Satuday June 7: Woke up at around 630, which was just right for a breakfast and cell phone run. The RA’s took some of us to a street vendor serving a sort of Chinese pancake (thin batter about 18 inches in diameter, smeared egg on top, for spicy add pepper paste and herbs, folded it over in a plastic bag … DELICIOUS).
Buying cell phones: (1) Manually find cheapest one in the store after the salesman tries to give us the new razor for 6000 RMB. (2) Bargin down a cheap deal for 10 phones with sim cards. (3) Agree on deal. (4) Salesman realizes they don’t have any of that phone left. (5) Go to new store and repeat.
The rest of the day was full of orientation lectures. Mostly scare tactics, warnings, and things to expect. One of the best lessons was to remember that the main gates are open 24 hours … and don’t get so drunk that you try to climb the perimeter fence topped with 2 foot long spikes. Last year a student got so schmamered the first night in country that he tried to climb it, impaling his bicep and forearm. He ended up okay. Also look both ways crossing the street. Taxis and buses do not stop.
We went out in the evening and bought out all the TsingTao from this small bar … then we moved on to a bigger bar. I felt sort of like a virus.
Tags: china blog
This is a pretty cool blog, thanks for the email!
When you say 6000 RMB, do you really mean he tried to sell you a phone for almost $1000? That’s carazy! It also sounds like bargaining played a heavy role; I wonder how widespread it is.
Anyway, I’ve added you to my RSS. Looking forward to new posts!
Hola. Your chinese pancake makes me ache with hunger. I am underfed here in the 7th ring of hell. Eat lots of spicy food for me!