Destiny

I almost didn't leave my apartment this afternoon.

My apartment is nice and cool and air conditioned.  Outside is crazy hot with the most stifling humidity I have ever experienced.

But I needed vegetables and things with which to make dinner, so I unwillingly stepped out of my apartment and made the 10 minute walk to the Family Center grocery store.  I am so glad I did.

Because I left my apartment I:
1. Got to chat with a couple from my company for a few minutes
2. Picked out some fresh veggies at the market
3. Literally almost cried in front of the milk section because the milk I bought 1 week ago is apparently no longer carried, and I didn't know what to do (not everything can be positive...)
4. Got some advice on which rice to purchase from a British person (I still didn't buy rice, though, as I want more advice from people in my company.)

All the rice options...

5. Successfully purchased my groceries
6. Bought a hot water kettle from the local hardware/housewares store
7. Chatted in Chinese with the lovely man who runs said housewares store
8. Learned the words for latitude and longitude in Chinese from said man. (They're Wei3 Du4, and Jing1 Du4 if you're interested)
9. Got to chat with another couple from my company for a few minutes
10. Struck up a wonderful conversation in Chinese with a young woman and her mother over the young woman's adorable 1 year old girl (see more below the pictures)
                 AND.......
11. Made my first real dinner in my apartment

Dough for my tortillas

Veggies and eggs for inside the tortillas

Homemade tortillas

My dinner

More about number 10.  I almost passed these people by with no more than a wave.  But they were trying to get the cute little girl to say hello to her Ayi (auntie), a.k.a. me.  I felt compelled to stay and talk with them a little, so I asked them how old she was and this started a conversation about where I'm from and what I'm doing in Tianjin.  After the grandmother forced me to take her seat on the bench, she asked me if I was teaching English at the international school.  I corrected her to tell her I'm teaching music.  She then excitedly informed me that she is a music teacher, too.  She teaches voice lessons out of her home right in the complex where we all live. And her daughter is a cellist in the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra.  I then talked with them both for about another 15 minutes.  In Chinese. Mostly...

The daughter, Liu Chang, and I exchanged *WeChat information and promised to keep in touch often.  The two women also said we will get together again soon.

Before I left in order to get my cold items in my fridge, Liu Chang told me that she believed our meeting was 有缘 (you3 yuan2), or 'destiny'.  I'm inclined to agree. 

I am extremely glad I decided to step out of my apartment door.

Liu Chang and I

*WeChat is a Chinese app that serves as a free instant messaging and social media platform.  And it works across countries too, so if you want to get WeChat send me a message and I will add you and we can basically text halfway around the world for free.  And it's in English, so don't worry about having to decipher Chinese.