Squat Toilet Master and First time Bargainer

I peed in a squat toilet for the first time today. There was no door for the bathroom stall either or a lock for the door so I just opened up my umbrella and used it as a door. I spoke to a friend at home and he warned me about bringing an umbrella where ever I go because sometimes the bathrooms don’t have doors. The duty went well. I did not fall in the toilet nor did I pee on my own pants or shoes. I also brought my own Kleenexes and hand sanitizer so I was all set. It was no big deal…muahaha I conquered the squat toilet!

I also bargained for the first time today at YiFu mall by Zhangbei Fitness. The guy wanted 60 for a hair straightener, but I said it was too expensive and he asked what price I would give and I said 20 kuai, and he said "no no no no...bu ke yi" and this straightener was big. Well, even before I went to this guy, I went to a lady and she wanted 70 and I said too much and I said 25 and she said Nooo and shooed me away so I just walked away and she didnt want me back so oh well. Anyways, this guy said no no and suggested that the 26 kuai ones are for the smaller ones and I said I didnt want a small one, so I just said "ah ok, suan le" and started walking away and he told me to come back and said "okay, 45, and I still said no, 25", but he kept saying no, and he started describing how good this straightener is and how its a bigger iron, and I said "thats okay, its too expensive, im a poor college student so thats okay" and he pulled me back again and said 40, and I said no, and he said "whats the highest price you are willing to pay" and I said 27, and hes like "what!? 1 kuai higher???" and I said "yeah just one kuai".



Then we stood there while he was thinking then I just said "thats okay, thank you" and he pulled me back again and said 30, and I said "30.....alright. 30 it is." and he asked if I wanted to test if it worked, and he put it in the outlet and I felt the heat working on the straightener but I wanted to make sure because straighteners usually take a few minutes to heat up, so I said "can I wait 5 minutes just to make sure it works?" and hes like "Oh see, you can feel the heat, it works" and I insisted on waiting just to make sure and he said "if it breaks, you can bring it back". But I really didnt believe him because he wasnt going to give me a receipt of any kind anyways, and whats the probability that he will say "Oh yeah I recognize you!". So then he allowed me to stay and test it for another 5 minutes, and test it on my hair too while he was helping others. Sadly, I went walking around even more and I found this other lady with another straightener that was 45 kuai and it even had 3 heat settings! Not only that, it was brand new because she pulled it out of a nice box and all too. DARN! I probably could've talked it down to 30 kuai too, but oh well, thats okay, first time bargaining anything at all so now i've learned my lesson.

Then I also got 3 notebooks for 10 kuai. That was the set price and everyone seemed to be going there to buy their notebooks so I just went with the posted price. Plus, I walked around the entire 4th floor of YiFu mall by the Agricultural Bank of China and all of the notebooks seemed 2 or 3 kuai more expensive anyways, so no wonder everyone was going here to get cute notebooks from him. Some people already wanted 5 kuai just for one notebook! Others wanted 12 or 15 for thicker ones, which is about equivalent to the 3 I bought put together. YiFu Mall had a lot of cute clothes, but when I first got there around 10:30am, people were still in the process of opening their stores. I had no idea how to ask the price of the clothes so I just said "Zhe jian duo xiao qian?" and then they would respond in something that I wouldn’t know then that’s when they knew that I wasn’t from here and could take advantage of me. I only looked at the clothes. One trend that basically everyone says is something like "welcome, take a look around and if you like it, try it on". At first, I had no idea what they were saying so I asked them to repeat it, THEN that's when they knew that I was a foreigner.

Then I went into a store with a very nice young lady who could tell I was a foreigner but still helped me. I liked a khakis trench coat, and I asked how much it was, and she responded with something that I didn’t understand, then I said "I don’t understand" and she repeated and started giggling, so then I repeated it again and she responded in something like "we can negotiate on the price, how much do you think its worth?" So a big old light bulb went off in my head about bargaining. She told me to try on the coat, and it was nice, but the sides were a bit too wide...like a dress. So I said it was a little too wide and I didn’t like it and she said it was okay and said to drop by again to look at anything else later.

Another light bulb went off in my head when I went to look at coats that this older guy was selling. Oh by the way, almost everyone will be hand stitching designs because they are really bored, sleeping in their shops, or playing with their computer. Most of them don’t really pay attention to you until you stay there for more than 2 minutes. That is when they know that you are interested. So anyways, back to the coat story. I saw a coat where the label was "Charlotte Russe" HAHAHA. I asked 'duo xiao qian" and he started laughing at what I said (so for future reference, DO NOT SAY "Duo xiao Qian". You should say "zhe ge zen me mai." translation (how do you sell this one?). I learned to say that instead because I heard another girl say it when she was looking at notebooks and it seemed to work WAY better and less people knew that I was a foreigner. Anyways, the Charlotte Russe coat sold for about $15 US dollars haha...not that I was going to buy it anyways.

So I spent about 2-3 hours just walking around every floor looking and comparing products. I got used to people saying their normal phrase of when you go into their little shack store and look at their things. When you go and look at bags (purses), they will say a different phrase, such as "if you like a bag, you can go ahead and try it on and see how it looks". I wasn’t sure what they were saying at first so it was a dead giveaway I was a foreigner. BUT! Now I know...muahahaha!! I spent 30 on the hair straightener and 10 on notebooks, totaling 40 kuai, which is about $6.15 US Dollars. YES! The mall started getting really busy around noon and 1pm so I would suggest going around that time instead because all of the shacks were open and people would pay attention to you.



They sold pets on the 4th floor! Sadly, they were horribly cramped.


In a nutshell:
1) Say "zhe ge zen me mai." to ask for the price. After they give a price, drop to about half, then just stay with your price for a while until they start lowering their price enough where you can increase it by about 5kuai or however much you are willing to pay.

2) Remember, if one place isn’t willing to sell you a product for the price that you bargained for, just walk away. If they don’t pull you back, just let it go. There are MANY other places where you will find the same product or an even better product for the price you want.

3) If you are looking for a specific product, for example, a certain style Gucci tote, just ask them and they have other styles stashed in another shack. In addition, I saw the same exact jacket in about 5 different shack stores so don’t be afraid if they say that this is the very last jacket that they have. They are most likely lying to you anyways.

OH! And I tested into C13 class!! YAY! I was either expecting a B or a C level anyways (the higher the alphabet, the more advanced the Chinese class). I was looking at the list of students that will be in my class and I saw that there will be a few Japanese and I also saw an American. I got my free books and I will start classes tomorrow! I will be in teaching building No. 1. Bright and early, 8am! I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow. Today has been raining all day and my boots are all wet.

In addition, I just found out last night that each floor has a kitchen. It has 2 microwaves, 4 sinks and 4 stoves? No wonder my roommate cooks every meal with her friends! I thought they cooked in their rooms haha. This means I can go and buy frozen dumplings to cook and eat instead of eating out all the time.

OH NO! I broke the plastic hinge on my computer! NOOOOOO!