Shopping Culture Shock

I'm back in the states for a month, and after 5 days of working my way through jet lag I made my way to the grocery store. Thank God our daughter was able to have the house stocked with food until I was ready to venture out! I made my way through the grocery store observing all the things we take for granted that I missed in China. Wow! What a Disneyland of food choices! And no faces or feet in the meat department! As I approach the checkout line I'm struck with guilt because I didn't bring my own bags with me. Yes, I own some, but I've probably only ever used them twice. After living in China I have a whole new appreciation for the fact that I really SHOULD carry my bags in with me. Honestly, how hard is that if you just leave them in your car? Anyhow, as I get to the checkout line I realize I don't have my stupid Fry's card with me. There are 2 clerks standing right next to me deep in a personal conversation. At no time did either of them even look my direction or give me the time of day. Even as I stood there looking right at them trying to get their attention. Nothing. I finally had to say "excuse me". They stopped and looked at me like "what could you possibly want?" I asked if there was a way to check out without my card like using my phone number or something. Aggitated, and as briefly as possible, she told me I could select alternate ID and put in my phone number. Since it was new to me I wasn't sure what to do, but figured I could figure it out. Which worked out well since they were right back to their conversation. No looking to see if I needed help. I had to interrupt them again (they were standing right beside me and I was the only person in that part of the store) to ask if I was supposed to click on the first screen or how I started. Wow! Can you BELIEVE I interrupted them again!? I got a quick one word answer and right back to their conversation. It's a good thing I was in the self checkout line! I'd still be standing there.

Now flash back to a week earlier in China. A world where they have a bazillion people, but they fall all over themselves to help you. We were shopping for a blender in a Wal-Mart like store. There were 6 people falling all over themselves (and between me and the shelf) to help me. I really wish I was exagerating the number of people for illustration sake, but I'm not. You can't do anything in a store without a whole team of people jumping in to help you - or following you all around the store as you show - even if you assure them you're just looking. It's really astounding the contrast in the level of service in stores in the 2 countries. What's even sadder is the pay difference. The people in the country with the poor service make SO much more than the people that are grossly overboard with the service. Go figure. At the risk of giving any fuel to the "this is why other countries hate America" crowd, we could certainly stand some improvement in the service area here. And I can't help but be struck by the thought that there must be a balance somewhere between these 2 service levels. I want to be left alone when I shop, but it would be nice to have some amount of assistance when I want or need it.

The Great Cheese Pilgrimage - An Omage to Fromage

I know you've all been waiting on the edge of your seat for the report on the search for cheese. Well, my friends, your wait is over. (Wow! Why did an image of John McCain just flash before my eyes?) Here's just one example of how life in China is different from life in the US. You don't just go to one or two stores and get everything you want or need. That is especially true of "western" things. And if you CAN find them, they're usually expensive. So when one of the wives here found a place where you could buy cheese at a reasonable price, a major outing developed.

As word spread that she found where you could buy cheese (and butter and a few other items - yes, those are restaurant size cans of tomato paste & other things) at a reasonable price, what started out as a simple shopping run morphed into the event of the week. The rumor spread from friend to friend of this great find, and more and more people were asking if they could come along. After hours of arranging who would ride with who, and where we would meet for lunch before our great cheese shopping trip, the wheels were in full motion. A sizable group met for lunch at a local "western" restaurant. A little pricier than local dining, but food we recognize, and a western style toilet. (A bonus in the middle of a day of shopping.)

As we left the restaurant our drivers all got on their cell phones to each other to find out exactly where the place was we were headed to, and we were off in search of this elusive cheese. After a western slang lesson in the car with my Chinese friend on what "who cut the cheese?" meant (her American boyfriend wouldn't tell her), we arrived at the cheese place. (As an added bonus, I gave my Chinese girlfriend a quick primer - and warning - on a little game American men like to play called "pull my finger". Hey, us girls have to stick together!)

After wading through puddles of rotting fish water in the parking basement (you learn quickly the proper shoe selection is essential for this type of outing) we walked into the big warehouse-like building where the local restaurants buy their supplies. (Whoot whoot for the driver that used to be buyer for a local hotel!) It certainly wan't glamorous. A couple chest style refrigerators with various big wheels of cheese and other dairy products you purchased in bulk or split with a friend and paid for by kilo (another step on the new culture learning curve). After all of us selected our cheese and butter, etc. many ladies had to take off with their drivers to pick up their kids from school, while the rest of us took advantage of our time out together to do a little more exploring and shopping.

Among other places, my Chinese friend stopped with me at a little place that sells tea and taught me the finer points on purchasing tea. Among other things, she explained that since tea is a plant, you need to taste the tea before purchasing it every time - even if you buy the same kind of tea every time. Again, at home you grab the box of tea off the grocery store shelf and drop it into your cart. Here, you need the time to stop and sit down while the vendor brews you a little tea to sit and sip before making your purchase. THEN you have to decide how much you want to buy - in metric and have them weigh it. Another activity to fill your day if you're over here as a leisure activity, but just one more thing to add to your already long day if you work here and have many other responsibilities - and probably a long daily commute by public transportation.

Again, the key to survival over here hinges on expectations. If you expect to do things and eat the same way you do at home, your sense of humor would quickly be dampened. But if you can view living here as an adventure and you understand that "we're not in Kansas anymore", then it can really be fun learning a new way to live, and learning another culture.

Shipment from Home

As of yesterday we've been here for one month. We just got a notification today that our shipment from home is ready to leave the US. Yes, you read that right. It's a good thing I spent months planning what to carry over here with us, and wrote a detailed list of things to buy when we got here to fill in the gaps so we'd be comfortable until our shipment arrived. We really didn't carry THAT much with us, and didn't buy that many things after we got here, yet we're amazingly comfortable. Short of some additional clothes, towels, games, books, etc., that are in our shipment, we really have everything we need here to be happy already. And from the looks of Rob's office shipment (see "Office Shipment" blog entry), it's a good thing we didn't ship more! Who knows if it would have arrived in one piece! What's going to be interesting is how our breakable things we've purchased here are going to arrive when it comes time to head back home and ship them from here to home. Since we're picking up things in the local market here it's not like we can just run to the store in the US with shipping insurance money and replace it if it gets broken in the shipment home. But we'll cross that bridge another day - if necessary.......

Tiffany's Necklace

This just made me laugh when I saw it. Having shopped in Tiffany's on 5th Avenue in New York for a very similar necklace, it amused me that the store owner actually had the guts to keep telling me this was "real". I had a great time sparring with her to get her down to around 20 bucks in US money for it. I am certain I got $20 worth of entertainment out of this find - and bargaining for the great price. I will smile with amusement every time I wear it (or spot it in my jewelry box when selecting my jewelry for the day).