With each class that I teach, I am becoming more aware of the vast differences between American students and Chinese students. The culture here is so different that it is hard not to put an American spin on the way I see my students. They are so innocent. Their thoughts are filled with love and family values. Sometimes I think that they can’t be so pure but they really are just that.
For instance, in my latest lesson I asked my students to tell me what they would do if they did not have school for a day, they had no homework, no teachers, no parents and all the money in the world… what would they do? Well, many of them would want to be with their parents! They would buy them a house or travel around the world with them. After the second lesson, I stopped mentioning the “no parents” part of the fantasy because it is just not how these students think!
Other answers that just surprised me about what they would do are - One student would donate all the money to Project Hope. Another would build a hospital and hire all of the best doctors in the world to come work at that hospital so that they could discover a cure for all the diseases we still have. Another would want to go to the bottom of the sea and live with the sharks. One student wanted to travel back in time to the dinosaur age and use modern science to tame the dinosaurs and become ruler of them.
Some would buy land to plant beautiful flowers and others would use the land to let the animals that live in the zoo go free. One student wanted to buy a company that would build robots to help the handicap and one student wanted a company so that she could make her own cartoons!
Although some would travel to the United States, most would stay right here in China. The biggest reason to come to the United States seems to be the NBA which is huge with the students here, boys and girls alike. Another reason to come to the USA is Obama. They would like to play basketball with him… that is it, just play basketball with him. And for those that know me, know that is all I think he is good for anyway.
When I first came to China, I had the misconception that the people that lived in China would do anything to be able to leave China. This simply is not true. They are a very tight society. They are used to the way they live life and they really don’t want to change that. Sean and I have many conversations about the people here in China and why we all are so different.
In some respects it is like they are stuck in the 1930’s and in others it is an even earlier time. Heck, most people do not even have running water or heat in their apartment! They think nothing of walking 2 miles with all of their groceries in hand or having 4 people ride on a moped through town. They are such a simple people in respect to their way of life. They do not need or want much at all. Family is the most important thing for them.
When I ride my bicycle home from work, I ride right past the elementary school just as school is ending. It is the sweetest thing to watch grandfathers and grandmothers meet their grand kids and toss their “Hello Kitty” or “Mickey Mouse” backpack over their shoulder as they walk home… talking all the way. The family bonds are strong here! There are no “latch-key” kids. Most of them go home and have a home cooked meal with the parents and the grandparents, every night!
The kids that I teach are not allowed to date or play computer games. Although some still do, I think for the most part, the kids listen to what their parents and teachers tell them to do. Honoring your parents is taken very seriously here, almost to the point of causing great stress to some students. If a student does poorly in school, it dishonors the parents or makes them “lose face”. This is just an extra pressure for them to experience in addition to the endless days at school… 7 days a week, from 6:30am-10pm (I am serious!)
I vacillate between feeling sorry for my students to having huge respect for them. They ask me what the American student schedule is like, what are they learning and I am almost embarrassed to answer. These kids learn Calculus and Physics in the 10th grade! I didn’t learn that until I was at my University! In addition to my Oral English class, these students also have 7 other English classes each week. Not to mention the vast history they must learn about their own country! These students are extremely bright and intensely disciplined.
I now understand why many people in the world think that Americans are spoiled.
It is because we are just that…spoiled. We are born into a world with every luxury there is and yet we still complain. This is an eye-opening experience for me. I will think of things so much differently than I have in the past. I know this time in China will make me a better person because it is changing the things that I believe are valuable in life.
I will not be able to come back to the US and live the same life that I was living.
There's the bell - gotta go!!
3.04.2009
3.03.2009
A very different and beautiful world...
This afternoon I was sitting in a tiny noodle shop directly across the street from my school relishing what has become my most favorite meal here in the Middle Kingdom - a bowl of noodles (mian) with a few pieces of beef. It is a simple, Chinese meal handed down for centuries for the working class - it is piping hot, filling, and costs about .60! I could eat here everyday!
I studied one of the owners as he made the noodles by hand in the front window of his little shop. From a block of dough he quickly cut the perfect amount for his waiting customers, then twisted it a few dozen times, added some oil, and began rolling it out and twisting it even more. He then cut it into foot-long sections, rolled one of these lightly into flour, and repeated the process for several minutes.
After more twisting and pulling, he then stretched the dough and it began to separate into longer, thinner pieces. He smacked these longer pieces into some flour on the table and suddenly the stretched noodles begin to magically multiply between his fingers; 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and then 64 strings of noodles appeared within seconds - it is an impressive work of art to watch!
Two handfuls of noodles were then dumped into a steaming vat of water for several minutes. A broth from another steaming pot is poured into a bowl, the noodles are added, then a palmful of chopped scallions, cilantro, and it is topped with a few pieces of shaved beef.
As I sat and the cold, wooden stool no higher than my knees, pungent steam rose up from the bowl and mixed with the steam from my breath. Even my chopsticks had steam coming from the tips. I added a generous portion of chili paste and took my time slurping and sipping and realized this simple meal actually tastes better the further into the bowl you get! The last few delicious gulps are as satisfying as any steak from Outback (maybe because those memories are beginning to fade??...) and I told the chef it was delicious! (Zhen Haochi).
My lunch got me thinking about how different this country and these people are from Americans, but also more different than any other country I have experienced. We've been putting together notes about life over here and here are some of our favorites:
Eating
They don't put soy sauce on the table or salt and pepper - if it is needed for your meal then you get it, otherwise you won't see it. There are also two types of soy; one is a dark vinegar and the other is the typical soy we are familiar with in USA.
We ordered chocolate cake from the menu yesterday at a restaurant and got an eggo waffle with chocolate sauce drizzled over it.
We haven't seen a fortune cookie in China yet!
One of my best meals was at the Marriott hotel breakfast buffet where I discovered dumplings, sushi from Japan, and Korean barbecued beef cubes are a great way to start the day. It was about 400% more expensive than other places though.
The 1/4 pounder at McDonalds comes with cucumbers instead of pickles and the picture of the chicken sandwich actually gets you lightly battered pressed pork with hot sauce marinated throughout - we have only been to McD's once - it is awful here.
KFC is huge here, and always packed, and it is expensive but tasty. The only item we can stomach well is the popcorn chicken which is not bad at all. They have a menu for foreigners with detailed pictures.
In a restaurant, they hand one menu to the man and wait. They will stand and wait for your order for as long as you take - whether it's a few seconds or in some cases, fifteen minutes or more. They do not leave until you order and it is expected that the man will order for the woman.
The food is mostly very good but the prices defy typical logic. A glass of coca-cola costs the same as a 40oz. beer. A meal (40rmb = 5.50$) with soup, salad, bread, main course, and drink costs 5rmb (.75cents) more than just the main course by itself.
The noodles I described in the beginning of this post are by far the best meal for the money (4rmb = .60) I have found yet!
Shopping
Sales clerks are very assertive wherever you are shopping, whether it's the food market or high-end department stores - I had five clerks helping me find my size jeans and all w/no English spoken at all.
Anytime we buy something a crowd forms to see what we are buying, if they can they will always help with explaining what we need to the vendor, and many folks will watch the entire transaction from start to finish.
All prices are negotiable at any time (except in large department stores) - it's fun but it can get tiring! The vendor shows the price on a calculator, you start with half of that and haggle. If you walk away and they grab you, it means they will continue bargaining.
I consider us lucky if we buy something after a Chinese person because only then will I be assured we paid the same amount they did. I just found a dvd with over 20 movies on it for 8rmb ($1.10), but they will charge as much as you are willing to pay.
We found a huge store that we jokingly call a Super Walmart, underneath the center square in DanYang. You name it, this store has it - along with live eels, dried whole snakes, more pastries than Paris, more candy than a kid could dream up, anything and everything packed into a monstrous store. We discovered their prices are also about 200% higher than other places - big supply does not mean lower prices, it means more variety and that means you will pay more
here.
Getting Around
The cab drivers do not speak a word of English - if you don't have your destination written in Chinese you will not be going anywhere in a taxi - but the taxi rides are cheap - a few dollars at the most will get you around almost the entire city of Shanghai, not so much in Beijing though.
A cab in our home city of DanYang is 7rmb ($1) just about anywhere in city.
Buses are in big demand here and are clean and efficient. We caught a bus from Beijing over an hour and fifteen minutes to the Great Wall for 24rmb ($3) round trip. A girl in uniform took our money and monitored all stops for everybody. A bus down mainstreet in DanYang is 1 yuan (.12)
You take your life in your hands crossing the streets in Shanghai and China in general - traffic laws are simply suggestions and pedestrians do not have the right of way - unbelievably dangerous but everybody seems to accept it happily.
I was almost dinged by a mid-size sedan going the wrong way, in a foggy, drizzling rain, on the sidewalk - I'm totally serious.
Mopeds are decked out with built-in fur-lined gloves for the hands, mud flaps for the legs, and most riders have custom raincoats that stretch from the front light back and up over their head like a tent - they even have plastic windows so they can see in the rain.
We have been scammed by three taxi driver's all in Beijing, they will drive up and down useless streets to drive up the fair and one tried to refuse to give me change - this is the first since we got to China that we have been ripped off in any way.
When in a taxi or other vehicle, it is simply best not to look because when I do look I find myself instinctively jumping and jolting from the constant alarmingly dangerous situations presented almost every second or two...head on vehicles, mopeds, pedestrians, buses, trucks, trikes, bicycles, all share the road and whoever gets their first wins.
Drivers of every type of vehicle honk to announce they are coming and they expect you, and they assume you will, move. If you don't it becomes like purchasing goods - you begin to haggle for right of way.
On the streets, whoever hits the other person regardless of the situation (they could have walked right out in front of your car with no possibility of stopping) is at fault so it is very much like skiing or snowboarding - you are responsible for not hitting the person in front of you.
Street Life
It is not unusual to see raw chickens, duck, pig parts, and whole fish hanging from balconies to air dry - with their juices dripping on the sidewalk or anybody or anything below.
Brooms are made from straw reeds bunched together around a pole of bamboo but they are surprisingly efficient (not good for cleaning up glass though).
There are more cell phone stores in this city (at least one of every four shops) than seems possible and they are always full of buyers.
Cigarettes are everywhere and there are maybe a handful (if that many) places you can not smoke - at work, schools, restaurants, shops, stores, taxis - you can smoke just about anywhere you desire.
On the streets, every few hours a man or woman bikes by in a trike clanging a pot in his right hand. The pot signals to the vendors that he is here to collect the cardboard from their stores.
On many homes you will see numbers chalked on the outside. This is an advertisement letting everybody know the owner is looking for work.
Chicken feet, every internal organ you could possibly eat from a pig or bird, whole chickens, ducks, pigs feet, and other delicacies that I simply have no idea what they are - are out in the open air for sale, they also love live food such as buckets of bullfrogs, chickens, eels, turtles, fish, and geese.
Everywhere we go, people stare openly, they tap their friends to have a look, and most say "Hello" or "Hey!" - but that is usually all the English they know - and they all smile!
We have had several nice people come up to us and ask us if we needed help purchasing/finding something - they all want to practice their English.
We have not seen a tattoo on a Chinese person yet.
General
There are more people on the internet currently in China than every man, woman, and child in the USA.
The one child policy took affect in 1979, so we see families together at dinner where the men have brothers and the women have sisters, but they are usually much older. All other families have only one child (we have seen an unusual number of twins here though), and there are many more girls than boys. They refer to their children as little Emperors and Princesses.
The Chinese are very superstitious about everything. Rents are notoriously higher on the 8th floor (eight means good luck!) and much lower on the 4th floors (number four sounds like death!).
More to come...
I studied one of the owners as he made the noodles by hand in the front window of his little shop. From a block of dough he quickly cut the perfect amount for his waiting customers, then twisted it a few dozen times, added some oil, and began rolling it out and twisting it even more. He then cut it into foot-long sections, rolled one of these lightly into flour, and repeated the process for several minutes.
After more twisting and pulling, he then stretched the dough and it began to separate into longer, thinner pieces. He smacked these longer pieces into some flour on the table and suddenly the stretched noodles begin to magically multiply between his fingers; 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and then 64 strings of noodles appeared within seconds - it is an impressive work of art to watch!
Two handfuls of noodles were then dumped into a steaming vat of water for several minutes. A broth from another steaming pot is poured into a bowl, the noodles are added, then a palmful of chopped scallions, cilantro, and it is topped with a few pieces of shaved beef.
As I sat and the cold, wooden stool no higher than my knees, pungent steam rose up from the bowl and mixed with the steam from my breath. Even my chopsticks had steam coming from the tips. I added a generous portion of chili paste and took my time slurping and sipping and realized this simple meal actually tastes better the further into the bowl you get! The last few delicious gulps are as satisfying as any steak from Outback (maybe because those memories are beginning to fade??...) and I told the chef it was delicious! (Zhen Haochi).
My lunch got me thinking about how different this country and these people are from Americans, but also more different than any other country I have experienced. We've been putting together notes about life over here and here are some of our favorites:
Eating
They don't put soy sauce on the table or salt and pepper - if it is needed for your meal then you get it, otherwise you won't see it. There are also two types of soy; one is a dark vinegar and the other is the typical soy we are familiar with in USA.
We ordered chocolate cake from the menu yesterday at a restaurant and got an eggo waffle with chocolate sauce drizzled over it.
We haven't seen a fortune cookie in China yet!
One of my best meals was at the Marriott hotel breakfast buffet where I discovered dumplings, sushi from Japan, and Korean barbecued beef cubes are a great way to start the day. It was about 400% more expensive than other places though.
The 1/4 pounder at McDonalds comes with cucumbers instead of pickles and the picture of the chicken sandwich actually gets you lightly battered pressed pork with hot sauce marinated throughout - we have only been to McD's once - it is awful here.
KFC is huge here, and always packed, and it is expensive but tasty. The only item we can stomach well is the popcorn chicken which is not bad at all. They have a menu for foreigners with detailed pictures.
In a restaurant, they hand one menu to the man and wait. They will stand and wait for your order for as long as you take - whether it's a few seconds or in some cases, fifteen minutes or more. They do not leave until you order and it is expected that the man will order for the woman.
The food is mostly very good but the prices defy typical logic. A glass of coca-cola costs the same as a 40oz. beer. A meal (40rmb = 5.50$) with soup, salad, bread, main course, and drink costs 5rmb (.75cents) more than just the main course by itself.
The noodles I described in the beginning of this post are by far the best meal for the money (4rmb = .60) I have found yet!
Shopping
Sales clerks are very assertive wherever you are shopping, whether it's the food market or high-end department stores - I had five clerks helping me find my size jeans and all w/no English spoken at all.
Anytime we buy something a crowd forms to see what we are buying, if they can they will always help with explaining what we need to the vendor, and many folks will watch the entire transaction from start to finish.
All prices are negotiable at any time (except in large department stores) - it's fun but it can get tiring! The vendor shows the price on a calculator, you start with half of that and haggle. If you walk away and they grab you, it means they will continue bargaining.
I consider us lucky if we buy something after a Chinese person because only then will I be assured we paid the same amount they did. I just found a dvd with over 20 movies on it for 8rmb ($1.10), but they will charge as much as you are willing to pay.
We found a huge store that we jokingly call a Super Walmart, underneath the center square in DanYang. You name it, this store has it - along with live eels, dried whole snakes, more pastries than Paris, more candy than a kid could dream up, anything and everything packed into a monstrous store. We discovered their prices are also about 200% higher than other places - big supply does not mean lower prices, it means more variety and that means you will pay more
here.
Getting Around
The cab drivers do not speak a word of English - if you don't have your destination written in Chinese you will not be going anywhere in a taxi - but the taxi rides are cheap - a few dollars at the most will get you around almost the entire city of Shanghai, not so much in Beijing though.
A cab in our home city of DanYang is 7rmb ($1) just about anywhere in city.
Buses are in big demand here and are clean and efficient. We caught a bus from Beijing over an hour and fifteen minutes to the Great Wall for 24rmb ($3) round trip. A girl in uniform took our money and monitored all stops for everybody. A bus down mainstreet in DanYang is 1 yuan (.12)
You take your life in your hands crossing the streets in Shanghai and China in general - traffic laws are simply suggestions and pedestrians do not have the right of way - unbelievably dangerous but everybody seems to accept it happily.
I was almost dinged by a mid-size sedan going the wrong way, in a foggy, drizzling rain, on the sidewalk - I'm totally serious.
Mopeds are decked out with built-in fur-lined gloves for the hands, mud flaps for the legs, and most riders have custom raincoats that stretch from the front light back and up over their head like a tent - they even have plastic windows so they can see in the rain.
We have been scammed by three taxi driver's all in Beijing, they will drive up and down useless streets to drive up the fair and one tried to refuse to give me change - this is the first since we got to China that we have been ripped off in any way.
When in a taxi or other vehicle, it is simply best not to look because when I do look I find myself instinctively jumping and jolting from the constant alarmingly dangerous situations presented almost every second or two...head on vehicles, mopeds, pedestrians, buses, trucks, trikes, bicycles, all share the road and whoever gets their first wins.
Drivers of every type of vehicle honk to announce they are coming and they expect you, and they assume you will, move. If you don't it becomes like purchasing goods - you begin to haggle for right of way.
On the streets, whoever hits the other person regardless of the situation (they could have walked right out in front of your car with no possibility of stopping) is at fault so it is very much like skiing or snowboarding - you are responsible for not hitting the person in front of you.
Street Life
It is not unusual to see raw chickens, duck, pig parts, and whole fish hanging from balconies to air dry - with their juices dripping on the sidewalk or anybody or anything below.
Brooms are made from straw reeds bunched together around a pole of bamboo but they are surprisingly efficient (not good for cleaning up glass though).
There are more cell phone stores in this city (at least one of every four shops) than seems possible and they are always full of buyers.
Cigarettes are everywhere and there are maybe a handful (if that many) places you can not smoke - at work, schools, restaurants, shops, stores, taxis - you can smoke just about anywhere you desire.
On the streets, every few hours a man or woman bikes by in a trike clanging a pot in his right hand. The pot signals to the vendors that he is here to collect the cardboard from their stores.
On many homes you will see numbers chalked on the outside. This is an advertisement letting everybody know the owner is looking for work.
Chicken feet, every internal organ you could possibly eat from a pig or bird, whole chickens, ducks, pigs feet, and other delicacies that I simply have no idea what they are - are out in the open air for sale, they also love live food such as buckets of bullfrogs, chickens, eels, turtles, fish, and geese.
Everywhere we go, people stare openly, they tap their friends to have a look, and most say "Hello" or "Hey!" - but that is usually all the English they know - and they all smile!
We have had several nice people come up to us and ask us if we needed help purchasing/finding something - they all want to practice their English.
We have not seen a tattoo on a Chinese person yet.
General
There are more people on the internet currently in China than every man, woman, and child in the USA.
The one child policy took affect in 1979, so we see families together at dinner where the men have brothers and the women have sisters, but they are usually much older. All other families have only one child (we have seen an unusual number of twins here though), and there are many more girls than boys. They refer to their children as little Emperors and Princesses.
The Chinese are very superstitious about everything. Rents are notoriously higher on the 8th floor (eight means good luck!) and much lower on the 4th floors (number four sounds like death!).
More to come...
3.01.2009
Day Trippin' - Wuzhen (Water Town)
 |
| Wuzhen, the water town...click for more pics. |
Wuzhen (乌镇) is a scenic town, part of Tongxiang, in northern Zhejiang Province, China. It lies within the triangle formed by Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai.
In Chinese, wu means crow or dark, and zhen means a small town.
Wuzhen's population is about 6,000 and it is located in the center of the six ancient towns south of Yangtze River, about 11 miles north of the city of Tongxiang. Wuzhen displays its 2,000-year history with ancient stone bridges floating on water (just like Venice!), its stone pathways between mottled walls, and its delicate wood carvings and other gorgeous hand made crafts.
Also, setting it apart from other towns, it is best known for ancient Chinese fabrics, a clear wine that comes in a variety of strengths, and a special treat called the sister-in-law biscuit.
After a brisk bike ride to Jenn's school at 5:45am, we boarded a large, luxurious tour bus in the dark and pretty much slept for the first hour or so. Then a tour guide appeared from out of nowhere, jumped up to the front, turned on a microphone, and a sound system came to life at a screeching 110db! The Who would have been proud. We were then greeted to a 25-minute non-stop explanation of our whole day ahead - all in Mandarin of course.
Reminds me to do some research on the prevalence of deafness in China. From the traffic, to karaoke, to the sound system on a bus - the Chinese typically listen to everything at, and I'm not kidding, at least three to four times louder volume than regular conversation. Makes sense though, because they also talk very, very loud in general.
As Jenn and I settled in to watch a DVD and recalibrate our hearing (we needed to fill another two hours of bus ride), Cynthia politely translated our day ahead. But just as quickly as she had turned forward in her seat, she whipped back around and began yelling at us! Then the whole bus began yelling at us! We jerked our headphones out of our ears and our look of bewilderment must have tipped her off - suddenly in broken English we learned that as hosts, me and Jennifer were obligated to sing the first songs on the trip - more karaoke!!
We scoffed, we pleaded, we acted like we were too sleepy to understand, we even simply said no thanks we just don't know any songs, but Cynthia is quite domineering and can't you just imagine what it sounds like when a busload of 50 Chinese women teachers decide that a song will be sung and we are just the folks to sing it?? it was mayhem!
Having already expunged any shred of shame with my last evening of karaoke, I jumped right up, found out quickly who just celebrated a birthday and belted out my best rendition of the only song I know by heart - Happy Birthday! I put in some crooning ala Frank Sinatra, and the whole bus loved it. Jenny didn't miss a beat either, she jumped up and pounded out a rousing version of Jingle Bells and before anyone could say Merry Christmas, she cranked out Old McDonald Had a Farm and mixed in some And B.I.N.G.O Was His Name, O!...didn't matter - we had them going by then and at least a dozen teachers followed us up with songs for the next hour...
 |
| Entrance to Wuzhen...click for more pics. |
Within seconds of getting our ticket punched at the entrance and entering this amazing city walls, we were already being left in the dust! I think we saw some beds from the Qing Dynasty, and I remember whizzing by some impressive blue and white fabrics that I believe were original designs from about one thousand years ago, and I could swear I saw a few pictures of some guy named Mao Dun, but I was breathing pretty hard and my eyes were blurry by that time.
You don't creep, shuffle, or even walk when you are in a guided tour in China - like Forest Gump says, "You bet-ter be run-ning'!"
If we kept up we saw nothing in focus, if we stopped even for a second to grab a picture, we were immediately mobbed and literally trampled by the tour group twice our size seconds behind us. And we counted two dozen tours just at the entrance. It was maddening and it reminded me of shuffling our way through the train terminal during Spring Festival in Shanghai.
We caught our breaths by sticking our heads out beautifully adorned windows with wooden lattice framework and taking a few seconds to admire the foliage nestled within the seemingly infinite tiny square gardens created by the mazes of halls and rooms and shops.
I heard a guide yelling into a microphone (duh, in Mandarin!) and then I caught some words on a plaque and I let myself get left behind - history was calling, damn it! It explained people have lived in Wuzhen for thousands of years and over time it has produced a galaxy of talents. That guy named Dun, an outstanding modern Chinese writer, was born here, and his masterpiece, 'The Lin's Shop', describes vividly the life of Wuzhen. In 1991, Wuzhen was authorized as the Provincial Ancient Town of History and Culture, so ranking first among the six ancient towns south of the Yangtze River.
Wuzhen's uniqueness lies in its layout, being about 1.5 miles long and divided into six districts. These are: Traditional Workshops District, Traditional Local-Styled Dwelling Houses District, Traditional Culture District, Traditional Food and Beverage District, Traditional Shops and Stores District, and Water Township Customs and Life District. Wandering along the east-west-east circuit created by these six districts, we tried to enjoy the atmosphere of the traditional cultures, over 120 ancient bridges, and the original ancient features of the town that have been preserved intact.
We ended up laughing at the sweat on our brows, shallow breathing, and promises to never, ever hang with a guided tour group again. Then Cynthia found us and did some more yelling, this time in Chinese, and we felt like we were being scolded for getting lost (they are very worried about our safety here).
It was worth it.
We piled back on the bus, then got surprised an hour later with another stop - this time at what was apparently the holy grail of shopping - over 1,000 stores of leather goods, blue jeans, shoes, and a row of restaurants (one was even Western so we were in heaven!). We had lunch and it was delicious. We found out my size in jeans and shirts and even found my first pair of jeans in China (at a great price, too!). We walked in a mall so big they use street names.
We piled back on the bus, again, and made it home by 8:30pm, tired of course, but the chilly bike ride back to our apartment woke us up, again.
I have some dumplings steaming on the stove right now, we will share some sister-in-law biscuits for desert, and we may just open up some of that famous Wuzhen wine we picked up for a steal because I told the vendor "Sorry, don't have time to haggle, this is all I got - gotta go!" He folded like a deck of cards and accepted my meager offering of yuan for his prized vino, but yelled like a shotgun the whole time...
As the Chinese say, "Bye. Bye." (I'm not kidding...;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)