Days 277-278: Final Chinese Lesson, Hanging Out with Richard

Thursday we had our final Chinese lesson with Deborah. We practiced writing characters, did some review and time and dates, went over question words, and that was about it. We did spend a lot of time just talking; I think this is why she didn't charge us the full amount. She even bought us tea. She want to get together before we leave, tentatively on June 23. Sounds fun!  Kerry and I did some more packing in the evening. I'm really getting concerned that we are not going to have enough suitcase space. We basically have three things left to pack at this point: gifts for others, clothes, and kitchen things. But I think a lot of the kitchen things will have to stay.  Kerry wasn't thrilled about doing the packing; in fact, he was kind of in a bad mood today. He is trying to wean himself off Diet Coke and I think it's influencing his mood.  I also wrote my two final exams today for my two classes and sent them to Katherina and Carol, respectively. (BTW...Deborah told us that the "apple-pears" are just a type of pear in China, called "snow pears"!  Interesting..)

Friday we hung out with Richard again. We took a cab to a mall that had a Carl's Jr. in it (a different one from the one we went to last time). I was feeling hungry so I had their largest burger. I noticed that I was given chili sauce instead of ketchup a little bit late, after putting it on my fries: oops! Afterwards, we saw the movie Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It wasn't bad, for a sci-fi movie: it kept my attention, I think, better than the Avengers movie we saw. I guess I like dinosaurs....  After the movie was out, Kerry, Richard and I noticed a one Chinese guy punching other another on the ground; a third Chinese man had to get between them and make him stop. All three mean, I think, worked for the same company; they were wearing blue delivery uniforms. It was a bit unsettling; we don't see that a lot in China. It took awhile to get a taxi home.

 Once we got there, I graded response papers most of the evening, and Kerry went gaming. Around 8:15 pm, Christa came over with some beers: we chatted and gossiped a bit about some news. Today the international faculty learned that they have to move out of their building before mid-September: we told Richard this in the cab today, but the other international faculty were sent an e-mail about this, anyway. It was a major topic of conversation on the HuaHongYuan Condo WeChat group, and for me and Christa as well. We feel really bad for everyone who's been given such last-minute notice like this, especially Richard, Alex, and Peter. Alex just moved into a three-bedroom apartment and has a new baby, so this has to be extremely inconvenient for him. It's good that we (who are leaving July 6) and Christa (who is leaving July 4) don't have to deal with this, but I have great empathy for those who now have to find a place to live. They don't know whether to live in Songjiang or find their own place. I think if I were them, I'd live in Songjiang: I wouldn't have to deal with that horrid 90 minute bus ride each way.

Here are some pics from our Friday outing with Richard:

Kerry and Richard (with a root beer we gave him).

Kerry gets eaten by a dinosaur.

Orangey glares at us. This is a typical look for her.