Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday

Things of note in the last four days:

• The cigarette smoke isn't so bad on the streets of Shanghai;  I've only seen one woman smoke; no one following the restrictions to not smoke in public areas like restaurants is a miserable, miserable thing that makes me feel like my throat is going to kill me.
• It took way too long to find soap that actually smelled good at the supermarket around the corner.
• I thought my junior high uniforms were bad. Nope.
• Either the wheat here is whiter than in the U.S., or "whole wheat bread" is not whole wheat.
• My feet are troubling me again from all the walking, and so I either have to suffer with painful feet and pants, or dresses and shoes that aren't so good. I just can't get myself to wear running shoes with a dress.
• I can't wait to cook our own food. It's been hard to really like anything we've had. We're still waiting for the kitchen to be completed.
• We met Michael's cousins. One helped us with getting our phones set up and then we had dinner at a Sichuan restaurant since I told him I like spicy food.
• Dim sum at Din Tai Fung is the best Chinese we've had yet.
• Tianzifang in the French Concession is a darling little area.
• Downpours last about 30 minutes. Sometimes they cool down the air, sometimes they don't.
• Umbrellas here are so cute, as are the women's clothing stores. I think Heidi might go crazy-happy.
• The movie Shanghai Calling is good, though the initial behavior of the expat made me wince.
• We received a bed to replace the smaller two, but we're still desperately in need of more storage space.
• Michael can read Chinese, but I'm better at maps (as long as I have the pinyin names).
• Pancake sandwiches with red bean filling exist. I just want to separate them and put maple syrup on them.
• I have yet to hear the sigh of relief from a Chinese person as they step onto the air-conditioned Metro, but I know it's there.
• Xue cai yu shi (sp?) is good Taiwanese food.