This was my day today...

Double takes are a regular occurance here. This morning was no different. I have written often about things that make me look twice and today was no exception.

At 9:45 this morning I headed out on walk with a friend. We headed out the gate of our compound and I wish I could say that what we saw stopped us in our tracks but it didn't... this is China, after all. What it did cause us to do is REALLY regret we didn't have our cameras with us.

We saw a man in a manhole. Only his head was sticking up from it. There were no orange cones, no safety ropes, no flag, not even another guy nearby to make sure 1) no one accidentally stepped into the hole, nor 2) a car didn't drive over it and knock the guy's head off!!!

As we walked on, we felt like a zoo attraction. Trucks were slowing down, workers leaning out of the windows to gape at the two waiguoren (foreigners) walking with no destination (a truly foreign concept here... why would you walk, only to turn around and go back for no reason?) This happens to us regularly but today it seemed like every car with blue license plates (foreigners have black plates) that passed slowed down. Even cyclists turned to look and one guy had square goggles on... and HE was staring at US!

The sky was blue today, giving the impression that there would be fresher air but it was so windy that after five minutes of walking outside, we were covered with a layer of dirt. YUCK.

I decided that since spring has arrived, I'd like to put some flowers outside our front door. I told our ayi that I wanted to go to a flower market and she said the better place was a stand near her house where the price is 1.50 rmb (about 21 cents) for a small flower plant. I said that would be great but then on our walk, I asked a street side vendor what her price is and it is 2 rmb, (about 28 cents). I knew I could bargain a little so I decided it was not worth it to drive in traffic for a 1/2 hour each way to save 7 cents per plant. It is a delicate situation, though. I can't just say it's no big deal to spend the extra money because to her, it's not so little. So I explained that what I'd save in the price, would be spent on the gas and I would bargain for a better price anyway. She agreed.

I drove to the vendor and bought 17 small plants and 1 planter (the white one in the picture) I already had the two wooden ones. Total price... 48 rmb (about $7). The top picture shows one of the vendor's carts riding by the perimeter of our compound. There is a bike at the front, not pictured. They will deliver your flowers at no extra charge if you don't have a car. This little girl spends her days with her mother, at a road side stand. I see them almost every day. You can see she is bundled in layers, that is very typical of how they dress their children in winter, she will be dressed like this until May 1, when winter ends for them (adults will wear long underwear until then as well) and she is wearing the traditional split pants, which make diapers unnecessary. They just squat wherever they are when nature calls and the pants open up... I'm not sure about the logic of wearing the heavy layers to keep the kids warm (a big worry of theirs) while keeping the most sensitive of body parts open to the elements!

The other part of this story is that when the driver came to get Huck this morning, I told him that when Huck came home, I wanted to go shopping for flowers. He answered me, using more than my limited vocabulary, but I know he said something about delivering Huck and coming home and I know for sure that I said "When Huck comes home, then I want to go buy flowers." but I confirmed what he had said was right and off he went to take Huck to school. I went about my morning business, checking email, calling Mom, etc., then I told Ayi that I was going for a walk. She said "did you tell my husband (driver) that you want to buy flowers?" I said "yes, after Huck comes home." Then I realized that we must have had miscommunication and I asked her if he was outside waiting. She said he was. I apologized and explained and told her what I'd said and that I must have misunderstood him.

I felt bad, because usually he just goes home to wait for the time to pick Huck up from school because his house is about 5 minutes from the school. He made the trip back to my house for nothing. Oh well.

Once again, what we had was a failure to communicate.

It's a common occurrence for me. I can speak and make myself understood most of the time, but the problem with that is that people then assume you know a lot more that you actually do and they come back at you speaking quickly and using words that are unfamiliar, leaving you to fake your way through it and sometimes, it doesn't work out...