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| Rainbow (and moon) at the beach on our last day in Florida. |
It's good to be here and start settling in to our new apartment. We moved in just a few days before we left for America, so we had some sorting and organizing to do when we got back. Yesterday, we got the bags unpacked, sorted out the kitchen and the bathrooms, and got together a list of things we needed. Today we did the Walmart thing to get some household stuff (and re-acquaint ourselves with the oppressive heat and humidity). Then we went to a furniture market to get a new couch, and that's where the fun began.
The store was huge, with two entrances off of an alley, one to the right and one to the left. We went left, and pretty soon picked up an employee who tried to tell us (we soon found out) that we should have turned right. Apparently, we were in the office furniture section, so we eventually got headed in the right direction and were joined by Jared, who spoke some pretty decent English. We went up to the third floor, where they keep the fabric couches that are "so soft" (sofas here can be as hard as the beds; ever try to relax on a church pew?).
It was HOT. No AC in this store, so whenever I leaned back and rested my head, I left a little wet spot on the cushions. We found a nice couch, figured out the configuration and colors, and got outta there to the relatively cool first floor, where we managed our way through the paperwork and payment. As we got up to leave, Jared told us we got a free prize, so we picked up a nice little upholstered footrest and started walking out the door... But wait, there's more!
We went back across the alley, where there was a table set up. Around the table there were assorted women and a man with a microphone. On top of the table was a box with a hole in the top and a bunch of coins that the women were counting. Eventually, we figured out that I was supposed to reach in and grab as many coins as I could. Some were actual 1RMB coins, and some had Mickey Mouse (or at least some fake Chinese Mikey Mouse) on them. I got three chances (after I realized I wasn't just supposed to pick one coin), and the ladies sorted them, and I ended up with 79RMB, which is like 13 bucks, in cash! They were not ready for my big American hands (we looked at what some of the other contestants got, and the next highest one was 34).
I'm figuring that this is China's way of welcoming me back. Just another weird, slightly confusing, yet surprisingly easy outing in Dongguan. The couch will be in our apartment in a couple of weeks, after a bit of China magic, just in time for school to start.
I hope everyone is having a great summer. Take care.
