A Gloomy Rainy Saturday

So today I had grand ambitions of getting over my fear of exploring the outskirts of the city (and using taxis).  I was intending to visit the old Summer Palace...apparently beautiful this time of year.  But I went to bed last night to rain...and woke up this morning to rain :-(  Mind you, rain in Beijing is a little different than rain in the states...mainly it brings down all the pollution with it.  So, you really don't want to be out and about in the rainstorms here.  So my plan to be outside all day at the Summer Palace...ruined.  Also, it is almost impossible (so I've heard) to get a taxi when it is raining out...especially if you are a lei wei (not sure if I say that right...it is meant to mean foreigner), so I decided to postpone my braving the city until some other day (maybe Monday...apparently it is a Holiday here in China). 

I ended up just being lazy pretty much all morning...I sort of cleaned my room...ate pretty much the last of my food that I had (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and looked out the window hoping for it to stop raining.  I did get a chance to see my parents on Skype a little bit also before they went to bed...so that was a good morale booster.  But, I began growing stir crazy so decided to brave the Merry Mart again when the rain let up...this time with camera in hand. 

On my way to the Merry Mart I always pass this building.  It is the graduate dorms and the 2nd floor has the great little Hot Pot restaurant (that makes my stomach burn). 

Every time I think to myself...I should get a bike.  It is hard to see from this picture...but there are TONS of bikes out in front of that building...it seems every single graduate student has a bike...and many of the undergraduates too...if they are lucky enough to have a place to store it.

In order to get to the Merry Mart you have to pass over top of a pretty busy street...it looks like this (mind you not busy at all today because of the rain).

Approaching the Merry Mart there is a building that looks kind of like a Las Vegas hotel to me...the locals say it looks like a Roman Bathhouse...at any rate...here it is.

O.k, now I've had several of you tell me...it should be easy to figure out what things are and what people are saying...just carry a dictionary.  So for those of you I have taken this picture.  It is just a typical shop in Beijing.  It is now up to you to tell me if this is a place that sells groceries?  foot massages?  electronics?  haircuts?  bootlegged DVD's?  coffee?  Maybe I'll tell you sometime...

O.k. so once inside the Merry Mart there are tons of great things to take pictures of.  I kept trying to get a picture of another sign that had an English translation that said something like 'pinch please'.  I'll see if I can get that next time.  But one thing I wanted to show was the milk.  If you were to go to a market and look for milk...where would you go?  Refrigerator section?  Dairy section?  Bean Products?  Yep...bean products it is...and don't look for cartons...or even containers...what you should be looking for are bags like this...

Also, those of you egg people out there...you would LOVE the Merry Mart.  There are probably 20-25 different types of eggs to buy.  Everything from huge eggs to little teeny tiny eggs that I used to find in the birds nests growing up.  Here is a sample (this was as close as I could get...they are REALLY protective of the eggs here).

And apparently my internet connection cannot handle any more picture loads today...so this is where I will end my post.

Oh wait...almost forgot.  Had my first bargaining experience today even though I didn't know what was going on.  As I was leaving the Merry Mart with my bags of groceries sometimes they stop you and ask for your receipt...it is always a very stressful time for me as I have no idea what they are saying.  But anyways...unfortunately today I was stopped...the guy took my receipt...and was looking for answers.  Crap.  I can't figure out what I did wrong...what do you need from me?  My passport?  Here...see...I'm legal.  No...not good.  He brings in back-up.  Some lady comes and says, 'No Chinese'.  And then she starts speaking in Chinese.  Yes...good...I don't speak Chinese.  They keep pointing at my tennis shoes.  What?  I didn't steal these I swear.  Then all of a sudden I start hearing prices.  68 Kuai.  What!  68 more kuai.  NO!  I already paid more than enough for my groceries...they understand I am telling them no.  Wait...34 kuai.  You have got to be kidding me.  No kuai for you.  25 Kuai...still no, give me my receipt back and please don't send me to jail.  One lady says, 'You're killing me!' 15 Kaui.  NO! 10 Kuai!  And they are pointing at my feet.  Oh!!!  I get it.  I'm not in trouble and they are not trying to get me to pay more for my groceries.  They are trying to sell me a foot massage!  Ha...10 kuai...pretty good bargaining if I do say so myself.  A little more than a dollar to massage my feet...no way!  I hate people touching my feet.  And then I am off and on my way. 

Off to try to watch a movie. 
Zaijian,
Gary