Ohh, I thought - somebody has sent me a present!!! What brought that thought on? The receptionist in my building had shown me a piece of paper - all in Chinese. I thought it was a bill of some kind, so I showed no interest in it - but it appeared in my mail box the next day. Huh! I brought it into work, and asked one of my colleagues - what's this? Lucky you, they said, you have a parcel to collect from the Post Office (this is where the parcel came in!!) Then they said - no, no - it's from inside China. Very strange! Who's sending me parcels in China? Only one way to find out - go and pick it up. First off all I had to find out which Post Office and then away I went... handed over my bit of paper, showed my passport and got my parcel! It wasn't really a parcel - it was my tax return form, all signed and stamped by the tax office. Yes - I'd had to fill out a Chinese tax return!! Next time you have to do a tax return, think of me struggling with mine - in Chinese. (Well, not really, it was in English too!)
A few weeks ago, we had a really wet and stormy Sunday - the type of day when you don't want to go outside for anything. (You get quite a few of those in Scotland!). So what to do on a wet Sunday in Shanghai?? I watched the lightning for a bit - it was really impressive, and then decided I wanted to do something more constructive. While mum was visiting, I had bought myself a model of a dragon, so that's what I did. I made myself a dragon. He now sits on my bedroom window sill and guards me as I sleep.
Last Saturday Alan and Angie came round to visit - and to teach me how to play Mah Jong. We got so engrossed by playing that I nearly starved my guests. I had to tear myself away to go and make dinner. It's a great game, and I really enjoyed playing, even if Alan did end up with all my money!! I was shopping at the market on Saturday and I got myself a set, so there's no stopping me now!!! My bargaining skills have improved. Mum had asked me to get her some new cushion covers - no problem, I thought. I spotted a couple, and then asked the price - 380 RMB (25 pounds). No way - I offered 20 RMB (1-33). She just laughed...so I walked away. She shouted after me, though, and I got them for 20RMB. Watch out when you're shopping in Yu Yuan in Shanghai! Silk cushion covers don't cost much! You can probably get them for less than 10 RMB each.
Talking of shopping, I was reading the Shanghai Daily the other day, and I discovered that the shopping centre across the road from me – the one with the supermarket in the basement, where I nip in for a pint of milk – is the second largest shopping centre in Shanghai – the Grand Gateway. If ever I’m tempted to go shopping mad, at least it’s handy…….!
No comments:
Post a Comment