Wow I’m actually starting this around 2000, amazing. O ya it’s March 7, 2010.
No I still don’t know when I’m suppose to get internet but hopefully it’ll be pretty soon and then I promise I’ll be available for skype and what not.
So I should start this post by first issuing a public apology to Filiz which I referred to as “The German Girl” a few posts ago. Obviously I forgot her name even though she had introduced herself several times, and is truly a lovely person.
Alright on with the day’s events
So today was another marketing day from 8:30 – 11:30 in which we studied the classic Coke-Cola formula changing deboggle. It was a good discussion though I felt we really only scraped the surface of the case, which I guess is what I originally liked about the class. Sometime though I get really frustrated because I feel like he’s boiling the decisions down, which means our discussions can really only go so far. On the upside I feel like I have pretty good command of the material. Of course this always bites me in the ass later on because I then see the forest and forget about all the underbrush. Or in other words, vision I can see, paying attention to individual details I struggle with. Names, for instance, are a great example.
After class I set off on a mission, find a new bank branch and to go shopping! I felt I needed to get a new camera as I mentioned in a previous post along with a rug, slippers, electric razors, and some laundry detergent.
Here I think it’s important to impose upon you the exact size of the Shanghai population, which is like 20million or so (I think). Now some of you might say
“O well that’s not too bad, big but not that much bigger than other large cities.”Well first off it's about 10 times the size of Dallas but now imagine all of these people walking around the city, at the same time. Within a few hours I literally walk past two or three thousand people, and this is on a Sunday (which doesn’t mean much here, so like people actually get shit done on this day, quite a concept I know). I’m surrounded by people at all times, unless I am alone in my room or I go walking very early in the morning another human being is almost always in sight. This can take a little getting used to. You also need to have the right attitude about the whole thing, if you get pissed off at every slight with that many people around your going to drive yourself and everyone around you crazy. If someone cuts you in line (which happens at least once a day), just take a chill pill. If people are going down the stairs clearly marked for going up, just move over a little and let them pass. “What about that family that is carrying their life possessions onto a crowded train?” Get to know your neighbor a bit better. After awhile you begin not to notice it and it makes the whole day a lot better.
So I walked around for about an hour before I finally found a branch of my bank. Not too bad since I hadn’t really explored this train stop, and I spent most of my time searching the mall for an ATM which didn’t exist. I wish I had gone with the Bank of China, it seems like they’re just about everywhere, but o well what’s done is done and China Construction Bank is prominent enough.
With money in hand I decided to go for the big ticket item first, the camera. I found one of the largest electronic malls in Shanghai and proceed to look around until I found anyone who would sell canons and what do you know… no one had what I wanted. Two people tried to sell me a camera which they said was the camera I was looking for but because I was in China it was called something different. I called bullshit. Sadly I don’t have the internet at the moment so I can’t verify but as soon as I can I will. I did go ahead and enter into price negotiations with one retailer just to see what I was looking at. He started off with 2200RMB, I countered with 1000RMB where upon he looked shocked and asked how much it would cost in my country I then made a few complex calculations, carried the two, divided by sixty-nine and came up with an imaginary number around 1600RMB. He thought for a bit, asked if I wanted a memory card or warranty (I did not want either) and he finally offered 1300RMB. That’s about a 60% discount from the original offering price. And honestly that’s only $189 and the actual US price was $254. But of course you got to keep in mind that these are “what the same camera is called in China” so who knows what the real value was. Long story short I told him I would come back later, and I didn’t.
After giving up on the camera I went in search of my other necessities. Upon which I found a mall with a nice little selection on the top floor. There I got me a nice size wash cloth and an electric razor for about 300RMB or $43 or for my European friends that’s 32Euros. Not too shabby though we’ll have to see just how long the razor lasts. O this launches me into a great time to explain the Chinese shopping rules. So you don’t just get to grab your item, go to the cashier, and get out as you would in the States. No instead what happens is you have a person, or “helper” as I call them, right you up a ticket for the item you want to purchase. Leaving the product with them you then find the cashier, hand her your slip, pay, and then take THAT recipe back to your helper where they generally have your item bagged and waiting for you. Supposedly this prevents theft, from employees or customers I’m not sure.
With bags in hand and 3 ½ hours later I headed back home. Upon which reaching my dorm I meet the wonderful German kids and we head out to dinner. We had a wonderful time eating Chinese food at a Chinese/Western restaurant while everyone else ate “Western” food. We did have a bit of a hard time ordering but you know after much hand motioning and some key words we soon enjoyed a lovely meal.
From their Filiz and one of the two German boys (I jest, but not really I completely forgot, very sorry) decided that getting lost would be a great way of spending an hour. It was quite dandy and showed us parts of Shanghai we hadn’t seen before. Eventually we came upon our targeted destination, the SUPER market. Here I got a rug, slippers, hangers (which I had forgotten I needed), and some scissors.
Here too the buying experience is different. You basically start on the first floor and work your way up picking out the things you need. You then make your way to the top whereupon you purchase your things and are then allowed to come back down. How exactly your able to come back down in case you forgot something is a mystery to me because you’re not allowed to get on the down escalator/moving sidewalk. But thanks to Filiz’s handy advice and I got all my stuffs and was out the door.
Once I was home it was time to do laundry!! Filiz also helped me with You essentially put some of your clothes (certainly not all) into the washer and then use the hose that hangs into the machine to pour some cold water onto your clothes. You then add your soap and begin to fill the bucket in the room with hot water from the hot water dispenser. After combining the hot water, all the while mixing with cold, you then turn it on where it churns your clothes. After it’s done (15min or so) you then tell it to drain and pick up your clothes, use the hose to wash off any excess soap and put them into the spin dryer next to the machine. Tick tock 5min are up and you take your clothes out and go back to your room where you then hang them up in various places to dry. Quite a process.
Man, while writing this I’ve gotten super tired. I was literally on my feet and walking around for well over eight hours today. Anyways I’m off to bed; I have class at 0800 tomorrow which sucks.
Love,
Kevin
P.S. Sandra no worries I haven’t forgotten, I’ll get to the political ranting any day now I promise, I hope you keep reading.
Random pic:
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