Another Letter From Mona

Hi Kids: Just a quick note to say we are doing fine. Dad is working Monday thru the Tuesday of next week so he can have Spring Festival week off. That's Chinese New Year's. We didn't manage to book any in country trips, but plan on taking a city tour of Suzhou. That will take up one day and isn't too expensive, around $38 each. Should be fun. Will have to figure out other activities for the rest of the week off. Me?, I've been trying to get us involved in the Expat Community here. Sally and I went for a luncheon last Thursday and joined. Today I attended a meeting for Dragon Boat racing that will be happening in June. Thought it might be something to try and give me another reason to get in shape. Guess we will see. Then Sally and I went to a delightful coffee get together and had a chance to meet more women or "trailing spouses" as we are called. Also, found out more info on where to do what, like getting our hair cut and such. We did tackle that one this afternoon. Mine wasn't too bad, because I ask one of the customers who spoke English and Chinese to help me out. She told the guy layer it, no hair drying, and leave long or her husband will kill her. He got a chuckle out of the latter, but still had to at least dry the top. The massage I received was worth the price of 58 RMB = $7.07. They massage your scalp while shampooing right there in the chair. The girl put shampoo on my hair, then used a bottle with a spout on it to get enough water on it to make more suds than I thought possible. Then she took me over to the sink, rinsed it and applied conditioner and rinsed again. After that we went back to the chair and for 30+ minutes she massaged my neck, shoulders, arms, fingers to the tips, palm, and then my back. It was quite relaxing. I can't say it was all a gentle massagee and I only hope I don't look like a bruised peach tomorrow. Unfortunately I was getting my massagee, as they say, while Sally was getting her hair cut. She wears hers to just above her shoulders and usually flips it under. Well she got a Chinese style SHORT hair cut. There's not enough to flip under. Then he kept trying to spike it on top and she kept trying to tell him to fluff it up, but no spikes. He just kept trimming more off, so she gave up. Sally is probably in her mid to late 50's and I tried to tell her it made her look younger, but she still was concerned. On the taxi ride home she was doing better than I in remembering directions in Chinese. I told her that her memory was longer than mine, but my hair was definitely longer than hers. She laughed pretty hard over that one. We must laugh at our adventures or they would definitely get the better of us. We are going to the spouses luncheon tomorrow, so we will see what adventures we have then. Miss and love you all. Write when you can, Mom/Mona/GraMona/Crazy Mom living in China