Today marked my 1 month anniversary in China. It is emphasized by the tail end of a rain storm that has made this place feel like Seattle for the last 3 days. Last week I was sweating, this week I'm wearing a coat.
Maybe coincidental, but I happened to find a store that sells western (in reference to hemispheres and not honky tonk) products. The name is Watsons. It is like a Rite Aid or CVS, a regular drug store, but it has a variety of products with packaging in English, French, Portuguese, and on... along side Chinese stuff. It is limited in the quantity of items, but it has a decent range.
It was weird how much more relaxed I became due to being able to read about 50% of all the signs and stuff. There was a certain level of comfort I experienced that I wasn't aware I lacked everywhere else. It isn't stress, but rather constantly thinking about what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, and what I'm going to have to do...without being mistaken for a shoplifter or being run over when crossing the road.
Anyways, enough about that noise...on to more personal hygiene adventures. I entered Watsons and immediately thought about finding mouthwash (the two little travel size bottles ran out weeks ago) and a replacement for the Romano (the roll-on business just isn't cutting it). I found the oral hygiene products aisle no problem, mainly because of the way toothbrushes stand out. I'll be damned if I didn't find Listerine. You can't imagine how excited I got, almost overwhelmed - would have done a back-flip if I hadn't remembered I don't know how to do one and the thought of knocking over an end display didn't come to mind. While I was there I also got some floss. This used to be an everyday thing, but now, this is momentous and indeed photo worthy.
To balance things out, I went over to the sweets aisle and found some milk & honey flavored cookies from Nestle, which happen to be quite good. They are packaged in Portuguese (maybe for the Macao market). I have a month's worth of experience with Chinese cookies and that is something this place has not nailed down. Homemade oatmeal and raisin cookies would make a killing here.
Before I hit the check out, I searched for some men's deodorant. I looked everywhere and asked a sales person. No dice, women's, yes...by Adidas...men's no. Her English was really good (I soon heard more sales folks speaking in equally fluent English, it may be because they cater to westerners). She couldn't convince me to buy the stuff made for a women regardless of how hard she tried. So, I accepted defeat and went to the counter.
There were four people in front of me. I'm trying to learn numbers in Chinese so I've been paying attention at check out lines and restaurants. I try not to look at the register or the bill when I'm told how much I owe. So, call it snooping, but I was paying close attention to the amounts people were spending. I can't make it out most of the time, so I don't feel bad for eavesdropping. It took a while, but I made it to the front. There, the cashier zapped my three items and then with excitement told me, "You are the lucky grand prize customer today!" Before I could be overcome by joy, he hands me a cardboard fan. I quickly replied, "No xiexie."...knowing I would just throw the thing away. Besides, I was on foot and didn't want to add more of a load than what I bought and the weight of my grand prize. He then proceeded to burst my bubble by, in a combination of English and Chinese, getting the point across that the grand prize winner, me, was to be the proud recipient of the grand prize, the cardboard fan. I couldn't do anything but laugh and take the fan.
Who knows how much I was charged. I just handed over a bill and got change back. I put the stuff in my knapsack and carried my fan out of the store. None of the customers behind me looked envious.
My grand prize fan is decorated with a Nivea advert for "Good-bye Cellulite Gel-Cream". It functions perfectly fine (the fan, that is). I hold it, move my hand, and it pushes air in my face with efficiency. Had I got this thing last week, I'd have used it on my walk back to the hotel. Instead, it will go in the waste bin as I think a folded up newspaper looks more masculine.
So, after one month here, I have managed to regain my ability to gargle until the burning sensation stops and became a grand prize winner.
Note: The title of this blog entry was inspired by an email received from Yvonna. She had the perfect Chinese-English line: "go go super china hawt number one!" She has it tattooed on her neck.
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