Keep on Smiling!

大家好！
Hello Everyone!

Life is great! It's been another action-packed week and I am happy to share with you
all my experiences and lessons.

First off, in case you did not hear, I GOT MY BAG BACK!
The best part is, IT STILL HAD EVERYTHING IN IT!
It's pretty crazy how the police were able to retrieve it in such a large
city as Beijing, but miracles can and do happen.

As a result of finding my old bag, I no longer needed my new bag that I had bought as a replacement.
Therefore, about two days ago, I went alone to the market to return my bag and receive a refund.
In China, one thing that I have been told and now have experienced first hand is that things take much longer to process and do here, than they do in America. For example, in America, we just show up with a receipt, return our item, and boom we are out of the store in < 5 minutes. In China, it took me 3 hours to do the same thing. Here's my story:

I walked into the section of the Superstore where I bought the bag.
I greeted the sales associate there with a smile, and he in turn gave a curt nod as
I introduced myself and explained that I wanted to return the bag.

"You can't do that. You can only exchange items. No refunds."

Upon hearing this, I still politely requested a refund on the basis that my return
wasn't founded upon an everyday reason (my scenario included having my bag stolen, police reports, etc.).

He still replied that he would not give a refund, even in my special circumstances.

Now, I could have given up here and just retreated back to my dorm. But I previously heard
from my Chinese roommate that although I may be rejected at first, if I kept on politely insisting on a refund, it could be given to me.

In light of this knowledge, I kept on conversing with my friend, the store associate.
Whenever he started to get angry or frustrated about language barriers or my persistence, I would
laugh and keep on smiling to diffuse the tension. Never once did I give an angry glare or raise my voice. Also, to diffuse tension, I asked for his name (which turned out to be Shi, 史) to humanize
myself in front of him and not just be an entity called a 'customer'.

In my persistence he kept on giving excuses like,

"I need to ask my boss, but he's on lunch-leave now, so come back later."
"In addition to the receipt, you need to bring the small tag that came with the bag when you
first bought it."

Finally, after 3 round-trips to and from the store and my dorm, I received the refund.

LESSONS LEARNED:

1. Be Polite
Whenever someone gets angry at us, our natural response is to become defensive and to be angry back. During my interactions with the store clerk, I remained polite and I kept on smiling and gently talking
with him, despite his anger towards me. Sure enough, as I persisted in smiling and treating him nicely, his anger soon relented and he came to understand me more and reciprocate my calm demeanor.

2. Be Patient/Persistent
Sometimes things don't always go your way the first time. You have unexpected obstacles
that come your way ("My boss is on lunch leave!" "Go back and fetch the tag!").
It's important to be patient and to cooperate where cooperation is due.
Despite the inconvenience of walking back and forth from the store to my dorm, I respected
the store clerk's wishes each time and I patiently fulfilled each requirement he gave me.

I'm very grateful I had this experience, and I look forward to future experiences/opportunities!
----->Future Experience/Opportunity PREVIEW:
I actually saw a cockroach late last night wandering in the hallways. Yep, time to live with my new best friends! WOOOOOOOOOOO :D
And if they get in my way, well...I'm always hungry. MUHAHAHAHAHA jk jk

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Alright, in terms of excursions, to kick off the week I went to Tianqiao Theater (天桥剧场):

Outside

My friends and I saw this musical called The Myth of Kunlun (昆仑神话). 

The main plot of the story is about a boy who stumbles into mythological times and overcomes 

great obstacles and wins the affection of a girl he loves. That's the most simple way to put it, hahaha.

But seriously, it was a great performance and this is the first time I experienced a Beijing show!

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Next up, for my class assignment, I had the opportunity to go to the local park and interview elders about their lives. Check out some pics below:

Exercise machines are abundant here in the parks

Ping-Pong! I wish America had parks like these!

A typical day for a Chinese elder (i.e retired elder) encompasses waking up, doing early morning stretches, buying and preparing food, practicing wushu, playing ping-pong, going for a walk, and other similar activities. 

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Last Friday, I got to go see Chinese acrobats. Definitely the highlight of my week. Check it out:

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Finally, to end on a funny note:

IKEA HOTDOGS: Seems legit...

Uhhh....Adultery much? Haha!

No. Just...no.

What can I say? I love green eggs and ham!