Days 251-252: The Weekend....with Students!

Like Wednesday, Saturday I had another student conversation, this time with Kerry. We met up with Bella, a student of mine from last term, and had a conversation with her at the McDonald's at Jiangwan Town Station. She asked us a series of questions about communication in China. It was fun to talk about these topics. We then had lunch with her and went home. So we got our walking in: it takes 25 minutes to walk to the subway, and that's the closest one to us. I really hate this about where we live. (I remember when I lived in Russell Square in London, I was about three blocks from the subway.)  We were tired when we got home and took a LONG afternoon nap, then had a VERY late dinner (pork chops and potatoes).. I worked on my presentations for next class and for NTNU. I also finished reading Gatsby today: I did some in the morning and some in the evening as well.

Here's a selfie we took with Bella!

Sunday we went to a cat cafe in Shanghai with two of my current Short Novel students, Ashley and Sway. The name of the cafe is "Cats and Alice." It has an Alice in Wonderland theme. It took awhile to get there--we took the bus, and then the subway each way: 10 subway stops, with two transfers. But we did manage it. We met up with Ashley and Sway in the subway station and we walked to the cafe together. Or, at least, we tried to. They couldn't figure out where it was at first; it was the blind leading the blind. Eventually, though, they discovered it: it was in what appeared to be an old office building, on the 17th floor. Geez! However, on the inside, the cafe itself was very cute. No fee to get in, and lots of cats. We were allowed to pet them, feed them, and even pick them up. The cats were very active, crawling over tables and jumping up on things. I couldn't entice them in playing, though; they were much more interested in food. We ate some chicken, fries, and cheesecake as well as "ice cream teas." We chatted with Ashley and Sway a bit: Sway is taking 12 classes and Ashley 14. I don't know how these students do it. We stayed a couple hours and then went home. (Unfortunately, when we take the bus and subway, it takes much longer to travel, even though it is much cheaper.) In the evening, I graded papers. We had leftover pork chops and chicken for dinner and made a salad, too. Good stuff.

Pics from the cat cafe visit:

My favorite kitten from the cafe.

Sway and Ashley feeding cats at our table.

Selfie--(left to right) Me, Sway, Ashley, and Kerry.