Eleventh day in China

[aadler]

While we were making preparations in the morning, Kevin gave us a call to see how we were doing, and somewhat later he and Mei-li showed up at the apartment. We visited there for awhile (and Susan made a start at planning the wedding that will hopefully take place in a bit over a year).

We started off together, had a slightly early lunch at a place that offered some Western selections, but (except for a French fries platter) Susan and I stuck to Chinese. Then he started off for work, while Mei-li took over hosting duties for him. She took us on a nearly hour-long subway ride to Dongmen Street, which is crammed with lower-scale retail shops.

Susan was in her element, but I got bored very quickly. Finally, at my request, I just sat out in a central outdoor plaza while the two women continued their close-in inspection of every shop imaginable. They came back after awhile (probably less than an hour), and we rode the subway back to Bao’an Center, shown the block from Kevin’s apartment. We stopped at another eating place to wait while he finished his (shortened) workday.

Something that had happened before, in dealing with Mei-li, came up again a couple of times today. When we stopped to get something to eat, Mei-li offered to get snacks for us … only she kept pronouncing it ‘snakes’. Disconcerting for Susan, and fun for me.

When Kevin did arrive, we stayed at the same place for maybe another forty-five minutes. Susan had already been talking with Mei-li about prospective wedding arrangements; the conversation continued with Kevin’s input. When at last we left, it was to go to a different place for dinner. (In my case, stone-pot rice with chicken.) Then we went shopping at a Japanese supermarket — seriously — for some things that Susan wanted.

When it was all done, Kevin and Mei-li walked us back to the apartment. They left a little after 7:00PM, and we settled in for the remainder of the evening.

Next Day