Today I had a Chinese lesson that I was really dreading because I have not opened my Chinese books for over two weeks. I carried the books all the way to the US and back again so I think that should be worth some extra points. (side note: I practiced Chinese once while we were in Washington....a store clerk in Fred Meyer overheard a conversation I was having with a friend about China. He said his wife is Chinese and they have a condo in Shanghai.....then he started speaking to me in Mandarin. It was very basic stuff...but hey!...I understood what he said and I could tell my teacher that I practiced!) I decided on the way to class that I would just confess that I was a bad student and if she gave me a hard time I would just quit!!! Such a mature approach!! I am always vacillating between continuing lessons and quiting lessons....this would be a great excuse to quit. But.....she was very nice and encouraging and I actually remembered a few things so I did not quit.....maybe I will quit next week...ha ha!


After my Chinese lesson I went on a mission to locate Toy Monster....the company where Tucker will be working. Tucker arrives in Shanghai on Monday evening and starts work on Tuesday morning so he will not have time to work through transportation. With Jan's help we found the office and discovered that the subway station is only two blocks away. Tuckers commute should be very easy.....one subway line.....ride it to the end...walk two blocks to work. Jan said the subway ride will take 28 minutes. Mission accomplished!!!

This afternoon I worked on a quilt top for the class that I will be teaching next week. So far only two people have registered for the class so I am not sure it will actually happen. Either way....I can always use another quilt!!!


Here are a couple more signs that I discovered in the ladies bathroom at the Hongqiao Pearl Market..... I think something got lost in translation.