I went shopping today. In America this
would not be a big deal. In China it was, as always, an
overwhelming, though rewarding experience.
Lora, Cathy, and I went to the Fabric
Market this morning with two students. (And just so you know, it's
October Holiday this week so we don't have classes. We weren't being
bad teachers/students by cutting!). I went into the day not really
knowing what to expect, but I must have been expecting something
because when we walked into this huge “mall” I had this feeling
that my expectations were not met. This market/mall is a huge 4
story building crammed full of tiny shops. It's comparable to Silk
Street or the Pearl Market in Beijing, though with a few less people
and without the store owners yelling at you to buy things. Let's
just say that the Pearl Market was not my cup of tea, so my shopping
excitement level dropped a little.
The Pearl Market in Beijing, taken from Google images
We meandered around with the vague hope
of finding a teaching blouse or something. After passing shop after
shop of shiny, ruffly, bow-bedecked shirts we gave up on the first
floor and opted for what our students told us would be a less-crowded
second floor. Then, as we stepped off the escalator, in front of us
was an actual store (rather than the room/stalls). And, the store
was selling winter coats! It was my original dream for the day to
find a winter coat! My student told me this store sold a famous
brand of coats in China. Their coats are filled with eiderdown.
Hurray! A warm coat for a cold Harbin winter!
We walked into the store and I
gravitated towards the rack of coats which interested me. The store
clerk came over to look for my size. She pulled out a large. I
tried it on. The sleeves were disappointingly short, and the coat
was a little tight. Awesome. I was a sad giant standing in a store
selling clothes made for incredibly tiny people. My coat dream was
momentarily crushed. Then my students took me over to a different
wall of coats to look for one which showed some promise of being big
enough for me. We pulled a coat off the wall. It was a medium.
“Uh-oh,” I thought. “No way that's going to fit!” I tried
it on anyways, and ta-da! The sleeves were long enough! It was a
little snug, though, so the clerk disappeared behind a curtain and
brought out an extra-large.
Let's just say I'm now the proud owner
of an extra-large Chinafabulous coat!
My new coat! Super fur!
After a stationery excursion we
ate lunch in what is the equivalent of a food court. Except, instead
of sub sandwiches, pizza, and McDonalds, it sells fast food versions
of noodles, fried dumplings, and rice dishes. It was so crowded we
had to share a table with another family and buy food in turns so we
wouldn't lose our place to sit. After two months in China, being
constantly surrounded by hundreds of people seems normal.
Lora and Cathy wanted to look into
buying new bedding (since some of the bedding left over was a bit
old, dusty, and not too attractive). So post-lunch we decided to go
find a place that makes comforters and duvets. We walked through
aisles of curtains and fabric and settled on a shop. After a lot of
back-and-forth, Lora decided to have a comforter and duvet made at
the shop. She settled on batting, fabric for the comforter, and
fabric for a duvet. Then over the next 20 minutes we watched these
two women cut and make her new blanket. It was awesome, and it looks
so beautiful!
We decided to make one last adventure
through the market. In packing for China I made the huge oversight
of not bringing a purse actually large enough to hold more than a
wallet. My student and I traveled through tiny stall after stall of
purses where I discovered that I hate making decisions about buying
things. I finally settled on a purse that I liked. My student asked
the shop owner the price. I heard “ba shi wu”, 85 yuan. Much
more than I was willing to pay. What then ensued was 5 minutes of
arguing back and forth between my student and the shop owner over the
price. I had almost no idea what was going on except for the
occasional number I heard tossed around. The bartering process would
probably be difficult for me in English, but in Chinese, I can barely
keep my wits together. I was preparing myself for walking out of the
tiny store to begin the frustrating search for a purse anew.
However, then my student told me the price she had bartered down to
and I willingly paid. So I'm now the proud owner of a Chinese purse!
Woo hoo!
Modeling my coat and purse!
And that's Lora's new bedding in the background!
Overall, it was a successful, yet
exhausting morning/afternoon. It made me realize, once again, that I
am so grateful for students who are willing to spend this kind of
time with us, because I could not possibly have been able to do
anything I did today without them.
p.s. Update on the last blog. I was
going to the dining hall the day after I met with my non-English
speaking Chinese friends. As I was walking by the first dining hall
I heard people yelling hello. It was these same friends. They were
with some school group. I was informed through some effort that they
wanted me to write things down on a sticky note about “culture”,
so I wrote something about good Chinese food, and warm people. They
were super excited. That, apparently, was the activity they
were trying to tell me about. Okay, okay. :)
