Thanksgiving and Shopping...

By now, all of you have done some sort of Thanksgiving celebration and are enjoying the leftovers in their many forms. People have kept asking me "How do you celebrate Thanksgiving in China?" The answer is this:

-Many American hotels and restaurats hold Thanksgiving dinners of varying styles and types. We chose a place that was recomended by Hagel's boss and we had also eaten there before. So Hagel, Jim and Barb Grimm (American professor and his wife) and I set out for a very nice dinner. We had salad, lobster bisque, turkey, dressing, ham, two kinds of potatos, veggies, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream and a berry glaze (don't knocke it because it was fabulous). The only thing missing was the lefse. No I did not miss the green bean caserole, because I am not a fan. Ranks right up there with chocolate covered cherries ;)

After we ate we went to Nanjing Road to show the Grimms. They had only been in Shanghai for less than a week and had not yet ventured down to see the street full of neon and strangeness. We had fun and Hagel bargained for some light up in-line skate wheels that you can strap to your shoes. I have not yet mastered them, but soon.

I woke up early on Friday morning and had a chance to talk to everyone at the Rosenkranz. Lots of great stories

A very imortant lesson has been learned this weekend. In my experience in China, the funnier and more entertaining a person is the more you get taken for a ride. Case in point:
1) Our taxi driver on the way home from Thanksgiving. He taught Hagel and I some fun new words and was very funny. But on the flip side he took the route that wasn't all that much faster and about twice as expensive as our normal route.
2) The guy we were bargaining with at Xiangyang Market (aka the fake market or knockoff market). He was very funny and animated when we were bargainnig, even refering to Hagel as his boss and putting an old Mongol hat on him. In the end I over paid for what I was getting (I paid 100 RMB when I should have gotten 60RMB). This is frustrating and I hate getting cheated like that.

But in the end I learned a valuable lesson. I get really mad when I get cheated. So on the next item I wanted to buy, the lady quoted me a price of 290 RMB. I had no interest in a long drawn out session, so I offered her 50RMB. She said "No No. Raise your price a little higher." I responded with 70RMB. When she said no again, I walked. This lady actually chased me down and said that my price was ok. In and out in about 2 minutes. So when some one tries to be all chummy and funny, walk away to avoide getting cheated and to get the price you want.

On another note, I have finally found a jacket. It was frustrating to try to find one that was already made, so I'm having one tailored and it will be ready next week. Charcole grey peacoat with electric blue lining. Should be pretty flashy. Now all of my aunts and my grandma can stop worring about me.

Well I've got to get back to grading my mid terms because I hope to have those done by Wendesday. Tomorrow is the final round of the Union Cup English Speaking Competiotion. Can't wait to see what they've got prepared for this round.