what a girl will do for some KFC around here...

So, if you're reading this then you probably know me, which means that you know that I'm pretty much a small town kinda girl. I've always lived in one. Even when I moved away for college I moved to another tiny town with nothing much to speak of. Now, I find myself living in a city. By China standards, this city is small. But by my standards, it's big. One of things that is so different for me here is transportation. I get everywhere I go one of three ways: bus, taxi, or walking. My preferred method is the bus because it only costs 1 yuen to ride, there are plenty of people on it, and its easy to get most anywhere without knowing a word of Chinese if you know which one to take. Up until yesterday I didn't have any particularly strong feelings either way about taxis. But after yesterday's experience I changed my mind.
My roomie, Allison, and I decided to go grab some KFC for lunch. In this city there are several KFCs, and we knew the particular one we wanted to go to. Its close and very convenient because its right next to the grocery store, and we wanted to pick up a few things. So, we left our apartment just in time to see good ole Bus 7 pulling away from the curb. Since we missed our bus, we stood at the bus stop for a couple minutes debating what we should do. Allison was really anxious to go and get back so that she could skype someone back home, so we decided to take a taxi. We finally hailed one and climbed in. We gave the driver our handy little "taxi guide" which has the Chinese characters for different locations throughout our city. Allison showed him the characters for KFC. He nodded as if he understood, so we settled in for a short drive. Soon after the driver took out his phone and began calling someone. Throughout the whole conversation he kept looking back at us in his rearview mirror as if he was talking about us. He finally handed the phone to Allison and she talked to the driver's friend who can speak English. She told him where we wanted to go and he said he would tell the driver. Well, the driver still kept going further and further away from where we wanted to go. As we got into a part of the city that we didn't recognize, we both began to feel a little uneasy. Being inside a taxi with a strange man that you are unable to communicate with, in an area you don't recognize is not a good feeling. I began trying to let him know that we wanted to get out of the taxi. Of course, he had no idea what I was saying so he called his friend again. This time I took the phone and tried to explain to his friend that we decided we just wanted to get out where we were and look around. The man on the phone wouldn't listen to me and he just kept saying things like, "Oh no, its ok. Don't worry about how much it will cost." Finally, when I realized that he wasn't getting the picture, I knew that if we wanted out I was going to have to be explicitly clear and much more firm than is my nature. So, basically fear took hold and I told the guy on the phone how it was going to be. He got it that time. :) We got out, paid the driver (way more than if he had taken us where we wanted to go, which could've been his plan all along, who knows), and crossed the street to pay a visit to dear old Colonel Sanders. I wouldn't quite say that some chicken nuggets was worth all that, but I'm so thankful we were protected, and a lesson was learned!
P.S. And since we are on the topic of transportation, I just need to add that many of the buses here have TVs in them, and that every single one of them is playing a Selena Gomez music video. :)
That is all. K bye.