Well, I was quite proud of myself today. I left Walmart with my groceries and hailed a taxi, but there seems to be some sort of jinx on taxis from that location. From anywhere else in the city, I don't seem to have a problem making myself understood when I say the name of the university. But outside of Walmart, it seems the taxi drivers always have the blank look of uncomprehension. They mull over my words, trying to imagine what I could possibly be saying. Then they motion for me to write it down, which of course I cannot do. I'm not the only foreigner who has noticed this phenomenon. Sometimes I'll just get out and go find a taxi driver who understands me. Invariably, the second drive will immediately understand exactly what I said, which makes me wonder what in the world was the problem with the first one. Today, however, I stuck with the original driver. While he pondered the mystery of what this foreigner was saying over the cb with other drivers (I understand just enough Chinese to get the gist), I motioned that I would just give him directions. Go straight on this road. Motion to the left. Turn right here. And we made it! Even though here are various turns and lane changes and all, I am learning my way around this city.
And now on to the entertainment section of this blog: oddities in the grocery store, part three. In the first pictures, there is a nicely boxed and prominently displayed prepared meal of... duck necks? The fruit section is always a source of interest: the fruit in the first picture were labeled "rambutan." I wonder what a bright red fruit with green tentacles tastes like? Next to those were something labeled "CS Snak Fruit." Now these looked like armadillo eggs. Somehow I can't imagine them tasting like bananas. And finally, just in time for the Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow, there was a special selection of eggs...except these eggs appeared to be covered in mud. I have no idea what exactly the substance is, and I'm not sure I want to know. It looked a bit messy.
Well, I was quite proud of myself today. I left Walmart with my groceries and hailed a taxi, but there seems to be some sort of jinx on taxis from that location. From anywhere else in the city, I don't seem to have a problem making myself understood when I say the name of the university. But outside of Walmart, it seems the taxi drivers always have the blank look of uncomprehension. They mull over my words, trying to imagine what I could possibly be saying. Then they motion for me to write it down, which of course I cannot do. I'm not the only foreigner who has noticed this phenomenon. Sometimes I'll just get out and go find a taxi driver who understands me. Invariably, the second drive will immediately understand exactly what I said, which makes me wonder what in the world was the problem with the first one. Today, however, I stuck with the original driver. While he pondered the mystery of what this foreigner was saying over the cb with other drivers (I understand just enough Chinese to get the gist), I motioned that I would just give him directions. Go straight on this road. Motion to the left. Turn right here. And we made it! Even though here are various turns and lane changes and all, I am learning my way around this city. 
And now on to the entertainment section of this blog: oddities in the grocery store, part three. In the first pictures, there is a nicely boxed and prominently displayed prepared meal of... duck necks? The fruit section is always a source of interest: the fruit in the first picture were labeled "rambutan." I wonder what a bright red fruit with green tentacles tastes like? Next to those were something labeled "CS Snak Fruit." Now these looked like armadillo eggs. Somehow I can't imagine them tasting like bananas. And finally, just in time for the Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow, there was a special selection of eggs...except these eggs appeared to be covered in mud. I have no idea what exactly the substance is, and I'm not sure I want to know. It looked a bit messy. 
1 comments:
Interesting that the barcodes on the produce look exactly like the barcodes in the states! However the contents of the packages are a bit more interesting. What did you end up getting?
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