After our start of summer banquet yesterday (where I think we were served enough food for 40 people, instead of the 10 at our table), I ventured over to the electronics store to buy a cell phone, so that I can finally communicate with the outside world.
I had read in my guidebooks about the way you pay in a Chinese department store, but yesterday was my first attempt. It was a rather complex process. First, with the assistance of William, one of the Chinese roommates, I picked out a phone (with Chinese radio on it! A feature that I don't necessarily need, but the phone was pretty cheap, so here we are), and then I got a slip of paper, which I think took upstairs to the cashier to pay. After I paid, I took my two receipts back down stairs where I handed one to the shop assistant, who took it to the storeroom to pick up my phone and then brought it back, where they took it out, inspected it, gave me a quality certificate, and then let me leave. I then went to another store to purchase a cheap SIM card and airtime (there are no phone plans in China, everyone has prepaid phones, in case you ever want to buy a phone) and then with the assistance of William again, I loaded up my phone. This whole process only took a whopping two hours. Its a good thing I had a free afternoon. Now, if I have to return it, I might need to free up a whole day.
I then had the brilliant plan of calling home to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day! only to find that I have to pay another 800 RMB (about $100, some of which is a deposit) and register my passport to get access to make international calls. What I did discover is that I can receive international calls, at no charge, and its cheaper to buy phone cards to call China, so I will have to wait for the fine people at home to call me.
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You should go back and find William and ask him to show you around the greater metropolitan area. He's probably already claimed you as his wife in his mind because of your hair color.
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