and was clicking off pictures faster than I was. We ate some famous Shanghai crab dumplings. First, you suck the juice out with a straw that has been stuck done in the middle, then you carefully (or not so carefully) eat the dumpling out of the bamboo wrap. I'm pretty sure I had dumpling goo all over my face. After going in several shops, we came to the conclusion we could get everything they were selling much cheaper back in Suzhou. All in all though, we had fun. She was so excited to be able to come with me, but she was even more excited when we were watching Amazing Race the following day, and the contestants were running through the same place. Don't think I didn't give a little squeal when I saw the contestants turing over the stamps we turned over in the same shop.

That night, Bantoo and his wife invited us for dinner with some other friends. A new Indian restaurant opened up and it was packed. We tried some interesting dishes, but I was more impressed with the diversity of our table. An Indonesian, Phillipino, Indian, Canadian, Brit, German, Korean, Pakistani, and us. It was all I could do to keep myself from asking everyone to gather for a group photo. What a nerd! All of my cultural training and classes whizzed through my mind...for a brief second. I finally stopped trying to analyze everyone in my head and stopped anticipating, and just relished in the experience. Quite a ride...so far.