Shopping again

I have access to our blog again, so I will try to post more often.

We did our big shopping trip today, and I was right - it was exhausting. Our first stop was Decathalon, a very nice sporting goods store. Kevin finally got his new bike! Shopping there is quite easy (sporting goods are easy to figure out). And both times we have been there, they have had staff who speak English (the kids learn English in school, so many know enough to understand and help us).

Then we went to IKEA and ate lunch. The 20-something Chinese couple next to us was giggling about Kevin eating Swedish meatballs with chopsticks! We bought rugs and hampers and stuff for our condo.

Then on to Metro. Grocery shopping seems to be the hardest, because we really need to look at the products and read the labels (when we can). Luckily our driver speaks English, so when we need to, we invite him to come shopping with us and he is able to translate the packages. Still, it is hard to find enough food that we are familiar with to make healthy meals. We have been to all of the major supermarkets. Next we will try the local market for produce. We still haven't found a good source of meat. We are a little squeamish about the fresh meat, as it isn't always clear if it has been reliably refrigerated.

For those of you going grocery shopping over the weekend, you can reflect on how easy it is!

The good news is that tonight I made my first batch of cookies in China (chocolate chip) and they turned out great! Actually, better than usual since I used real butter, which I don't usually do at home.

We are all feeling better, but not well yet. I'm sure the stress has delayed our healing. We were able to sleep in past 6 am this morning, so our bodies are adjusting to the time change.

We are going to have a relaxing day tomorrow and then hopefully visit the beach on Sunday.
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