Shenzhen Zen

Crime and punishment. Julian was teaching last night when a student came up to him and gave him Julian's wallet, which he didn't know he'd lost. All his money was missing, about $200 in Chinese and American currency. He was pretty torn up about it, more the betrayal than the money loss. The school administration went into crime solving mode, called a cop, and browbeat the kid who returned the wallet. They are all convinced he'd taken the money, which made no sense to us. He is only 10 or 11 and began sobbing hysterically as the cop and school administrators browbeat him. The school is going to compensate Julian for part of his loss but I was also told that what happened wasn't really "stealing." It would have been "stealing" if Julian had been pick pocketed, but not if a wallet falls out of his pocket and the money is taken.
On the plus side, we found a neighborhood area where we were able to browse and shop finding bargains like bootleg DVDs not yet available in the states. Pirates of the Carribean, Terminator 3 and others, all for under $1. Saw some great "Chinligsh" T-shirts too. My fave was "Fuck you Girl - Goethe".