Celebrating the small stuff

Tonight’s big task was to get a China Mobile SIM card for my phone. I successfully unlocked it thanks to the great instructions from AT&T so now I just need a card. I went down to the China Mobile store and was reciting my sentence, “I would like a SIM card to match my network: Wo xiang SIM ka" On the way I saw a guy almost get taken out by a bus. We even had the walk sign but the traffic turning right apparently doesn’t have to stop. Arriving to China Mobile in one piece, I was given a ticket by the woman at the reception desk and waited for my number to be called. There are guards in the banks and mobile stores that appear to keep order with the lines and, of course, prevent any wrong-doing. The guard was actually quite helpful because as the numbers were called the man before me was a bit slow to get to the desk before the woman advanced to my number. So there I was, unable to communicate, with my number on the screen but this other man being served. After he was finished the woman didn’t realize the error and was about to pass me up when the guard shouted something to her in Chinese and pointed to me then the seat. Up until this point I was still reciting my sentence in my head. As soon as I sat down and tried to spit it out I completely fell apart. I basically could only say “SIM ka” over and over. But, hey, it worked. I got my card. Loaded it and now have a mobile number in China. One problem is that the text messages in Chinese aren’t read by my phone so I just get a bunch of squares with a number thrown in here and there. Not like I could read the characters. The mobile phone networks aren't the same where you purchase a monthly minutes plan. You reload minutes by buying a card which are sold at most convenient shops and street vendors. That will be another hurdle to overcome eventually. The success of my days are measured in accomplishing tasks that are simple at home-—buying a metro ticket, ordering food, navigating your way to a destination, etc.