Rents to China

Just incase you are a causal reader of my blog or don’t know me. The picture above is of my parents and myself. When I made my decision to come to China my mom also made a decision that they were going to come visit. My dad lobbied for Cancun but later decided that the trip to China would be all right. I bet my parents in Beijing on Christmas Eve. We stayed in Beijing three days, after which, we returned to Qingdao the city I lived in. I introduced them to my friends and my lifestyle in the city. After a few days in Qingdao we went to Shanghai. Although by this time I think we were all a little tired of being out in the cold, which made me wish that we would have made the last leg of the journey to the tropical Hainan Island. I won't fill you in with to many details because my mom is preparing the next blog entry and she will provide them. Having my parents here was very nice but I did have a feeling of worlds colliding. My Dad had a difficult time using chopsticks and my Mom had a difficult time bargaining. I have decided that she has invented a new style of bargaining I titled the "deer in headlights" style of negotiation. The people that work in the shops would try to convince my mom to buy something and she would just stand there and not say a word. The people at the shops would become frustrated and eventually come down in price. I have to admit that in my time in China I have become a good bargainer. One example is when my mom wanted to buy some pictures. It was a four picture set each showing the same scene but in a different season. The lady had my mom convinced that 150RMB for each one was a good price. I stepped in and spoke to the lady in Chinese and her face immediately dropped. She realized right away that I must live in China and I know how much things cost, and therefore was not going to be cheated. I talked to her for a while and after a few fake walkouts she sold it to us for 100RMB for all four instead of the original 600RMB that was originally decided on.

I have put a few pictures on here. The second one is of my parents eating Beijing duck at a very nice restaurant in Beijing. We met one of my Chinese friends that I met in Qingdao there. This was also the first time in China that they used chopsticks. The picture below is of one of my classes that my parents came and dropped in on. I have to admit that this class is one of my favorites. It is a beginning level class of 4-5 year olds, plus one adorable three-year-old girl who does not have the concept of different languages and loved talking to my mom in Chinese. Check back on here because there should be another post up soon. Although I will not be the author of that one it will be my mother. Think you for everyone who reads my blog. I really enjoy the comments that I get from people. It is nice to know that people actually read this thing.

Quote of the Week

"Ni de fu mu ye wai guo ren ma?" Translation "Are your parents foreigners too?"
-One of my TPR students when I told them my parents was going to visit.