Tim and I took our driver, Jan, and Xiao Zhang to lunch on Friday. In the US this would be an ordinary occasion but in China this is a rare thing. They were both so
appreciative it was a little overwhelming for Tim and I. Jan
said.."Madame, why you want to take us to lunch?" I said "because we
appreciate all the things that you do for our family." She said "you
are so funny....that is what we are supposed to do." After lunch we
took Tim back to work and then I tookXiao Zhang to IKEA to look for frying pans. This also turned out to be a very interesting experience. Xiao Zhang has never been to IKEA because it is too far from her home. It was so fun to see her face as we crossed the Nanpu
bridge and I pointed out different landmarks that we could see from
"the other side of the river". There are so many things that I take for
granted.... We found frying pans and some kitchen rugs. I also bought a
fewChristmas decorations......go figure!!!

I had another
Chinese lesson today it was not really fun but I didn't "strongly
dislike it as much as last week. I finally made a decision.....I am
going to continue for a while longer.....but change back to a private
lesson. That way I can go at my own pace....which is very very slow!!!

Not much is happening today......I should be cleaning up my sewing space but I am procrastinating this job for a while longer.

Our home leave trip is getting closer and closer everyday and we are truly
starting to count the days. We will be back in Vancouver in 46 days!!!
Yippee!