Fifteenth day in China [October 15]

[aadler]

I slept in till the decadent hour of 8:30, while Susan didn’t wake till nearly 11:00. You can do that kind of thing on weekends and vacations, and this was a day when we had no other plans to supersede our self-indulgence.

We went out just before noon to get some cash from the bank around the corner, and then lunch. That didn’t work out, though: the bank, which hadn’t opened till 9:00, had closed at noon for a two-hour lunch. We got some stuff from Walmart and came on back to the apartment; I fixed a small meal for us, and — as has become our usual habit since arriving here — Susan lay down to nap for a bit.

Around 3:00 PM, at her request (between briefly waking and then going right back to sleep), I took her debit card and walked back down to the Bank of China. There I had no trouble withdrawing ¥2,000 (around $320) for this evening’s planned activities.

Mei-li and Laura picked us up about 4:30 PM, and Kevin joined us (from the subway) just a bit later. On to the Yins’ apartment; Amber was as placid and even-tempered as ever, but feeling less warm to me than she had the last couple of days, and around 6:00 (I think?) the six of us — Susan and me, Kevin and Mei-li, Logan and Laura — left for the evening’s outing. Susan had wanted to treat everyone to a meal, in thanks for their hospitality, and Kevin (who does, over time, occasionally get to craving western food) suggested a barbeque place in the Shekou section of Shenzhen. A friend of Kevin’s, Jon something, joined us, along with his Chinese girlfriend Sascha.

(Cultural note: It seems fairly common for Chinese to choose western names, or sometimes westernized versions of their own names, for use in dealing with westerners. I call Mei-li by her Chinese name because I happen to know it; Logan and Laura — and now Sascha — I just go by what they tell me.)

Mei-li had told Kevin she didn’t really like Sascha, and Kevin later told us why; it wasn’t just prejudice, there were reasons. In fact, he said that Sascha was so different this time, in behavior and demeanor and even dress, that if not for the name he would have thought Jon had acquired a different girlfriend since their last meeting. In any event, she was friendly and personable, and we chose a table on the second floor of the building where we could order from the menus of both the restaurant below us and the one above. Along with my meal, I had three drinks, and found myself wishing for more, not because I was having a bad time but just because that was what I felt like at the time. The food was good, but a truly embarrassing problem presented itself: the rest of us had finished eating before Mei-li’s and Laura’s even arrived. Since the entire purpose of this expedition had been to express our appreciation to the Yins, it was mortifying, and Susan called for the manager so she could register her displeasure.

(They offered, of course, to discount the late meals. How did that help? If OUR food had arrived late, that might have been adequate recompense, but how could anything like that make up for shabby treatment of our guests? At least the effort, we hoped, made the Yins aware of how offended we were on their behalf.)

Subway back to the main apartment, then Laura and Kevin drove us back ‘home’ by about 9:30 PM. I wasn’t in any particular hurry, but still wound up going to bed before 11:00 PM.

Next day