Uncle Tony's Visit

Tony arrived from Hong Kong on Thursday evening with his friends Mavis and Yvonne and it was a very nice reunion. Just in time for turkey dinner at the clubhouse. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Anne and her family. It was very nice to have Thanksgiving with friends- old and new. Matthew was very happy to see his Uncle Tony. Hard to believe we just saw him several months ago in the States. Time goes by so quickly. All we needed to complete the meal was Gus and Tallini, May and the kids and we would have been all set!

We spent the past few days taking Tony and his friends around Shanghai. We did the usual- shopping and eating. We took them to the Blue Frog, Moon River Diner, Nanxiang Steamed Buy Restaurant and Crystal Jade. We did the usual tourist attractions- Yu Yuan, Jin Miao Tower, the Bund and Xintiandi. It was a very short trip for Tony who had to leave yesterday to return to Hong Kong. He'll be leaving Hong Kong next week to return to the United States. He's dragging all my US holiday cards to mail from New York. Be on the lookout in your mailbox for your card. Thank you Tony!

We plan to see each other in Rome next summer. Matthew has expressed an interest in going to Italy to get in touch with his Italian side. The gang will meet us there as well. It will be the usual suspects-Tony, Gus, Tallini, May and the kids and of course, us. We'll probably have Tony's parents meet us in Italy as well and we're probably going to take a trip to Sicily to meet Tony's relatives in Ramacca. Summer will be here before you know it. I better get moving with booking a reservation to Italy.

Thanksgiving

It's that time of the year again. Hard to believe that this is our second Thanksgiving celebration in Shanghai.  Matthew's class held a luncheon today for the families. Each of the kids had to prepare their favorite dish to share with the class. Matthew wanted to share cornbread since it was appropriate for the holiday. It was a different kind of Thanksgiving. Not the traditional turkey, gravy, cranberries and stuffing. The kids brought in sushi, dumplings, pumpkin muffins, sandwiches, pasta and buns.  It didn't matter what we ate, but what we were thankful for.  The kids each told the class what they were thankful for.  It was unanimous.  Family and friends. Oh yes, and a great teacher too! 

Our friend, Tony will be arriving from Hong Kong tomorrow evening. He'll be staying with us for a few days. We will have our Thanksgiving celebration at the clubhouse with Anne and her family. Though we can't be at the table with our loved ones in the States, it's really nice to have friends to celebrate with here in China.

So, we give thanks for all our family and friends and the love and support you've given us. We wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember us when you're passing the turkey to have a portion for us as well!

Hairy Crab - Take 2

We went on a company outing today to Suzhou for a taste of hairy crab. It didn't matter that I went with my friends just a few days ago, any chance for hairy crab...I'm game! We embarked on a two and a half hour bus ride to Suzhou and then boarded a boat to arrive to our destination. Matthew and Tony have never experienced hairy crab and it was a good way to get them to try it. It was nice to see Tony's colleagues and their children again. We met some of the new children who were just born recently and were amazed at how big all the kids have gotten.

We had a ten course banquet and the hairy crab was served at the end. It was messy but very good. We had three crabs between Tony and I and it was all gone. It took me almost an hour to pick through the one crab that I had. Matthew and the other kids weren't interested in tasting the crab. They were more interested in torturing them instead. After our dinner, Matthew and the kids played a game of soccer in the front yard of the "restaurant". I'm using the term restaurant very loosely because it was more like someone's house that we had dinner at. We boarded the boat for our ride back to the dock to pick up our bus for our long ride back to Shanghai. All was quiet on the bus since we were all full and tired.

Thus is almost the end of the hairy crab season. We'll be gearing up for Thanksgiving next week. Tony will be arriving into Shanghai on Thanksgiving day and we'll be breaking bread and sharing turkey at the clubhouse with my friend Anne and her family. Another eating marathon will begin when Tony arrives!

Hairy Crab

My friends and I went on a tour to visit Tai Lake located in an area called She Shan in Suzhou. Suzhou is about two hours away from Shanghai and is home of the famous freshwater hairy crab. This is the season for hairy crab. When the first autumn chill sets in, many of the aficionados dine on hairy crab. The reason is the chill in the air signals that the crabs move less and thus bulk up with fat and produce more roe. It's a short lived season- ranging from September through December. The crabs are considered a delicacy. They are dark green in color and have fine golden hair on their legs and a patch of dark hair on their claws.

We left Shanghai early and arrived at a crab farm where we learned about the different products available from that area. Gingko nuts, mandarin oranges, tea leaves and crab. We went out on a fishing boat and took a tour of Tai Lake and saw how the farmers captured the crabs. We returned from our tour to sample our first hairy crab and to learn how to take one apart. In the States, the crab bashes equip you with plastic bibs, hammers and little picks. Here, you roll up your sleeves and use your hands. No fancy plastic bibs, no cute little hammers. Just you and your ten digits.

The crabs are tied up and boiled with ginger for about 15 minutes. They are bright orange red when they appear and this is where the fun begins. Andrea and I decided to share one. Anne passed since she's not a big fan of shellfish. It's a bit of a mess when you take the crab apart. The legs are used to pry the meat out and there is a bright orange cream that is very rich. The meat was very sweet and it was good. You dip the crabmeat in dark soy with vinegar and ginger. I can now honestly say that I have tasted a hairy crab.

Now, I'll just have to get Anne and Andrea to try fried scorpions.

Anne and Andrea

Meet my friends Anne and Andrea. They are residents at the Shanghai Racquet Club. We met two months ago and have been inseparable since then. Anne (on the left) is from Nottingham, England and arrived in Shanghai late August with her husband Tony and daughter Amy. Andrea (on the right) is from Michigan and was transferred mid-assignment from Tokyo and arrived in Shanghai in July. She's here with her husband Patrick and two children Tanner and Foster. Since I've been here longer than the two of them, I'm considered the guru of all information of Shanghai. Not true. I am full of useless information. Anne and Andrea learned early on that every excursion with me includes a meal (or two) somewhere in town. This bring back memories of my days at IP. (Lip smacking sound effects are in order here).

They can often be found in my kitchen enjoying whatever homemade concoction is available with fresh ground coffee after we stampede home before the kids get off the bus. Anne's daughter knows to come directly to my house to find her mother. Amy often says that despite all the running around I do, I still find time to cook and bake for my family. She'll ask her mother why she can't do it as well. Amy has threatened to move in with me because she likes what she finds in my kitchen. Tanner and Foster have told Andrea that they want to move in with me as well. They've told her "Mrs. Susan is nice. She has two hamsters. Why can't we have that too?" Who knows, before the end of the year, I may wind up with three more kids. The beauty is, I didn't have to birth them and they've all been potty trained. You know I'm being sarcastic right?

You know that Anne and Andrea have been roped into my book club and they are also my mules. Andrea's going home to the US for the Christmas holidays. She'll be carrying all my US holiday cards to mail from Michigan. At least, I know they will arrive unlike the fiasco we had last year with the postal system here in China. Anne will return to England and will bring back the baking supplies that I need. It's a beautiful relationship we have.

Ironic that they bear the names of people that I loved while I was at IP. Now, I just need to find friends named Deborah, Melinda, Mary, Charlie and Janice and I'll be all set. It doesn't matter if I find friends with these names. The next friends I make will get renamed by me so I can very happy.

Textiles

Now that the banking fiasco has been resolved....I can get back to what I really like to do. I've spent some time wandering the stores looking at antique textiles. Some pieces have caught my eye and I took Tony to one of the shops to show him some of the pieces that I liked. He agreed and we purchased three pieces of antique textiles. The piece you see is from the Qing Dynasty (from 1644-1911) during the reign of Xian Feng (1851-1861). It was taken from a robe that was worn by a young prince of the royal family. I've been trying to find a robe in the imperial yellow color but it's almost impossible to find and if I can get it, it will be extremely expensive.

The two additional pieces are also from the Qing Dynasty during the reign of Xian Feng. One is gold embroidery of a dragon from a woman's skirt and the other is gold embroidery of a phoenix from a woman's skirt. For those who don't know, the dragon is male and the phoenix is female. Thus is the start of our collection. I'm sure there will be more to come before we leave this area but it's nice to have something that will always remind us of our time in China.

Issues

Communication is a major problem here in China. In the US- we're quick to acknowledge and respond to emails so at least the recipient will know when to expect a resolution. Here- radio silence. No response, no acknowledgment. The mentality is ... if we don't respond, it'll just go away.

Tony's expense reimbursements since August have not been paid out. After sending numerous emails to the finance department ..... three weeks later we finally get an answer. It seems that the reimbursements have been deposited into a colleague's account. Oops. Finance writes an email to his colleague and asks that he give the cash to Tony. Maybe the finance department doesn't see the issue that is blatantly glaring at me. There is a paper trail issue. In the US- finance would offset the cash paid out against any future expense reports submitted by the colleague. Finance will then pay out the outstanding expense reimbursements to Tony again and DEPOSIT it into the right account. Two weeks go by, no cash has been handed and now we're at a crossroads.

I'm tempted to do something Soprano like. You know..."Badda bing, badda boom. You don't hand over da cash, I'm a gonna hafta take you to the back and rough you up a bit. I'm gonna get Paulie involved and he's gonna hafta knee cap you." My other option is call in the Chinese triads. The way I see it, It's nice to be set up on both sides. Life has it's advantages here. I often tell Matthew if anyone bothers him at school, he should say he has ties to the mob and to the triads. That ought to keep the bullies at bay. I have an over active imagination. I know. I know.

Getting back to the expense reimbursement fiasco. The other day, I went to the bank to check on the reimbursements. I wait over an hour at the bank only to be told that Tony has to appear at the branch where the account was opened with his passport, work permit and some other documentation. The teller muttered something that I didn't quite understand. All I can figure out was the account had been suspended.

Tony takes the day off today. Mr. Miao, Tony's driver takes us to the branch which is 1.5 hours away from our home. We wait in line to speak to a teller and before our eyes, several people are gathered at the terminal and they are whispering something about the account status. One representative is on the phone but no one tells us what is going on. Finally after 1.5 hours, it turns out the account was suspended because someone was trying to electronically transfer funds out of the account. Uh, hello .... did anyone try to contact us about this? No. The bank just suspends your account without sending out a letter or even try to contact you by phone. Oh, yeah, right. I forgot. No communication.

After 3 hours at the bank, I am happy to report that the account has been reinstated and Tony can go along his merry little way and I can continue my day job as his accountant, secretary and bouncer without pay. Now, I just have to find my brass knuckles and rough up his colleague and shake the lunch money out of him. Just kidding.