Sending a fax

For some administrative affair I had to respond to an email sent from Holland with a signed letter. I had requested a PDF copy of the document to be signed, so I could print it here, sign it, and return it by fax. I have no printer at home (and certainly no fax machine), so I went out to the nearby phone shop this evening, which also runs a fax service. I had used their fax service before as part of the administrative procedures to obtain a legal residency.
The owner of the little shop knows me already, so he knew immediately what I needed. However, he has no computer to move the PDF document from my USB stick to his printer/copier. But, no problem. The neighbouring shop (also in the phone business, like so many small entrepreneurs in China) does have a computer. However, they don't have a printer. To resolve the situation, the printer/copier was quickly unplugged and moved to the neighbour's counter. Then the original (and probably never used) CD-ROM with software was retrieved from a closet to install the necessary driver. Before this could be done though, someone had to squat under the desk to plug-in a dusty IDE CD-ROM drive which was retrieved from yet another closet. The PC was rebooted and after installation of the software was completed (which was done very quickly and without any further reboots, to my relief) the printer ejected a test page. Everything seemed in order.
After that, my single-page document was swiftly printed. I signed it, and went back to the fax shop to have it faxed to Holland, using a separate fax machine. Total cost of the rendered services: 8 RMB.
I kept 5 men busy for at least 20 minutes, but they all seemed to enjoy the little diversion, and smiled happily when I thanked them, leaving them with the task of returning the printer to its rightful owner.

Walking back home, I stopped by the little dumpling shop opposite my building's entrance gate to pick-up some pork dumplings with green peppers. Since I figured out how to read the menu, every visit is like a short evening class to improve my spoken Chinese.
I was welcomed by their 6 year old daughter with a "马克 叔叔!" (uncle Marc!). She is always in a good mood and eager to talk to me, and thanks to her clear and well-articulated voice, I can actually understand what she is saying, most of the time. Her parents also take great effort in making themselves clear. I actually learn more from speaking with the local people (who don't speak any English) than from speaking with the Chinese students at the university. They all speak at least some English, and are always looking for an opportunity to improve it by talking to foreigners, which is fine, and often enjoyable, but it doesn't really help me with practicing my spoken Chinese.