Suddenly...

I'm doing boatloads of homework. Today was difficult, because it seemed like I hit a brick wall with my speaking and writing ability. I couldn't recall any new words from last week. My 口语 teacher made me tell the story of buying my new bag three times--and I kept forgetting the word for bag. He was very amused that I sat outside the alley (sorry, I'm from Chicago, so I consider a lot of shopping streets here to be alleys.) studying my notes before attempting to go into the store. I talked the shopkeeper down about 45%, but I was told I could have done better. I was just very happy to understand her when she said "well go ahead and name a price." There's apparently some art to telling whether you are supposed to drop a zero (cutting the price by 90%), two thirds, or half. Cut it by 90% in the wrong store and you get yelled at.

I don't know if I'll ever get the hang of haggling. I even had to do it for a cellphone. I paid 60RMB more than many of my classmates (but I know I didn't get the worst deal). I figure $8 is a pretty fair price for a little conversation practice. Or maybe it's just the economic penalty I have to live with for shopping alone and having worse language skills than my classmates.

I want to tell you about the weekend, my trip to the China Art Gallery, the Summer Palace, continued menu shenanigans, new photos, and all the weirdness that is being here. But instead it's time for bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be a bloggy day after class.