Ni Hao Everybody!! And xie xie (thank you) for visiting my blog once again. It is the night of September 5th here and, let me tell you, I have had a long past few days! I’ve been spending my time navigating the streets of Hangzhou (never venturing too far from campus though – I’m not ready to get completely lost yet!), buying various necessities for my apartment & figuring out what to eat and how to order it. During this time, I have learned a few basic “rules” about living in China. I’d like to share them with you:
2. Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way.
3. Even after you make it clear that you do not speak Chinese, people will continue to loudly talk at you as if your hearing were the problem. Which it is not.
4. Potato chips come in any & every flavor. So far I’ve seen blueberry, cucumber, hot & sour shrimp soup, numb & spicy hot pot soup, & stir-fried shrimp flavors.
5. There is no Chinese word for “excuse me” (& even if there is, I sure haven’t heard it). To get where you need to go, all you need is a little pushing & shoving.
I’m sure I could continue, but that would make this entry entirely too long. Instead, I will tell you of my adventures at Wu Mei, the so-called Chinese Wal-Mart. Wu Mei is a giant building about 15 minutes (walking) away from my apartment. It has at least six floors, each filled with all sorts of stuff – everything you could imagine. The ground floor is dedicated to mopeds, bicycles & the like. The first floor is comprised of various clothing, shoe & jewelry shops. The second floor is a giant grocery store (with some of the strangest foods I have ever seen). The third floor is all things considered “home goods,” plus toiletries, cleaning supplies, electronics & more. I haven’t even ventured to the fourth floor – I find myself scared to see what more a store could carry. If this place doesn’t sound overwhelming enough, then picture it COMPLETELY FULL OF PEOPLE. I first went on Saturday, where I was so flabbergasted that I couldn’t even bring myself to buy anything – I had to get out of that maze! On Sunday, I had better luck. I was able to buy toilet paper (finally!!) and other living necessities. And it didn’t take me 30 minutes to find the exit this time. I found myself there again today (even after I had decided that two days in a row was more than enough) to purchase just a few more things I had added to my list. Hopefully, that’s the last time for the rest of the week. However, if you come to China for one reason, then it should be to see this outrageous store. I have never seen anything like it. It truly has been an adventure each time I’ve gone.
When I’m not wandering around Wu Mei like a mouse in a maze, I have been preparing for my classes (I begin teaching on Thursday!) and organizing my apartment. I also reached another important milestone today – I ordered food (in Chinese) in a restaurant! Up ‘til now, I have either had someone else order for me or I have just eaten food from the convenience store. And boy, the “Eggplant that Smells Like Fish” sure was delicious!! (It doesn’t really smell like fish – in fact, it smells like butter & heaven all in one. And it melts on one’s tongue like nothing I’ve ever tasted). Hopefully by the end of next week, I will have expanded my meal repertoire so that I’m able to order a wider variety of dishes. Yum!
So, like I’ve said – I have managed to finally get my apartment in order, and I’d like to share it with you. Here are some pictures of where I live:
If you’d like to see more, then just send me an e-mail! I hope everyone is doing fine & dandy, I can’t wait to hear from you.
Zaijian,
Olivia
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