Shopping Lingo

Happy Santo de Patrick's day from what has to be one of the least Irish locales of this hemisphere! Can't say that I've seen a plethora of green, aside from the occasional hocked lugie at my feet (or, in one case, one fantastically projected snot rocket) by some guy at the flea market today.

That's the thing: there is a stated ban on spitting and such in public, but just like many other signs and posted rules--no smoking designations, stop lights, turn lanes, no u-turns, wholesale prices, no bargaining, authentic, Colombia, Nike, Louis Vitton, jade, etc.--it doesn't really mean much. No smoking sign? There's someone smoking next to it. No U-Turn? Not to our bus driver! Cashmere? Sure, whatever.

Oh, and the smoking thing, again. Yesterday during our lectures, I stopped in what seemed to be the nicest bathroom yet--nice marble-ish walls, good urinals, excellent handwashing facilites--but then the next time I went in there was someone smoking as he did his business in the stall. That's when I noticed the ashtrays on the urinals. Some of my classmates have turned 'when in Rome' and are smoking inside pretty much wherever, and it's annoying as hell. I will not miss the smoking aspect of this place, not at all.

Today was some shopping, at one of the biggest flea market areas and then at the infamous Silk Road. The market was crazy: condensed like Saturday Market but much bigger and with much much pushier people, both in terms of patrons and of sellers. Some classmates haggled some good bargains, but it was a very stressful experience for me, as everyone wanted to sell you something, whether it was crap or not-quite-crap, and I had about an inch of personal space at any one moment. Plus, knowing that I was going to have to haggle anything I wanted to buy and that more than likely I wouldn't be able to really get a decent price, I was reticent to try to buy even the crappiest of crap, like Mao playing cards.

The silk road was a bit more interesting and a bit less busy (and a lot less smoky, despite the very large No Smoking signs at the market, but see above) with far more familiar crap. This is where my classmates were getting 'Louis Vitton' handbags for something like $12 after haggling, and where knock-offs and such are all the rage. I managed to grab a decent Arsenal soccer jersey and short set for $20, and a jade monkey that I'm satisfied with. It might not be great jade, but it's fine, and I got it for about $20 as well, which I don't consider to be a bad price, but I know I could have gotten it for less. The sales lady, 'Jennifer', was fun to haggle with though, since she was friendly and persistent, and I'm too nice, so I paid a little bit more than my hardline self would have. Ah, well; it's about the experience, right?

The interesting thing about products here is that there isn't much importance put on quality. If it's there in some form, then it's just fine. There is a budding class of people who are after quality items, but that's nowhere near the mass consensus, so a cheap knock-off or cheaper substitute is fine as long as it's the thing itself. I surmise this to be a function of emerging from Communism, where there wasn't necessarily 'luxury' so a car was a car and a coat was a coat, regardless of where it came from or how it was made. Now is a real interesting time for the goods markets in China, to see if the general preference starts factoring quality and not just existence more, and what that does to places like the silk road.

It's very tiring for me, however, to have to work so hard to find and acquire something. I'm fine with a set price that allows me to decide if it's worth my time and money to get the thing, and it's even cool to have a legitimate negotiation to grab something, but the hounding and the cultural differences that I do not yet understand just leave me feeling really overworked and overwhelmed. I just haven't found many ways to feel continually comfortable here; it's come and gone in little moments, but I really need someone to give me some education of the place, rather than just unfocused glimpses of things I can't completely comprehend. It's been marvelous in those regards at times, but it's flipside is exhausting.

That said, I'm definitely starting to have cravings for Cha! Cha! Cha! and real (not potentially soy-mixed) burgers and fries, and good chicken. A bit of familiarity. Kitties.

It's not at a bad level, however; within acceptable limits of homesickness. Shanghai should be very interesting, as it sounds like a bit of a Beijing-Tokyo hybrid, and the schedule is very busy. I am, however, done with spending on anything but food, as I'm going to end up spending, as expected, more than my initial bit of money I took with me. Not to any difficulty-inducing level--again, within acceptable limits--and, hey, this is a very special occasion, and a couple of splurges are expected.

Well, enough whining from me. I hope all is well with you. That's right--You!

--need dollar bills lining their clothes--