We’re watching the superbowl tomorrow, with live streaming.  Isn’t that amazing?   After that  we’ll be leaving for our travels toward home.  We’ve been cleaning and packing and getting rid of things, or shall we say “passing them on.”  I gave a lot of my “art supplies” and “teaching materials” to another teacher.   So, now, just packing up the last things, wiping out the refrigerator, which always froze the food, and we’re set to jet.

I told my dear husband that I wasn’t going to clean the refrigerator and would happily pay the building monitor, also known as the “Ai yi” and “the spy” the 100 rmb to clean the apt.  He said that he would do it.  I have in the past paid $30.00 per hour for cleaning, so I’m fine with $15, but he is not, so he can do the task.
I got my last manicure yesterday.  I so wish I had learned enough language to talk with these girls who take care of me, but I didn’t.  I had someone write something out for me two weeks ago, and I gave the main girl this note, an artificial rose, and a pkg of cookies.   She was surprised to see me another time yesterday and called someone over to translate.  I got through to them that although my nails still looked good from 2 weeks ago, that I wanted them to look great for the next 3 weeks, until I get home.   So, she did the deluxe thing.   I’ve seldom done manicures in my “real life” but here I found it to be an indulgence that made life more bearable.  I’ll have to get a job to keep up the habit when I get home.

I can hardly wait to see you, my friends and family, and I’m sad to leave you, my new friends.  May we all meet again, preferably at my house, where we can sit near the garden and eat fresh strawberries right off the plant.