Ting Bu Dong - I Don't Understand

Why it's going to suck to pay for things in the US once I get back

Prices you can find in Shenzhen:
1.5 Liter Bottle of Water - 3 kuai - 0.45 USD
Good Chinese dinner - 30 kuai - 4.50 USD
1 night at a hostel - 50 kuai (but can usually find cheaper) - 7.50 USD
A big bottle of beer (they rarely have American sized beer bottles) - 3 kuai - 0.45 USD
Pitcher of beer - 8 kuai - 1.20 USD
Three oranges - 2 kuai - 0.30 USD
Street bread which I eat for dinner usually - 2 kuai - 0.30 USD
King Cone ice cream - 3.5 kuai - 0.53 USD
Most Bus rides - 1.6 kuai - 0.24 USD



So the main downfall of China (in my mind) is that it has not really gotten online yet. There is a rare website for restaurants/stores/anything. The banks have websites but they do not provide personal account services. To make up for this everyone is given a yellow book. You take this with you to the bank, go up to an ATM like machine and stick your book in the slot. The computer reads your information and prints a summary of withdraws and deposits since the last time you used the machine on your book. Not the most convenient when it takes you 20/30 minutes to get to the bank.


We went to buy our tickets to Thailand for the start of our January break. The plan is to arrive in Bangkok on January 17th and then spend 23 days traveling through Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The guy at Air Asia is my new best friend. He spoke English and was extremely friendly and helpful.


This is Will. My student stalker. He has taken a liking to me and has proceeded to follow me around, escort me to lunch after his class, run up to me with arms wide open saying "I have missed you so much since the last time I've seen you" (I will not let him hug me), play with my hair when it's down, try and figure out where I live so that he can come to my home, etc. He does have really good English, so I give him props for that. But he creeps me out like no other and I'm not quite sure how to handle it.


We have nap time from 12:30-1:50 everyday. Just in case a teacher doesn't have a room to go to, every desk is equipped with a fold out cot. The staff keeps blankets in their cubby holes and everyday you can stroll through the offices and see sleeping professionals (not that I do that).


Andrew and I headed to the library today to do some research for our month long vacation time in January. As we were about to reach the building this guy passed us with a snapping turtle dangling in the air by a string! The man paused, put the turtle down and squatted down waiting for who knows what. This was so strange that even the Chinese people were staring at him and his pet.