And so it goes.
I decided to have a me day. One that involved sleeping exceptionally late, watching lots of TV and DVDs, and eating whatever I wanted.
So I did. And it was fabulous. I didn't venture out of my apartment (or my pajamas) until about 5 pm. I decided to fulfill my desire of a new DVD from yesterday. I went to the little market that sells pirated new releases for Y9. It's not the cheapest, but they tend to be better quality. I had my sights set on one of two new movies -- Ratatouille or Shortbus.
The walk was pleasant. It wasn't exceptionally cold, and because of my resting all day, I was fresh and happy.
I got to the DVD store, but the selection was limited. I went across the street to a market I'd never been in. I'd heard about it, but never attempted it. I'm intimidated by all the haggling and vicious, skinny Chinese girls.
But, I suppose, I was feeling adventurous, so I went in. It took me awhile to find the DVDs; the place was huge (this particular phrase is so overused by me lately).
Once I finally found the DVDs, I almost immediately found Ratatouille. I almost peed on myself. I continued looking and found The Devil Wears Prada, too. Timidly, I asked the price.
"Duo shao qian?"
"Ba kuai," the clerk responded.
"Ba?!"
"Dwei."
I handed over my eight yuan willingly. EIGHT YUAN FOR TWO DVDs. I was very excited.
On the way out, positively falling in love with with this little market, I saw some of those fabulous candied crab apples. Y2.
On the way home, I bought a roasted sweet potato from a street vender for dinner. Y5.
I spent a total of Y15 for dinner, a snack, and two DVDs.
Then, as I was approaching my apartment, one of the guards called, "Hello! Nice to see you!" in a tone that implied that he has no idea what those words mean, but somehow he learned them and knew they were appropriate. I responded with a huge smile and, "Good to see you too!"
Then, as if this wasn't the most pleasant trip out in China yet, I met my neighbor. He's an older Canadian named Mark. Call-me-if-you-need-anything-nice.
Now I'm watching my two DVDs, having fully prepared for my classes for the next two weeks.
