Jacob and Caroline followup

Several people have inquired about how the dinner with Caroline went. We had a very nice night –it’s always nice to spend an evening with some Pittsburghers in Beijing – but I think Jacob was a little disappointed. There’s no great story to tell. That happened earlier, with the actual set up. It could only be anticlimactic after that. Caroline and Edward are two of his best friends but in the end he probably would rather not have them both here together. Whatever. It was fun. Our social life is more active and easier here than it was at home.

I guess it’s because everyone is in the same boat, with no family obligations or anything, babysitting is plentiful for everyone and so many people live right herein Riviera, making it really easy to get together, especially when the weather’s nice. We also have a cook to prepare dinner for company. I have been trying to take full advantage of that and have people over on Friday nights as much as possible.

Basically, we pay Mr. Li the same amount for cooking for our family or for a party. It’s just the difference in food costs and it seems much less extravagant and silly to me if we entertain.