Katie came over last night to hang out and watch a movie. We wanted to see Zack & Miri Make a Porno, which is supposed to be sweet, despite what the title might suggest. Unfortunately, there was no sound, but the subtitles alone were almost worth watching - the one below wasn't even the best one.
(We settled on Pineapple Express. It had sound, but was sucky. Don't bother.)
Today, I had a crafty evening as my near-bare Christmas tree was starting to depress me; I made more snowflakes (ventured into green this time, having abandoned my palette of pink and red - the pink looks too red when the light is low) and little bows. I miss hanging the ornaments from home and wish mine had a little more history and variety to them, but I'll work on it... still twelve days to go!
Christmas is coming so seriously soon, I am starting to freak out. I still haven't found a way to hang the silver and pink balls from my ceiling, which is apparently made of solid cement; I can't find any pine-scented anything; and my attempt to melt chocolate for pretzel-dipping resulted in a first-degree microwave disaster. Thankfully, though, SOMEone has it together and organized a German-style Christmas market outside Shanghai's most ginormous German restaurant/brauhaus. The little huts were adorable, and even though most of the wares for sale were priced beyond our reach - Y45 ($9) gluwein (mulled wine)! Come on! - I did make an exception for a set of three gingerbreadmen cookie cutters. How I will bake the cookies is still undetermined, but I feel like I'm halfway there.
Our Y25 entrance tickets entitled us to a Y25 discount off anything on the (highly expensive) brauhaus menu. We poor-studented it and each ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, delicious potato-sausage soup, and shared a pretzel. The restaurant could best be described as a homey palace - all wooden beams and grand staircases (see photo).
The puppy? My favourite sight of this week. I'm not usually a small dog person, but look at his tiiiiny nose and pensive gaze! He reminds me of Oliver, my old dog.
Last night I went for dinner with not only my usual companions, cousin Kelvin and his wife AnLan, but, for the first time, my entire family here: my two aunts Na Na and Neu Neu, my two uncles by marriage, and AnLan's father, Jimmy. I've been feeling homesick lately, and it was the best reminder I could have had that Shanghai isn't full of strangers. I didn't speak any Chinese the last time I saw my aunts and uncles, so it was really neat to be able to communicate with each other - they told me about their trip to Canada and the States (they were in Edmonton for ten days last month, and I never knew!), and I told them about my hopes for living and working in Shanghai next year. We had a fabulous Shanghainese dinner at a restaurant called 021; pig snout and eel were among the many dishes sampled - pig snout is a little chewy.
Na Na invited AnLan, Kelvin, and I up to her apartment after dinner to try on her endless supply of hand-knit sweaters, which she knits in her spare time and then stores in her closet, unworn. Apparently Na Na is quite famous for her knitting - she published a book about twenty years ago that was made into a calendar, she says, and I do remember her knitting up incredibly complicated sweaters for me when we were visiting Grandma Sue in Nanaimo at the same time. Anyway, I was deposited at home with a full tummy and a soft, fat, red-and-grey cardigan under my jacket.
Photos:
1. The fam in front of a rather dazzling "ice" castle, positioned imposingly in front of 021. From left to right - AnLan, me, Na Na & husband (name to be determined - I didn't want to ask), Jimmy, husband (also ntbd) & Neu Neu.
2. Sweater party! AnLan and Na Na wrestle approximately one-third of the collection back into its duffle bag, to be stored in the closet again; the closet door to the right is concealing three shelves of mohair cardigans and pullovers.
3. My SUPER-COMFY new sweater. Kelvin says it took Na Na about three days to knit. (In three days, I knit a dishcloth.)
A treat this Sunday: entertaining my first out-of-town visitor, Mike (Amanda's husband (Amanda, with whom I progressed through Industrial Design, and who has Ty-Pennington-like renovation capabilities as well as a highly evolved sense of humour... excellent things in a woman) and who teams with myself and Amanda to form a formidable Speed Scrabble trio).* In China for business, Mike landed himself a day in Shanghai at the end of his trip and I tried my best to show him around a few of the places I've become well-acquainted with since I arrived here: Taikang Lu (the art street), the fake market at the Science & Technology Centre, and the riverside walkway near the Pearl Tower in Pudong, where we warmed up with a wholly un-Chinese Starbucks coffee. Along the way, we found the World's Most Balance-Challenging Outdoor Restaurant Seating, as well as the World's Teeniest Green Chair. Thanks for the good times, Mike! And especially for the tabloid magazines, specially imported for those of us who need celebrity gossip like a baby needs a bottle.
*Please excuse the paranthesetic experimentation - a guilty but satisfying indulgence. You should really try it.
