Abi and I have been shopping shopping shopping. We have been to many places in the past few days from the trendiest streets to the back alley markets. Yesterday was a mega shopping day at the newly named "far away market". It got it's name because it is on the opposite side of Shanghai from our home. It is really not far in distance but you have to go through 17 million people to get there so the speed in which you travel is a little slow. This is a local market and they are very curious about foreigners. At one point we had a group of people following us through the market. Abi drew a crowd of about 15 people all trying to guess how old she was. Shirley was with us so she could understand what they were saying. They asked her how old Abi was and she said guess....so they started a little betting game to see who could guess her age. Very funny.....sort of.........a little unnerving but they were all very nice. I finally told them how old she was (in my best Chinese) and they stopped following us. We made many exciting purchases at the market .... my favorite "find" was a source for large spools of cotton thread. I bought 34 large spools (a life time supply) of basic colors. I also found cotton fabric for less than $1.50 per yard which will soon be made into a quilt. The fabrics are all striped shirt fabrics. Abi wants a "shirt and tie" quilt....who would guess that one? Now we are in search of interesting ties.I bought this rack on Monday (at Wal-Mart...more about Chinese Wal-Mart later) to store my button jars and it looked a little empty. Good thing I found all that thread to keep the buttons company and fill up that empty space!!!
Abi's favorite "find" were two pairs of long shorts each cost about $2.50. We would have purchased more clothing.....but.....they have very small sizes here. I should say small and short!!! If we find something that fits it is almost always too short. Ahhhh....but it is the hunt that is exciting!!! We are so easily entertained. In contrast to our bargain shopping we stopped at a "new to me" City Shop. City shop is an import market. I found Fiber One cereal for the first time but it was no bargain. One box of Fiber One was Y78. That is almost $10. Wow!!!!

Now more about Wal-Mart in Shanghai. Tim and I were hoping to live in Shanghai for 2.5 years and never go to Wal-Mart. Xiao Zhang likes to shop there so I thought it would be a good idea to see what they sell so I could help her with the shopping list....and...I am all about happy shoppers especially when I do not have to do it!!!! So......Abi and I went to Wal-Mart on Monday to do some "research". Our mission was to find American brands that we recognized. It is a "super store" so they carry groceries in addition to "other stuff". We went in search for things like Cheerios, pancake mix, Jiff peanut butter, diet sprite....etc. Well....guess what? It was the same as all the other grocery stores in Shanghai. They had a small import section with a few brands that we recognized and that was all. What a bummer!!! The good news is....it was the cleanest grocery store that I have been in in Shanghai.
Abi and I saw these "statues" at Super Brand Mall. They really looked like they were made of bronze but they were real people standing very very still.


Another funny sign for your entertainment...this one was in our building today. For some reason the elevator next to ours needs a lot of repairs. In the past month I think it has been "under adjusting" more than it has been adjusted. I wonder if we should be worried???

This is Abi and Kari on the well celebrated and looked forward too last day of school. Abi has enjoyed sleeping in for a few days....however today she was up early baking cookies. She commented at lunch how long the day was when you get up early. I laughed and said "That is so true!!!