The last two days have been beautiful fall days in Shanghai. Fall has always been my favorite season. The weather cools, the leaves begin to change, football season starts, comfort foods are made, and warm clothes are brought out of the closet.
Bill and I had a day out by ourselves today. We went to a cafe in the French Concession of Shanghai, which served all sorts of yummy, savory crepes. Washed down with a glass of red wine, and topped off with a sweet, crepe dessert; It was a beautiful day to be out on the town. We found some really nice shops in the area, and also some very old, historic buildings. This area has very narrow streets, and plenty of trees. These are the streets of the city that I love, full of beauty and history.
After our early dinner, we went to a western center that has been built to look like the old shikumen housing of Shanghai. We sat outside a Starbucks and drank a warm brew. I read a little piece of home (People Magazine), and we enjoyed watching the evening activity in the plaza. It was cool enough that I actually could have worn a jacket, although my blood has thinned a little here. It was probably in the mid-seventies.
On the home front, the kids are off of school this next week, due to a Chinese national holiday. Bill will be off from Wednesday through the weekend. I am hoping to take a family day trip at the end of the week. Maybe to a water town, or nearby city.
One other possible activity that the kids and I may accept, is to be extras in a movie this week. Bill and I were stopped outside of our local shopping center by the director of the movie. They need foreign extras. I had no idea until today, but apparently there is a large film studio just outside of downtown Shanghai (yes, I looked it up online to confirm.) I may call him for more information tomorrow. I think there may be rain in the forecast for that day, so I am not expecting it to actually happen. It is slightly out of my comfort zone, so the debate continues. I keep trying to tell myself to step out of the box and do it, though.
This morning I had a conversation with one of the women in the house behind ours. This would be the one with the NEVER-ENDING construction, which started right before we moved in, and will most likely continue until we move out in the end of February (We will be looking for a new home when our lease is up.) I have no faith that it will be over any time soon. This conversation was a true test of my Mandarin skills. For me, it is much harder to understand when spoken to, than when speaking, especially when someone speaks fast. This women was like me.........with too much coffee. I did get a few words, and answered according to what I thought the question was. When I responded, she understood most of it. We talked about my children, and my AYI. In the end, I think she was trying to find out how much I paid my AYI. When we got to that question, I acted like I didn't understand. She tried charading the question several times, but I wouldn't give. They have recently hired a new AYI, and I wonder if she was going to try to give our AYI a better offer. Maybe she just wanted to make sure she wasn't being ripped off by hers. Regardless, I don't think Yuan-Yuan would leave us for the neighbors. Most AYIs prefer to work for western families, and we are very easy to work for. In defense of the neighbors, they have been kind to us. They brought us moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival, which were actually edible, after we removed the salted egg in the middle.
We miss everyone, and look forward to Christmas. Autumn has brought many things, one of those things..........yearnings for home.
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