A better day

Yesterday was a really nice day. Ryan and I woke up late (8:30!) to say goodbye to Nancy and Lauren. Nancy was leaving to go on a month-long trip to India, various locations in China and then back to the States for her eldest daughter’s wedding. (I guess I should mention that I finally met a woman who travels more than my mom! Nancy works for TRW, a company that makes auto parts. She travels all the time for work throughout Asia.) And Lauren was going home for good after living and studying in Shanghai for six months. She couldn’t get a work visa. It makes me feel like I’ve got the golden ticket right now.

After that, we went to the gym. I finally got to work out after like a week! It was really nice. The gym’s small and sparsely-equipped, but it has TV in English and a few decent weight machines. We watched a segment on CNN about pollution. They were interviewing Dr. Gupta from Beijing and he was explaining how poor air quality affects the body. Not very uplifting stuff (as I cough…). It thickens the blood and constricts the airways. Oh well, no one said moving to China would be: healthy.

Later that night, we went to the International Pearl Market in Hongqiao. It is unbelievable. The first floor is like a maze of stores selling cheap handbags, shoes, luggage (amazingly cheap, quality luggage) and sunglasses. I bought a really cute white bag. It’s much needed since the Longchamp I bought in Paris is fraying at the edges. The second floor is literally all pearl vendors. They sell pearls of all shapes and sizes. It’s amazing. Lauren bought a five foot strand of fairly nice pearls (to wrap around her neck several times) for like $13 before she left. I kept thinking how Betty, Ryan’s sister, would love it. She loves bangles and things. And it’s all so cheap! The third floor is a mix of vendors, tailors and artists. You can buy anything from DVDs to tailor-made tuxedos to antique Chinese furniture. Part of me can’t wait to get an apartment and buy a couple of pieces. I’ve already heard about a couple of warehouses where you can get gorgeous wardrobes and chests for like $20 a piece. And they paint them any color you want. Ryan’s excited to buy a new suit. I might get a coat made when it gets colder.

After that, we walked across to Hong Mei Lu (this really cute pedestrian road with a bunch of outdoor restaurants) to get something to eat. We popped into a Chinese restaurant called Annie’s. As the hostess lead us up stairs, she shouted the English equivalent of “Two foreign devils on their way up!” The Chinese word for foreign devil is “laowai.” Perhaps a long time ago it was derogatory, but now it’s really more tongue-in-cheek. We are often called names here. Little kids follow us around saying, “meiguoren” (“American”). But, it just made me laugh that the hostess like announced it to the restaurant. We sat down and ordered dumplings and a bowl of Shanghainese noodles, which are fried and covered in a sweet brown sauce. It was one of the better meals I’ve had since I’ve been here and it only cost us $10 for the two of us, including drinks! Ryan suggested it become “our place.” I agreed. Then I saw the squat toilet and thought, well, almost perfect.

We caught a cab home and I looked up the weather. At 8 pm, it was 90 degrees, but the weather channel said it felt like 107. Sounds about right. We turned on a bootleg copy of Casino Royale that was lying around. I was curious to see how good the quality would be. Surprisingly, it was really good. In fact, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference except for the fact that the picture was slightly tilted. I think it cost $3. From what I hear, foreigners are stuck buying these DVDs because the Chinese play only 2 or 3 Anglophone movies throughout the year. I recently heard that Space Jam had just been released. Yikes.

And now today, I’m at work. I’ve been responding to and sending emails all day. I did get the chance to listen in on an interview that my boss, Michelle, was doing. It was déjà vu because it feels like it was just yesterday that she was interviewing me. As she was talking to the guy and selling EF, I was getting excited about China. She was talking about all the things there are to do: cultural events, massages, travel. It really made me want to come to China. And then I realized, I’m already here.