Fun, fun and more fun

Friday was a good, though tiring day at work. A US supplier visited and we had a great meeting to share ideas and trade information. It was good for the local engineers, etc., to get first-hand info.

Friday night we went to the Howard Johnson All-Suites for buffet dinner. It was pretty good and we'll probably go again.

Saturday we slept in and it felt so good! Then we went shopping and I became a one-day sensation in Suzhou. I had bought a shirt in Guilin, black with Chinese characters in white. It says "mei you qian" pronounced "may yo chen". It means "I have no money". I wore it Saturday as we went shopping and everybody got a kick out of it. The workers at the mall, the other shoppers, people on the street. Everywhere we went, we heard "mei you qian!" And people would laugh. At the American bar last night, the other foreigners wanted to know where to buy one. It was surprising how much entertainment I provided. Imagine the lack of response a foreigner in the US would get just by wearing a shirt that says "no money".

And you can tell my jaw muscles are still misaligned. I now have a crooked smile :^/


Today we did a little more shopping and found a pretty dress for GP. Our best bet for pregnancy clothes has been the Korean clothing stores. The dresses are typically loose and/or high-waisted, so they fit her well, and the fashions are 200% better than the Chinese, maternity clothes.

Afterwards we stopped at Big & Whistle for an orange juice and some popcorn. On our stroll following drinks, we made a big discovery. And it was delicious.

Teasing GP and real, American food

Thursday was pretty typical here; I came home from work, made myself some food and sat in front of the computer. GP was at school and sent me a message that she would have dinner with GQQ after class. Nothing out of the ordinary.

At 9:25, she's going to head home and we start this message exchange:

GP: Your girlfriend left?
MO: Leaving now, I am giving her money.
GP: Why give her money?
MO: She needs operation to fix her bad leg.
MO: One leg too short. Always walk in circle la
GP: Always walk in circle? How to leave our house?
MO: I tell her to keep turning right. Then she walks straight.

GP reports that she was laughing so hard, the taxi driver was looking at her strangely. It reminds a running gag (no pun intended) all Friday, too. Like when I walked with one leg on the sidewalk and one in the gutter and said: This is like how my gf walks.

*****

While grocery shopping, we glanced through the meat aisle and I spotted chicken livers. Mmm, fried chicken livers. I promised GP that I'd make some real, American food for her. Fried livers with spaghetti. Then I reminded her what spaghetti is :)
I had also decided to make banana bread, so it was a day of true, "just like home" cooking.

I fried the livers in oil after a little flour coating, then fried some bell peppers with onion and tossed them with the livers. The spaghetti was typical (Barilla) with some Prego sauce (I jazzed it up a little with more pepper and onion). It was very good and GP enjoyed it a lot. We had made the bread batter before dinner and the loaves came out just as we sat to eat.

The banana bread is good, though a little underbaked. I blame new recipe and convection oven, but it is tasty, so I don't mind. I'll try again sometime and give bread as real American gifts.

Joke

Stolen, er, borrowed with attribution from Top5:

If aliens landed in my yard today and said,
"Take me to your leader," I'd probably refuse.
Not to protect the president, mind you, but
because I'd be too embarrassed to admit to an
advanced civilization that we elected this guy.

(Paul B.)

I'm Matt and I endorse this message.