Makin' Me Itch

In the car on the way to school with L-- this morning, I mentally updated my blog. I wrote about how smooth life has become. Our home is large and quite comfortable. My child attends a wonderful school. I have good friends. We have found a promising Bible Study with a large Christian community. We have a good ayi. We have travel planned. Life is good, and has been for some time.

It is unfortunate that I didn't wait one more day before I went shopping. The move across town has renewed some of my old frustrations, making things difficult to find and calling for treks all across town for necessary items.

1st stop: Decathlon
This European import sells sporting goods in a mega-store format. As the Chinese have not yet become purveyors of sneakers or t-shirts, Decathlon is a staple in the western expat's shopping diet. The new store is quite a ways away from our new home, but the 45 minute drive went down rather interesting streets and S-- and I passed our time happily munching raisins and watching the movie out our windows.

Upon arrival, I headed straight to the shoe section. I had been forewarned to bring shoes. I wear size 10 women's shoes in America; and just as Chinese women to not have large breasts, they also do not sport size 10 shoes. According to the expat grapevine, this expat store was the place to go. We spent over an hour studying nearly every shoe in the store. It seems that each brand converts American sizes to European sizes with a different formula, and so it took quite some time to determine my shoe size. My size 10 feet in America wear in a European size 42 in Adidas and 41 in the Decathlon store brand. Apparently, the folks making sneakers for Decathlon don't expect women to wear size 42, so I spent most of my time at the men's shelves. Out of the few shoes that fit my feet, looked pretty and un-manly, I found one suitable pair and paid 499 RMB. Good thing we're rich - these babies cost me in U.S. dollars, although if they hold up until our next visit to the states (the first one being in a few shorts months) then they'll be worth their price.

En route: Phone call from Leo
Leo is our rental agent. Although I found him quite helpful before we moved into our apartment, he has been just short of useless since we arrived. This morning, the rod fell down in our closet. This has happened before, only this time the attachment mechanism broke and there was no repairing it. I called Leo, whose standard attitude is to imply that all problems are my fault. He made a valiant attempt this morning, but to no avail. I stuck to my guns - the wardrobe must be repaired. He faltered, and told me to call maintenance from the complex. These are the people who fix overflowing toilets and replace your keycard - I don't have much hope in their ability to repair furniture. He also updated me on our remaining repairs. Apparently, the man who promised to return to our home immediately after the holiday (which ended Sunday) has skipped town. He will return on October 15th - at which time we can ask him to schedule us in. Poor Leo receives the brunt of much of my anger, and got an earful. This worker has been on my schedule nearly 6 times - each time he has canceled for an irresponsible reason. He is not only contracted to paint our balcony, but also to childproof our windows. Leo thinks I'm overeacting when I tell him that my child not only can, but frequently does open her window and lean outside. Of our 10th story apartment.

Frustration mounting.

2nd stop: Carrefour
This French giant sells anything a Chinese family needs, and even a few things an expat needs. They have a comfy imported foods section with friendly prices on their small selection. I always walk away with more than I intended to purchase, and today was no exception. Well, one exception - in that I was not able to walk away with what I did intend to purchase. It seems that China is experiencing a diaper shortage. Last night's walk to the local grocery saw the price of diapers nearly double. This morning's ride to Carrefour saw a distinct lack of diapers on the shelf. Now, I do not actually expect that China is experiencing any sort of a shortage. But I am left floundering for how to bring diapers into my home.

I moved onto the butcher as our last stop. As a general rule, I only buy meat from City Shop, a store devoted primarily to import groceries and with an expatriate clientelle. Stop 3 today would have been City Shop, but my clock ran too fast. For us to eat dinner tonight, I had to buy meat at Carrefour. I scanned the options. Pork loin was labeled in English, looked rather healthy, and was nicely shrink-wrapped to keep sneezers and fingerers from spreading their germs. This in comparison to the pork ribs in the next bin - no plastic, and all covered with sneezes and fingerprints. I braved it, and we'll eat a pork stir-fry for dinner. But moving over to the chicken for dinner tomorrow, I simply couldn't stomach it. The boneless, skinless chicken breasts each sat in a small pool of liquid and were framed on the left by neat packets of chicken feet and on the right by whole, dead, plucked chickens. And when I saw whole, you must know that these little guys are looking right at you through their beady little dead-eyes.

En route: I left feeling a bit weirded out, and mighty frustrated. I'd also missed lunch, so S-- and I split a Snickers bar on the way to L--'s school. Those do satisfy the craving for something familiar, although I noted an expiration date of August 5, 2008.

Stop 3: L--'s school
I love this place. Parents can pick up their children between 1:00 and 1:30. We often try to arrive early so S-- can play with the bigger kids, and all of the fun toys. I spent a lovely 30 minutes chatting with the other moms and teachers. Today, everyone seemed in a mood to stand and chat in the cool fall air, watching the kids race on their trikes.

We headed home. I got the girls down for naps, rather smoothly I might add. I made plans with some friends for Thursday morning, and again for next Tuesday. S-- and I are happily booked for the next two weeks. I moved to the kitchen to put away the groceries, and found a chunky little cockroach crawling over the Sprite can.

Today, China is makin' me itch.