Monday January 24th, 2011

Class in the morning; oh bore! I do have some good news: my debate and one-on-one teacher is the balling Teacher Zhu. Being in her class made my day. After getting out of class, I called Morgan on skype and prepared to begin my afternoon. Cailin, Lee, and I were going to try once more to purchase the cell phones at the same market.

We were not going to make the same mistake as before. We took a cab straight there. I showed them around the market, and it was fun to see their expressions. I think this was their first experience in a real Chinese market. I was quite baffled on my first visit to one, as well. We made our rounds at the cell phone area of the market, and after muchdeliberation, they both found suitable phones. Both phones are essentially the same thing as mine: bar phones with a touch screen and keypad. Lee’s phone is pretty funny: every time you unlock the phone, it makes a sound like a sword being pulled from its sheath. Epic.

We also walked around some other parts of the market, and I amazed the Chinese vendors with my haggling skills. I’m no newbie. After one purchase that I negotiated for Cailin – a Happy Kitty wallet, not Hello Kitty – the people in the stall literally looked at me dumbfounded. I’d played their own game, and well. I have to thank my teachers at Ole Miss and the higher-level students for showing me how to haggle like a Chinese person.

Then, we took another cab to the school, and I headed over to Bally to work out. When I got done, I found that my host mother had called me, and she wanted me to meet her in her office on campus. She had a gift for me! She had bought both of her “children” indoor water plants, complete with goldfish to swim beneath. I had a momentary panic attack, wondering how I was going to keep the fish alive with no food, cleaning solution, or anything. She’d also brought a 12-pack of Qingdao for me (and as a matter of fact I’m drinking one now). I thanked her profusely for the gifts, and then carried my study materials down to Cailin’s blissfully warm room.

I spent the next two hours procrastinating writing my essay, and instead wrote some journals. After I could wait no longer, I began to write my essay. I finally finished, handwriting and all, around 1 AM. I wanted to collapse, and I did just that around 1:30.

I’ll write soon…

Love,

Jamey