Saturday, March 03, 2007

Thinking

Hooray for not being responsible. Today I went to Taibei and bought two books and didn't do any homework. I think my Chinese is finally good enough to read some of the books I've enjoyed as translations. So I bought Republic of Wine by Mo Yan. The translation's quite decent, if you enjoy "the cannibalism as a metaphor for social commentary" school of Chinese literature, I highly recommend it. The other one I bought was Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian. We'll see if I actually get around to reading them before I have to ship them back.

I really need to cut down on my social anxiety though. I think I must be coming across as an idiot. The very polite salesman who attempted to sell me a $7900 backpack leads me to conclude this.

A note, when trying to sell someone something, if they ask you if there are any other models, do not tell them that this is the only option. Particularly if they can walk next door and find something $2000 cheaper. (A conspicuous lack of options makes me suspicious.)

When I actually do buy a backpack, I sure as hell ain't going back there.

No comments: