Twelfth day in China

[aadler]

We finally figured out part of what’s going on: China (or at least Shenzhen) operates on a different schedule, most of the stores don’t open till 10:00AM or close till 10:00PM, so people go to bed later and then sleep in later. So it was past 9:00 when we gave Kevin a call … at which point he got up and began the process of getting ready and heading our way.

We visited for awhile, during part of which he talked with Mei-li on the phone. He passed on to her some of the stuff Susan had been trying to organize for next year’s wedding; when he mentioned it to her, and she replied, her mother said something and Mei-li translated: “She says why plan the wedding? Plan the apartment.” (Getting set up with a place to live is a major deal in Chinese society, because it’s usually not as simple as back in the States; plus, demonstrating an ability to start off properly shows that you’re decent marriage material in the first place.) I loved it, and wish more people in America could focus more on planning the marriage (lifetime) than the wedding (one day).

He took us out to lunch, at the place he’d been trying to take us for days but it kept still being closed for the holidays. By Chinese standards, it’s a fast-food joint, but what he bought for us (noodles and beef with a peanut sauce) was tasty and filling for a very low price. Then he walked with us for awhile, and helped Susan negotiate for a tea set at a local shop, but then he had to go on to work.

Susan and I waited at a sidewalk café for Mei-li and her mother to come pick us up. My digestion had been a bit tricky this morning, though, and I decided it would be better for me to stay close to restroom facilities, so I got them to drop me off at Kevin’s apartment. (They’re taking Susan shopping again today anyhow, so I probably didn’t miss anything.)

Kevin called me when he got off work, and then came to pick me up. (He also needed to drop off Susan’s tea set; he’d have sent it with me if he’d known I’d be going back to the apartment, but instead had kept it so he could leave it at the end of the workday.) We caught a cab together, and when we reached the Yins’ apartment, they and we went together to a restaurant (the first one they’d taken us to) for one last meal on their dime. Mei-li had finally got her engagement ring — Kevin’s grandmother’s, remember — resized to fit her, and polished in the bargain. It looked stunning, and even better on her hand.

(Remember I mentioned that Mei-li kept offering to get ‘snakes’ for us, when she meant snacks? Her brother, tonight, asked Kevin for some peanuts, only what he said was ‘penus’. We’re probably just as funny to them.)

We were driven back to the apartment, and Susan and I spent the last of the evening packing for an early departure tomorrow. Then on to bed.

Next Day