Tuesday again

I started to type "Tuesday.." into the title and a cookie suggested "Tuesday Report". How can we be on our second Tuesday (and last Tuesday) of the trip? The thought of it being over could make me cry.

Today Wen and I hit the markets, which are really HUGE shopping areas, several floors high, of booth venders. We went to the YaShow market for clothes, the Silk Market for, um silk, I think, but when offered opted to go back to the hotel and skip the Pearl Market. Even though they were supposed to be specific, all three markets had the same things; clothes, jewellery, trinkets, souveniers, etc. My goal was to find traditional outfits for AnnaWen and Paxten J to wear to the Chinese holiday celebrations at home. I could order them online for $25 each or so, but at these markets you're able to barter down the price. Each "silk" dress (I use the term silk loosely) started at about $360 RMB which is about $50 CDN. BUT, I bought 6 outfits at one place for a final price of $120 RMB or not quite $3 each. Yay me. They're not real silk, they're not great quality, but for something the girls may wear two or three times a year before outgrowing them, they're good enough.

The bartering is mostly fun... using a calculator they put in first their "offering price" and then, because I'm their first costumer, or b/c I have a Chinese baby, or b/c I'm their friend, or b/c I'm Canadian, or b/c I have sweet smelling farts, they give me a "special price" entered on the calculator. I say "no, too much". They ask what price I want and I punch in a rediculously low price (between 10 and 30% of their lowest price). They tell me they're starving and I'm don't know how much they're losing and I walk away. If it works, they chase me down the isle calling me "Pretty Lady" and invite me back to barter more. For evrything I bought, they came down to within 20RMB of MY lowest price, so I did pretty good. The highest I went was on a BAG of Pokemon characters for the boys that I really REALLY wanted, so I probably paid more than I should have, but I was still way under half of his "best price" in the end. It's fun. The best part is if it doesn't work, it's very likely the exact same item is three boothes down and I can start all over again.

It did get mean. When I tried to walk away a few would grab my arm to hold me. That was the end of the negotiations for me, regardless of how much I wanted whatever it was they were selling. I'd tell them to let go, a few times having to pry their fingers off me. One woman replied to this (and my offer) by swatting my arm and calling me CRAZY LADY the whole time I walked away down the isle. Yea, that's going to get me back. So, when the guide offered to drop some people off at the hotel, I jumped at the chance. Most of the women went on while the dads stayed back with the kids. Tonight we're going to an acrobat show and will be out late. I want Wen to see it, not sleep through it, so I decided to stay home and get her down for a nap instead of going to the third place.

Steve and Julie are not here, but didn't expect me back until later so I'm not surprized. I hope they enjoyed the basketball game, though, mostly.

N

PS... I've had some inquiries about meeting us at the airport. I think AnnaWen is doing fantastically so far, so if you want to come to the airport (either in Toronto or in Halifax), please feel free to do so, remembering these two points: We will not be handing Anna over for anyone to hold. Holding will be only for Steve or I at that point to save her from being overwhelmed and to emphasize that we are her primary care givers. And secondly, but more importantly, if you are in Halifax, please respect the right of the Munsters to greet and meet their sister first. They are terribly excited about her and have waited even longer than we have to see her first hand and say 'nihao' to her (and maybe count to 3 or say 'snow' thanks to KaiLan).

We land in toronto around 6:50 on the 19th, but I'm told to expect an hour or two delay as we go through immigration processes. We land in Halifax around 730 on the 20th.

I'm sure we'll be making some rounds in Nova Scotia as I'm off for the first couple of weeks, and we're keeping her forever so there'll be lots of time to meet her in the future, so don't feel you have to be at the airport or you'll never get to see her.

N again.