Stories from the First Few Days

*We got into a taxi at the airport. As the driver began to pull away, a man opened the front door and got in. Our driver continued. The man rolled down the window and began yelling at people in a nearby van. They yelled back and gestured wildly. He jumped out and ran toward them. We
continued on our way. We passed through a toll booth and the driver pulled over to the side of the road. I am thinking he is going to do one of two things: rob us and leave us in the middle of nowhere, or go to the bathroom on the side of the road. He crossed in front of the car and rolled up the passenger side window.

*We were walking down the street. There was a man walking behind us. We are talking. I feel a tug at my bag. I turn to find the man directly behind me, having tried to unzip my bag. Having absolutely no Chinese language I stared at him as meanly and angrily as I could, and walked away. He didn't follow.

*My friend wanted a sweet potato from the vendor. I ask with my fingers, is it 4 yuan? And he says 10. She drops the potato back on the stove and starts to walk away. 5! he says. She turns and gives him a "yeah, right" look. We get a huge golden yellow sweet potato for 4 yuan.

*We stopped in McDonald's for some hot chocolate to warm ourselves up. Two men were sitting at different tables. One was facing a large celophane-wrapped teddy bear. The other was staring dejectedly at a small vase of roses. It was Valentine's Day.

*We went to the bus station for the bus to the Great Wall early Tuesday morning. It was snowing. We don't drive the buses when the snow is falling, they said. We went again the next day. We don't drive the buses when there is snow on the ground, they said.

*I speak three phrases in Chinese. The police man does not speak English. I point at my guidebook where the word for "bus" is written. I point at the map where I want to go. He points down the street where the bus stop is. The perfect sort of communication.

*The kitchen at the noodle place where we ate lunch was half outside. The three Chinese women across the table from us had the same thing we did. They paid 4 yuan. The waitress asked us for 5. I feel bad debating the difference of 20 cents, but it's the principle of the matter.

*The huge man-made lake at the Summer Palace is frozen over. It took us 20 minutes to walk halfway across amidst half finished snowmen and snowball fights.