Today I tried eating at a different place nearby and was surprised when it took about a half hour for me to get my food. For every other place here in China it is just a few minutes. Then I needed some more cash, so I went to a nearby ATM. Well, there was a guy using the ATM for a very long time, so I saw this other machine next to it called a Cash Recycling Machine. It looked like it does the same thing basically. I tried it, and you do a withdrawal, you get a receipt, your card, but no cash. Did my $66 get recycled into nothing, or what? My bank account isn’t showing a debit (yet), but I’m still not feeling to good about it. By this time the ATM was free, and I did the same thing there and got my money.
Since I was detoured yesterday, I headed to the Shanghai Museum again. Almost right away again, a Chinese man and woman (say they are students) say “Hello!” and start having a conversation with me. At the end they ask about a Tea Ceremony, but I was quick to say “Good bye” this time. Still walking to the museum, I hear “Hello!” again, this time I yell out “No tea ceremony today!” Then another “Hello!” and I put my hand over my face and keep walking. And another; I talk to them a bit just to be sure and of course they try to stop me from going into the museum and instead want me to have some drinks. So I said “Bye Bye.” It was hard to relax and enjoy the museum after all that, but I saw some ancient Chinese art there. After the museum, the same story with Chinese trying to talk to me.
I headed over to the Foreign Language Bookstore and I got a Lonely Planet Mandarin Phrasebook that I think will come in useful. Then I walked to the Bund area, which is famous for old colonial buildings from the 1930’s along the river. I returned to that shopping area to get back on the subway. There was just a constant stream of people saying “Hi” and asking me to buy something. I stop to look up in the book how to say “go away” but I’m getting surrounded and had to just walk away. To be fair, this only happens in the tourist areas, not all of China. But still, I’ve learned I can’t be polite or friendly to anyone. It is too bad I have to be rude and run away if anyone greets me now.