Sino-psis

dear mo mo mo

so, today, i finally bit the bullet and chipped a tooth doing it. i bartered for a warm jacket to take to gansu province with me at xiangyang clothing and fashion market. i had no idea what i was doing, didn't take a chinese person with me, and just winged it. not the best way to go about it, i've found. buddy started out the bidding at 850. ridiculous i tell you. 100 usd about. now, again, not understanding the process, i hemmed and hawed and took the calculator he offered me to type in that i was willing to go down to 200. my first mistake. i find out later that scott got the same jacket for 100 quai. anyhoo, i eventually got the jacket for 300, about 37 bucks, for a pretty nice goretek jacket with fleece lining. i was satisfied when i got it, until i found out that i paid three times too much. ah well. next time i'll be better prepared i tell you.

i really don't like bartering, it doesn't mesh with my brain pattern. anything to do with money usually jars my sensibilities, but when it comes to pitting will against will over something as meaningless as currency, i balk and bow my head into the wind. i'm the kind of person when you borrow money from me, i forget and never remind you, cuz i really don't care that much. similarly, if i borrow money from you, you'd best remember, cuz if i don't pay you back immediately, i'll forget. i try not to borrow if i can help it. i guess i'm getting better at it, but i still don't give a flying fig.

ate turkish food and had a gelato for dessert. livin up the chinese life.

now time to prepare for tomorrow, school begins yet again. monthly test week, gotta see if those kids have been paying attention or have just been cutting ping pang balls in half and drawing circles on them. soon, so soon, the sky will open and envelop my eyes. i'm absolutely sure i won't be able to describe to you the beauty i expect from the tibetan plateau, but i'll take pictures and post them. i kinda wanna hug a yak too. just wrap my arms around it and grab two hunkfuls of shag, burying my face in the musty hide. hehehehe. meh, they prolly get it all the time. yak'll see me coming, be like, "dammit george, another one of those giggly foreigners has that i-wanna-hug-a-yak look on its face again..... not it!" george: "aw man, i did it last time. not fair!" aw man: "suck it up george. hey didn't you roll in that pile of feces earlier today?" george: "oh yeah! score one for the yaks!" zero cool: "yak yak yak, get a job!" moonbeast: "moonbeast hungry" elliot: "oh my god, it's a moonb~"