Learning the Ropes

Today was quite the day! I'll try to keep this post shorter than the last one because I am so very tired, but I couldn't wait to share my experiences!

We started out the day with free time until one o'clock. Some of us slept in, while others of us were up at 6 and couldn't go back to sleep. That's why I posted a blog this morning (last night to most of you). While you slept, my friends and I were busy exploring the city! We started out with lunch at a nice restaurant. Even though it was definitely on the "nicer" end of things, we still only spent 58 RMB for 5 of us to eat (that's $10 or less). We tried a new cold noodle dish. I forget what it's called, but the noodles looked and felt like worms (I have to admit, not much turns me off to food, but that did a little bit), and it was a little spicy - even so, it wasn't too bad. We had a cold green bean and garlic dish, which was quite sweet, and konpao chicken. Konpao chicken is much different here than it is in the U.S. More onions, less meat, more natural flavor. I don't think I can go back to the U.S. version.

After lunch we met our tour guide and program directors inside the subway station. This was our first time getting to the subway by ourselves (lunch was also the first meal we've ordered by ourselves - picture menus help a lot), and we were able to get there just fine. We do have to cross some busier streets, but so far we've managed to cross safely! Traffic here is not like in the U.S. Pedestrians do not have the right of way, cars and bikes tend to go wherever they want to, and you may very well get hit - if you get hit, it is your own fault. This makes walking around a little intimidating, but if you pay attention, you'll be ok. Once at the subway we headed toward the Pearl Market for our first bargaining experience. Oh boy was that an experience! There are at least 5 floors in the market building, each with a theme. The salespeople are extremely aggressive and I think I was in the building about 2 minutes before someone grabbed my wrist and I had to pull away hard. Our leaders showed us around a little and then let us wander and learn. We were given suggestions which came in very handy, and I don't think we did too badly for our first time. We definitely paid a bit more than we should have, but the experience was worth it. I had no idea bargaining was so much fun! It's like a game, and I love it! Most of the vendors speak good sales English, and they are not afraid to guilt-trip you. Phrases like "Lady, I have to eat too!" and "You are killing me!" and "I want to sell this to you, but I can't at that price! That is ridiculous!" are quite common. One of the most interesting moments was when my friend Rachel was talking with a salesperson to figure out the price of a wallet, and she was getting intimidated and tried to walk away. The salesperson grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let her go, even when I came over and started tugging on her other wrist saying "Let's go; come come come!" We were finally able to get her away, but it was definitely an eye-opening experience. At one point I was looking at a scarf and walked away because it was too expensive, and I also had to be pulled away but not quite as violently. After we had walked a little ways out of view and had stopped to regroup, the salesperson came running over with the scarf to give me my price.

After shopping at the market we went to the grocery store Carrefour. I enjoyed the shopping experience, and we were able to find several things that we needed for our rooms and for food. Even though everything is marked in Chinese, the stickers on the shelves by the products have at least the pinyin if not the English for the product; this made shopping a lot less stressful once we figured this out. Again, we were shown around the store, and then left to ourselves for an hour to figure it out. I like this method of learning, because we are not being thrown into the deep end of the pool, but neither are we being treated like babies. After we got what we needed we met at KFC where the leaders gave us information on how to catch a taxi back to school, and how to order. I got quite a lot of practice with using my Mandarin as there are a few girls who do not know much at all and needed some help ordering. After we ate we grabbed our bags and went out to catch a taxi.

When people say taxi cab drivers might not be willing to give westerners a ride, they mean it. Several started pulling over, but once they saw we were not Asian, they kept going. We must have tried for about 40 minutes. We even asked someone for help, and he was not able to get a cab for us. However, he was able to help us figure out the bus schedule for the stop that was nearby, and to tell us which bus to take and how long to ride it. By the way, a bus ride here is very inexpensive - only .40 RMB with a subway card. The schedule is a little harder to figure out and there is a longer time lapse between buses, but it is not a bad way to travel. Unfortunately, the bus we got on dropped us off at the side of campus opposite of where we live. We had a slightly difficult time trying to figure out which direction we needed to go, but after asking a few people we managed to get back to our dorm. All told it took us probably about an hour and a half to get back (keep in mind, some of the things we bought were a bit heavy, which is why we were going to take the taxi in the first place), but now we have a better grasp of the public transportation system.

I forgot to mention in the last post that last night I had tried a red bean popsicle and I really liked it! It had actual beans in it, and was a bit sweet, very yummy. Today I tried bubble tea (it was a good one-time try), lavender milk tea (very yummy - could have used a little bit of sugar, but it was good without), and a meng bean popsicle. This last one is a green color and looks a little bit like a pea, but the popsicle was a bit sweet. Again, very yummy.

Ok, so I don't think I stuck to my goal of keeping this post short, but I hope I didn't bore you with the details! Good night, and have a great day!