It seemed to have been a mission to get a sim card and I stopped by a convenience store to ask. I asked in English first then tried a bit of Chinese, the lady there didn't speak English and kept saying something to me that I didn't understand. Then the bits I did understand I felt she was mocking me to her colleague about me being English and not speaking Chinese. So I left and headed to the road towards the uni.
I found a small stall where a man was selling calling cards and sim cards etc. He didn't speak English either but I could communicate enough that I wanted to be able to call UK as well as in China. He was kind enough to set it all up for me and test it was working. I thanked him and headed to the uni to see how long it would take me by foot.
I took a wrong turn and ended up on a road with markets that led to a residential estate. It wasn't very pleasant I have to say and it was just so busy and crowded you had to walk on the road then then with cars and scooters coming past it was quite frustrating! Then someone in the restaurant just opened the door to toss out peanut shells into the street! It was just a huge garbage mess in the street...
After this I had to take a pause and went to the park there. I'm not sure why when I went there everyone seemed to be staring... There were some exercise machines and I could see people using. When I decided to leave it was just as this guy was walking past and he must have thought I was following him and he kept turning around and then hurried away.
I got back to the main road and needed to ask directions again. As I was crossing this huuuuuge road and someone set off firecrackers at the corner of the road which made the dog next to me go crazy! It was very scary. There are a lot of stray dogs around and therefore the streets are full of dog mess. So avoiding that and big lots of spit its rather grim.....
The uni gates are huge and I spoke to the security guy. I have to say, for somewhere with international students it must be so difficult for those who know no Chinese at all to get by because he didn't speak a word of English. I left and went for a walk, looking for something to eat and rest. I came across a mall that seemed full of designer brands.
The cafe was something like Versace Cafe and I had some pasta and saw lots of foreign people there. It was quite expensive at 120RMB for pasta and some tea and I didn't like the fact the waiter stood over me to pay the bill then swooped in and took it, waited for me to get my coat on then clear the dishes....
On the 5th floor is a book store and from what I remember the book stores also have CDs and DVDs so I managed to get the new Jay Chou, JJ Lin and Lee Hom albums. I then headed back to the flat, stopping by the bakery to get something for tonight.
So tomorrow is the big day when I start my course.
Some goodies ^^
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