Yesterday was a fairly uneventful work day. However, two colleagues and I ducked out early and taxied over to the Fabric Market. A week prior they had ordered clothing made and were going to pick them up. I tagged along and was introduced to a new level of shopping induced stress. The indoor market is floors of stall after stall - each one a combined fabric, tailor and clothing shop. You look at the styles hanging on the front of the stall, and then when you see something you like, you pick out the fabric, haggle a price and before you know it they are measuring, recording and taking your deposit. Exciting and nerve-wracking. I had heard that cashmere coats are the thing to get made here. And with my colleague's assistance with the fabric and haggling, I go next week to pick up a new coat. Hopefully it will be a success and not an expensive cultural experience.
Today's big outing was to visit the Shanghai Rotary Club. As a DC Rotarian, I am supposed to make up club meetings while traveling. I opted for the smaller, informal lunch "fellowship" meeting which was near work. Only four of us showed, but it was still an interesting experience and I came away with the requisite club flag to bring back - like a war trophy - for my club's growing collection. Interestingly, the man who had the flag went to law school at Willamette, had several Oregon connections and his sister and I were born at the same hospital in California. With his driver, he gave me a ride back to work and insisted if I ever had any problems while in China I was to call him. Yep, that seems to be the Rotary way.
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