10 reasons why my afternoon was grand...

Today was great, and I'll tell you why. Wednesday afternoons are generally my time cleaning/running errands/cooking/grading/etc. So I set out this afternoon with quite a few errands to run and those errands covering more than one store and more than one area of Yichang. This opens doors wide for misfortune. Plus I was alone. But I set out anyway.

1. The first taxi driver didn't quite know what place I wanted to go to when I showed him the piece of paper, but he wasn't a jerk and we worked through it despite my poor Chinese.

2. I found a book in Yichang that before could only be found in Wuhan (though not exactly the one I was looking for)!

3. The second taxi driver greeted me with a hearty, genuine "hello" instead of a mocking "hallo" - trust me, there's a difference, and it was great.

4. Same taxi driver said my Chinese was bu cuo (not bad), but what he doesn't know is that I exhausted my vocabulary on him.

5. I'm really into homemade salsa right now. There are only two stores that I know of that sell a chip worthy of my salsa. The store that always sells them was out of my way, and the other store is very small and usually only has one bag a day (and I'm pretty sure that's because of me). Even though it was late afternoon, my one bag was at the small store! Woohoo!

6. At aforementioned store, the guy behind me was making remarks about me not being able to understand Chinese (which I understood) while I was checking out, but the nice store employee came to my defense and said I could understand and gave me a big smile. I then took the opportunity to say something in Chinese. We showed that guy.

7. Two stores now sell my new obsession: Coke Light (without lemon)!

8. I love efficiency. When I can do all my errands in a loop with no backtracking, it thrills me. Today was one of those days.

9. McDonald's was on my efficient route. Don't judge me...who doesn't love a double cheeseburger?

10. I was on the other side of the street when I saw the bus I needed pull up. There was a lot of traffic and I was afraid I couldn't cross in time (stupid crosswalks...don't get me started...). The 23 bus is notorious for just taking off and not waiting even if you're two steps away. He waited today!

Even after living here for 2 1/2 years, doing simple things by yourself is still not always guaranteed. So on the days when it all comes together, you simply must celebrate.