Chris, ...I loved the letter from your mom. I will send
her a note directly
and answer some of her questions. I will also send a
copy to you so that you can post some of it if you wish.
Poor Nikki . . . hot little doggy!! I saw her on a video today
and the
students were laughing ...
I don't have to teach this afternoon. So I get my
first free afternoon. Well, at least until 4:00. Yesterday
we started
daily Chinese lessons. We will study a little Chinese every afternoon.
Last night we had a fun "celebration." We drank a bottle of Chinese
red
wine, ate a jar of chocolate spread (with pine nuts) with spoons, played
cards and listened to the Beach Boys and Creedance Clearwater Revival.
It
was a great evening!! We had had a rough day (I'll explain
later) and we
needed to find a way to relax. It worked.
Now I will really go . . . more later.
Sally
...I'm not really feeling homesick yet. I've been so busy every
minute that I
don't have time to think about it. And I am REALLY enjoying my
teaching. It is lots of fun.
Tomorrow afternoon we will take a tour of a local winery here in Tianjin.
Their wine is pretty good (we enjoyed a bottle the other night).
We will
also go to the supermarket to get some things for our "party" on Friday.
After class on Friday, we will demonstrate how to make American sandwiches
(and perhaps some other American foods) and enjoy a tasting party.
We went
to a supermarket in Xi'an, but have not yet been to one here in Tianjin.
There are many food vendors on the streets, selling things from grilled
corn
on the cob and skewered meat to breads filled with a meat mixture.
We've
tried the corn and the bread (without the meat filling) and both were
tasty.
There are also vendors all over the sidewalks selling things from clothing
to plants to portable gas stoves. You must bargain with the street
vendors,
especially because when they see us as americans they automatically
increase
the price 100-200% So I have learned the strategy: ask
how much, then
automatically counter-offer HALF that price. when they laugh
and say no,
walk away and act disinterested. They will almost always end
up running
after you and begging you to buy it for that price.
Today in my class, we were discussing shopping in America and comparing
it
to shopping here in China. I was telling them that in America
there is
generally no bargaining. I told them I like to shop in China
and about my
new bargaining strategy that I have learned, and they laughed and clapped
their hands and gave me the thumbs up. They also thought it was interesting
that in China sales tax is included in the price of something, whereas
in
the States, it is not. I then told them I was feeling very generous
and
would give them each $100 to go on a shopping spree (a simulation,
of
course). They had 10 minutes to look through American catalogs
and spend as
close to $100 as possible. Through this, we were able to compare
the value
the dollar and the yuan and compare American to Chinese prices.
Well, I will go for now. Our chinese lesson begins in 3 minutes.
Love, Sally