Cheesin'

The theme of this post is cheese. But there is also a couchsurfer. So maybe the theme is the letter C. Cool.

Melissa and I had a problem. We were stressed. We were hungry. We missed home. We needed something. But what did we need? Hmm...

The answer, of course, was cheese. But cheese is terribly expensive here, more than $5 for a small brick. We went to Metro, which is the equivalent of a Costco or Sam's Club in the States. You don't need a membership, or I never check at the entrance, so you can just purchase bulk goods and also cheaper imported goods.

Not only did I get cheese on this trip, but also chocolate. It was a productive journey.

We discovered that the small bricks were about the same price as any other import store in Shanghai, so we explored the larger blocks, carefully avoiding the ones produced in China. China has disgusting cheese. Worse than slices of Kraft "American" cheddar. Much, much worse. Anyway, we spotted a huge wheel of Belgian Gouda. But it was 87元. Actually, it was 87元 per kilogram which we didn't realize at the time and then at checkout practically had an aneurysm about the 300元 price tag of our cheese wheel. But even with that expense (about $45) we still saved about 50% of cheese price and I have enough cheese to last for several months and/or host a fondue party.

 The big cheese.

We needed to split the cheese so we could freeze wedges for later. It was quite the operation.

 

Cutting the cheese. Ha.

 

Cheese bags.

We both ended up with 8 wedges of cheese that are about the size of a small cheddar brick. They are chillin' (no pun intended) in my freezer for later use. I'm excited about it. Tastes great in my eggs. Hurray!

I also accepted my first couchsurfer on Friday. For those of you who haven't really heard of it, Couchsurfing.com is a site that links travelers to one another so they can find hosts in foreign cities. Hosting can comprise of a homestay or just meeting for a cup of coffee or museum tour. I said my couch was available about two weeks ago and received four requests within the day. I was completely overwhelmed, so I denied a few. Many were too sudden and needed a place within the week. This is completely normal within the community because you really are just crashing on their floor, but I'm more of a planner, and I was not at all ready.

Shanghai is a popular destination, so I've been receiving requests pretty consistently. I accepted one from a girl named Tina from Germany. She seemed sweet and only needed one night. We communicated entirely through the Couchsurfing website (for accountability) and I gave her my cell number. When I came home on Friday, she was there with her big backpack waiting to get in. It was so exciting!

She was only here for a day so I showed her a map and explained how to get to a few neat places in Shanghai that evening. We met back up later that night and made plans for breakfast the next day. I had a magazine advertising the "Best Breakfasts in Shanghai" sitting on my coffee table, so we explored those options, deciding on one brunch in the French Concession.

The next day, Tina hauled her big pack on the bus with Anna, Bethie and I to find Madison. That turned out to be closed until noon, so we trekked onward to Mr. Pancake House, which is an incredible American-style diner by Jing'an Temple. We got enormous breakfasts with FREE cups of unlimited coffee.

Best. Day. Ever.

 

Nom nom.

 

My first couchsurfer!

After that, Tina had to take off for the airport (here for less than 24 hours) so we wandered over to the temple to see her off at the subway. I'm so glad to have hosted her and I'm looking forward to hosting more people in the future. It forces you off your butt and also encourages networking internationally!

We wandered around the import store under Jing'an for an hour, buying up necessities like chili powder and chocolate, then headed home. All in all, a pretty good few days!

And I have cheese FOREVER.

Love,
ellen