BRRRR It's Cold in Here!!!!!!!

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Since we returned from Cambodia the weather in Shenzhen has taken a drastic turn and is REALLY chilly. It has been cool, cloudy, windy and a little rainy since last Thursday. Today, when I checked the temperature online it felt like 9 degrees Celsius=47 degrees Fahrenheit. BRRRR. We are wimps though since we lived in San Diego for 6 and 7 years plus our apartment has tile floors, single pane windows, concrete exterior and no heat. Our classrooms at school have no heat and the hallways are all outdoors.

Since returning we also decided we were going to make it a point to find food that we could cook at home and start to enjoy our home life more. On Saturday we went shopping at Vanguar, our local supermarket. As the market and supermarket are 2 TOTALLY different things in China. We were able to find spaghetti made in Australia and french bread. We had never bought these items before but we were missing one key ingredient spaghetti sauce. We searched up and down the aisles but none to be found. We had heard about these GREAT grocery stores in the city center that had LOTS of foreign or imported foods (too bad it is over an hour bus ride from us). Life is so much different for those foreign teachers place in Louhu, Futian or Nanshan who have these foods at their finger tips.

Today I decided to take the free van ride to Chinese class and go shopping for warmer clothes and Western food instead of going to class. It was a success!!!!!!!!

I bought ALOT of fleece: purple lounge pants(I wear a 3X in China WOW, very sobering and purpler was the only color in my size), red zip up jacket, black gloves, black scarf, 2 pairs of warm fuzzy socks(used to wear them in SD in the winter) and a long sleeve black t-shirt that is an XL(not loose fitting either). This is why I have never bought any clothes in China until now, also I packed enough warm weather clothes. I spent a total of 155 kuai=$22.69 on all these items at WAL-MART, yes I am wearing clothes from Wal-Mart, not my typical Old Navy or Gap attire.

The women here have NO boobs, thighs or booty so I am an XL for a top and 3XL for lounge pants were in America I would wear a medium or possibly large. Do you believe we have an obesity problem in America yet?

Pete didn't make the journey with me today as he is doing his language exchange 4 times a week now Monday-Thursday. He teaches English while getting Chinese help in return.

Pete did go shopping on his own here in Longgang and found some long johns(top and bottom), hooded fleece jacket for 120 kuai=$17.57, warm fuzzy slippers for him and I, also some more bath towels since the clothes take longer to dry in this cold weather. Things are much pricier here in the suburbs than downtown.

Back to the food portion of my shopping trip. I got to experience Ole for the first time and will be going there every week or 2 weeks as long as we live in Shenzhen. Yes, it is pricey to eat food from the US but when you get so sick of eating Chinese food it is TOTALLY worth the extra money to have the comfort of your own food.

Items I bought: tortilla chips, salsa, Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate(keeps us warm and it isn't tea), Nature Valley granola bars, Ragu spaghetti sauce, Kraft parmesan cheese, blueberries, pancake mix, maple syrup, Honey Bunches of Oats, lots of yummy looking cookies/crackers, and Rold Gold pretzels. MMMMM I am so excited to eat all this food. You don't even want to know how much I paid but it was well worth it to break up our favorite Chinese restaurants, KFC and McDonald's rotation that we have been eating the last 3 months for lunch and dinner.

Pete and I both said "You know it is bad when we hate meal times cause it is like what do we get to eat now." I have NEVER had this problem in my life, dreading meal time.

Hopefully Ole, grocery store, will help this feeling as we can make pancakes and french toast now for breakfast, Spaghetti for any meal and I didn't even check out the meat department cause I knew I had enough items to carry back onto the subway for one stop to the bus terminal, ride an hour then transfer another 2 bus stops to get home. Well worth the trip today.

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Photos

This is why we NEED a space heater
I am rockin' my new slippers, lounge pants, long sleeved shirt and jacket. I look like I should be on "What Not To Wear" but I am only in my house trying to keep warm.

BRRR
Pete with his new fleece hoodie and slippers.

Comments

[Mom]

BRRRRR
I love your color combinations!!! I am not sure that would have worked in SD!!!! But now you just buy what you need to stay warm...not so concerned about the colors!!! The sizing is crazy!!!Good thing I am not over there....I would have to go to the tent shop!!!! We take food items for granted!!!!Good talking to you this morning!!!!

[Denise]

Haha...I love the title of this blog!!

[paulette]

COLD.......
What a shock to come back to after the great trip to Thailand and Cambodia. Sounds like you are adjusting more and more - good to find that comfort food. If I ever end up in China, I'd be in double digit XXXs!

[sunketing]

Ole is a godsend
I'm with ya on the pasta sauce and pasta. If you do the math, and stretch out the sauce, it works out to only about 8-10 RMB a meal, which is about the cost of going out for Muslim noodles. Enjoy delicious food at home and feel like you're coming out ahead! BTW, Carrefour (in Central Walk) has a fantastic import food section with many of those items and their prices are lower. Last week I found chicken noodle soup for the first time. Happy Eating!