Helping to Decorate Our Son's Place and Receiving a Friend from Canada in Guangzhou, China

Shopping at IKEA, China J. went to Guiyang to hang out with the new friends he met there. We went to Ikea ourselves taking a taxi there but the taxi driver dropped us off at the old Ikea site. We walked around the mall a little, had dinner, then took the subway to the new Ikea location. We bought a few things to help furnish J.'s place. One of the reasons we wanted to be in China was to help him a little. Having moved into his own place not long ago, he needed a few things. Therefore we went to IKEA and bought a few dishes, racks etc for his place to make it more functional. We were happy to get these things for him. But after shopping at IKEA, we had a problem letting the taxi driver know where we were supposed to be dropped off. It took a little while but we did manage to get home! 08152023 Tbe fridge from Walmart arrived today and we were very excited! We actually wanted to buy a dryer for our son's apartment. But we couldn't find it in any Chinese stores in Guangzhou including Walmart. I guess that was becasue Chinese people usually dry their clothes by hanging them from their balconies or hanging them by the windows. Without consumer demand, therefore, stores are not selling them. But we did get a fridge for J. as a housewarming gift for his new home. As a mom, I wanted to help my son and made his life easier. Therefore, we tried to clean up and declutter the apartment as much as possible before J. came back from Guiyang. HelpING him to get rid of lots of stuffs WAS something that needed to be done. The final cleaning was the balcony and those big plastic storaage boxes which took up a lot of space. It took me a whole day but I was happy about the result. S. worked hard putting together the IKEA drying rack which fit perfectly over the washer. It would create more space for hanging clothes to dry. 08162023 Since I didn't sleep well last night, I got up around 6am and did two loads of laundry for J. While we were in China, I tried to help him organized as much as possible. After my bible devotion, we went for a massage by two blind massagers in the neighbourhood. I really enjoyed that as the massager did a great job on my muscle pain! We also went for some medicinal Chinese herbal teas in the neighborhood shop. I made some lunch and shared a brief passage about the story of David and his friend in the B book with J. In the late afternoon, we took the subway train to meet up with Darrell who recently moved from Canada to China. It was good seeing him, J. and Darell hit it off well nd they kept talking and exchanging their life experiences in China. We walked around in a new area of the city and enjoyed a dinner together. After dinner, J, invited Darrell to his apartment for dessert and play a board game. J. showed Darrell how to use the Chinese app to order food and for getting deliveries in a cab. I am constantly amazed by the efficiency of the private delivery system here in China. Our snacks arrived within less than 30 minutes. We played the Catan game, enjoyed some desserts, great conversations with good friends and had a really nice time togerher. The young people need good company. It was good to see that they could have a great time just being at home playing some board games, interacting with real people in person without gluing to their cell phone or spending time in a bar drinking. What a refreshing change! Darrell is easy going, gets along well with J. I pray that these two young men will become good friends and can regularly share their unique experiences in China togerher. RT, Guangzhou, China 08192023