Time in the USA, Part Two

I'll hit the highlights for each day this week....

Sunday: Today we had a Superbowl Thanksgiving dinner. I made a turkey with stuffing and Maureen made a broccoli salad. Kerry got some dips from Acapulco (cheese, salsa, gauc) and we settled in to watch the Super Bowl: lots of offense and scoring--the Eagles beat the Patriots, for which I was grateful. Alison and Art left the next day.

Here's the turkey I made for our Super Bowl dinner!

Monday: We didn't do much during the day (errands and bills), but in the evening we hung out with Rachelle. We had Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and then saw a Japanese anime called A Silent Voice about a deaf girl who eventually becomes friends with the boy who had been bullying her. I wasn't overly impressed, particularly when she tries to commit suicide near the end of the film. Too depressing.

Tuesday: I did my Career Pathways Day at Century today on "What Can We Learn from Chinese Students?" 10 students and 2 faculty (Chris W. and Larry) showed it; it seemed to be pretty well-received. I then had lunch with Yanmei in her office (which she provided--steamed buns and sticky rice cakes). Kerry did errands for his mom most of the day. In the evening, we saw the girls' play, Madagascar. There were two versions: one for the younger kids (which we came in a bit late for), and then the one with Destiny and Amber. The costumes were terrific, and then choreography was splendid as well! Not a lot of folks in the audience because it was a dress rehearsal, but we still had a good time.

Curtain call at Madagascar!

Wednesday: Two major meals today: we had lunch with Chris Weyandt--first we got to see his beautiful apartment in downtown St. Paul. Then we had lunch (although I hesitate to call it lunch, it was so amazing) at the St. Paul Grille at the Saint Paul Hotel. I owed Chris a good meal for all his TYCA work, and he took full advantage of this, ordering a filet mignon with a good Merlot. :)  I got some calamari and a cobb salad, and Kerry ordered some mac and cheese. We were pleased all around. In the evening, we met up with Crystalyn and the girls one last time at Tokyo Sushi for dinner: they were over an hour late, but we still had a lot of fun, particularly towards the end, when Destiny pretended to be a cat and licked Kerry all over!!  He was in hysterics. Fortunately, the people at the neighboring table didn't think we were totally insane.

View from the roof at Chris's apartment.

Kerry, Destiny, and Crystalyn at Tokyo Sushi.

Thursday: More shopping today, as well as some packing. We had dinner this evening with Jen and Sherri--Maureen made a turkey pot pie with the leftover turkey from the Super Bowl dinner. Plus we had more delicious broccoli salad--yum! We decided to give Jen and Sherri a lot of the leftover food that we had in the fridge and pantry that we couldn't use and didn't want to take with us.

Friday: Kerry and I had breakfast with Beth, the English department chair, at Jensen's in Burnsville. I had a salmon and cream cheese omlette--really good! We spent most of the day packing for our departure tomorrow. In the evening, we went to Taste of Thaiyai with Zach and Sarah--I got my usual lemon chicken soup, and Maureen and I split a pad thai. Good stuff! In the evening, we took Kerry's car back to Jen and Sherri.

Post-breakfast selfie with Beth and Kerry.

Saturday: Today was the day we left MN and went back to Shanghai. Morning security at MSP wasn't too bad--we didn't have to take our clothes or belt off because (as we were told) "the canine pre-checked us." I didn't see the dog get anywhere near me, but I took their word for it. We had a 3.5 hour flight to LA, and I slept through almost all of it. In LA, we ate at a burger place where you could make your own burger--I made one with cheddar cheese, guac, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and sauteed mushrooms and onions. It was a bit medium, but still good. They also had garlic aioli fries. By the time we finished lunch, it was time to get on the next flight. Watched 3.5 movies (Battle of the Sexes, Loving Vincent, School of Rock, and 1/2 of Clueless) and 2 episodes of Bob's Burgers on the way. I must say, I really loved Battle of the Sexes--about the match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs--and am disappointed that it didn't get more critical acclaim. I managed to get up only once, after the first eight hours. I sat down almost the entire 13 hour flight. Once we were done, we found a flight agent who managed to find us a van home. It was expensive: 480 RMB, and then, on top of that, the driver hit us up for a tip at the end!!!!  What a way to start the new semester: a demand for a tip...can't say that's happened before in China, so we were both taken aback. Still, we gave him 50 RMB, because he *did* lift our bags up and down. And it's $8 for us...not too bad. But I'm guessing he was taking advantage of the laowai. We ordered McDonald's when we got home and then crashed around 9:30 pm Shanghai time.

The burger place we went to in LAX.

Getting a kiss before the ride home to China.

Until tomorrow...