I know it's been forever since I've done this

Hi All

It's been a busy last couple of weeks. My elbow is almost totally all
better. Woohoo. So my typing is back to normal too.
We are gearing up to come home for the summer. Kids still have 8 more
days of school left. Lauren's class seems to be doing assemblies and
field trips from here on out. Poor Quint is doing finals. He has 3
more to go. But then he has 6 school days of I don't know what.
Families are already starting to leave, which is kinda depressing.
One thing that Lauren gets to do tonight is go to the "daddy daughter
dance". It's very fun. We went to the fabric market to buy her a
dress. She picked out a yellow chiffon fabric and a one shoulder
grecian style. Today her friend Eva and she are getting mani pedis
(so are the moms) and hair do's. She has asked Scott to wear his
tuxedo. Pics will follow.

But I've got to tell you about this fabric market. It's THE BEST
THING EVER!!!!! I went with Eva's mom Gwen to just see about getting
something that looks Chinese. That is my goal. So I wen't to have a
qipao made (traditional chinese dress). Because god knows that in
china I'm not going to find one off the rack. So off to the Bund
Fabric Market we go. It's a 3 story building that has about 100
cubbies of shops that will make you everything from dress shirts,
suits, raincoats, linen dresses, shirts, and pants to tacky dance
recital dresses for your child to appear on Toddlers in Tiaras. If
you bring in a picture of something you want copied they can do that
too. So I went to a cubby and had a traditional chinese jacket and a
qipao made. A week later and for about $65 I had hand made clothes.
So then I had a silk shirt made. That's where it gets tricky. It's
like an addition. I just can't stop. I now have two cute cotton
skirts, two wrap dresses, a qipao, a jacket and a silk shirt. And
they will sell you anything. I wanted a silk shirt that was hanging
up. I asked for it and after some bargaining, got a good price. Then
I realized it was someones who had it made for them and he marked it
in his book to go home and quickly make another. Ooops. Now there
are some pitfalls. Gwen had a dress made and it wasn't what she
wanted. Since she's leaving soon, she got a discount since they
couldn't fix it. You pay a deposit and they won't give it back if
they've already made the garment. Wrong or not. I was going to get a
tshirt made, but when I wen't to get it, they had ran out of material.
I've got to take you there when you come visit. It's fantastic.

i was thinking this morning about China. It's beautiful here right
now. We've had some unbearably hot and humid days, but the trees and
bushes are so pretty and flowery (is that a word?) right now. The
view from our front window is so nice. We could be anywhere and
sometimes I forget until I see a security guard make his rounds.
China is such a contradiction. It seems so clean in our area. Across
the street is the New Shanghai Expo Center. It's huge and every week
a new expo comes in. To set up, it takes a lot of man power. We walk
to the shopping center just past the expo center, and usually the
workers are eating. When they are done, they just throw the trash on
the ground. Then a group of ayi's come and sweep it all away. And
whoala, its all clean again. Chinese people are so polite and sweet
when you see them on the streets, but in cars they make New Yorkers
look like nuns. And if I had a dollar for every time I've seen a
worker pee in a bush, I'd have a closet full of qipao's.

Seriously
You all have got to come and see this place.

Love to all
Sue

--
The Radeker's - sradeker@gmail.com
1983 Huamu Lu，House #157 (Season's Villas)
Pudong New District， Shanghai 201204, China
上海市浦东新区花木路1983弄157号(四季雅苑), 邮编：201204