Yesterday was productive .....

In the morning I attended the second day of the jewelry making class and completed two necklaces, two pairs of earrings and 1/2 of a bracelet. It was really fun to see the creations that the other students made.

Everyday in Shanghai is an adventure...and nothing is a simple as we think it will be...

When my jewelry class was over I offered to take our teacher to the metro station. When we came out of the Community Center our driver was gone. I thought I had communicated to him that he should "take lunch" (that is how they refer to "eat lunch" here) at 11:30 so he would have plenty of time to do this while I was in class and he would be back when the class was over at 1:00. I had no idea where he could be........and......I quickly discovered that I left my cell phone at home in the charger. Okay...Don't panic!!!! The Community Center office was closed because we had just locked the doors when we left. My teacher also left her cell phone at home in her charger. No....problem.....we will just use the phone at the guards gate. Then I was thinking.....who do I call? I don't have the drivers number because it is programed into my cell phone and I do not have it memorized. (Note: cell phone numbers in China are 11 digits long. Residential numbers are eight digits long and I have only memorized my cell number and Abi's cell number because they are very similar.) Okay....DON'T PANIC!!!!! There were three guards at the gate and through a bunch of hand motions and many Chinese words that I did not understand......we soon learned that the phone at the gate is not a real "phone". I am guessing it just calls the office or something?? There was one other car in the parking lock......another driver.....with a cell phone..... We again hand gestured phone and he let us borrow his phone. I called Abi's cell number.....no answer.....by sheer luck I remembered our home number and got Delia. Abi and Tim were out....Abi's phone is also in the charger on the counter. (What is this? National "leave your phone in the charger" day???) I have no idea what Tim's cell number is......
We went back into the Community Center and luckily there was another class in the commons area. The other teacher had the combination to the office and let us back into the area where the phone was located. Great.....who am I going to call???? I suddenly remembered that I had written Mr Zhangs number on a small piece of paper......could it be in my purse??? YES!!!!!! I called Mr. Zhang and he said something in Chinese and I felt that he understood that I was ready to go. So.....we returned to the parking lot to wait.... After about 10 minutes he arrived......he motioned to his stomach and I understood he was hungry. Poor guy....he had been waiting to "take lunch" and was starving. I guess my communication was not as clear as I thought. We dropped Sandy at the Metro station and went back to our apartment. At this point I still don't know if Mr. Zhang had lunch or if I interrupted his lunch when I called him. In the Chinese culture....lunch is a very important thing. In fact when they great each other they ask something that means....have you eaten? They have a different greeting for morning and afternoon but both have the same meaning.....have you eaten....are you comfortable? Yikes!! This guy has only been with us two days and I have already starved him.

Jane arrived at our apartment just as I arrived and through her wonderful translation I was able to clear up the lunch thing with Mr. Zhang.

Tim, Abi, Jane and I spent the afternoon at the fabric market. There are several different fabric markets in Shanghai and they all have a little bit different personality. All of them work about the same way however. The vendors have small "booths" piled with fabrics and some samples of their work. If you are lucky you can try on a sample coat or jacket that you like. (Side note: Most likely it will be too small because "Westerners" are larger than most of the locals. This is not really a surprise and this is why we need to have a relationship with a Tailor. We can not buy ready made clothes because we are not 5 foot tall or weigh 80 pounds.) When you find something that you like, you choose fabric, and negotiate the price. Some of the vendors speak a little bit of English but it was very helpful to have Jane with us to negotiate prices and communicate details. She could also tell them that we live in Shanghai and that qualifies us for better prices and the possibility of return business for them. So....Abi and I each ordered a coat, Tim ordered two suits and two dress shirts, and I ordered a new duvet with matching pillows for our bed. If they are done well.....we have just established a relationship with four tailors and our next visit to the market will be much easier!!!! By the way.....this was my third trip to the fabric market......all previous visits were long and non productive because it is very overwhelming. The market is in a three storey building that has hundreds of booths. Get the picture?

Who knows what today's adventure will be.....Our driver has the day off...(He will probably be eating non stop today to store up energy for his next day with me)......it is pouring rain so finding a taxi will be nearly impossible but I am sure we will venture out anyway. What the heck??!!!