I don't know if this is a Shenzhen thing or a China thing
On Monday we ran into some people when Myles and I were going to lunch. We had been out with his bike, and so I thought some Shandong food would be yummy (and cheap!!!) . The group we saw included the visiting mother of one of the Americans working here, his girlfriend, one of Randy's coworkers' girlfriends, and Fei Fei.
The mother, Margot, has been here a few days and has been enjoying her visit. She asked me what it was like to live here, what I did to keep myself busy all day long. I always find that question so odd because I am busy all day and really tired by the end. Even people who have had children think I must be bored here. I told her that we spend a lot of time walking around, and going to the playground, and places to play. I talked a little bit about the types of things we like to do in Pittsburgh that I am still hoping to find equivalent activities here. But I did tell her that I was never bored or at a loss for things to do.
One of the girls at the table asked me with a giggle why I didn't go shopping all day long, because that is what she would do. And later we experienced a little of her daily life, walking store to store, browsing clothes and thong selections. No wonder she can fill hours of her day shopping. In 60 minutes we barely walked a block. (As a side note, I found this really interesting, her enthusiasm for shopping, because she doesn't work, and only this weekend her boyfriend told me there is no difference between a stay-at-home mom like me and a prostitute. Yeah, lovely.)
So is this a Shenzhen thing? I get in a cab and try to go somewhere cultural, like a museum, and the cab driver has never even heard of the street. The one time we have tried to go to a musuem, the cab driver had to call the museum. They put someone who spoke English on the phone with me who asked me with all kinds of doubt and incredulousness, "You want to come visit our museum?" After getting there, I understood why. We were the only visitors, and some of the guards were sitting in front of a gallery watching a DVD! However, if I had asked the same cab driver to take me to Lowu, or Haiya, or Dongmen--no problem. They can get me to a shopping center, but not to a musuem.
At least in New York, a shopping "mecca" in the US, a cab driver can get you to the Guggenheim.
I mean, there's more to life than shoes, right?
The mother, Margot, has been here a few days and has been enjoying her visit. She asked me what it was like to live here, what I did to keep myself busy all day long. I always find that question so odd because I am busy all day and really tired by the end. Even people who have had children think I must be bored here. I told her that we spend a lot of time walking around, and going to the playground, and places to play. I talked a little bit about the types of things we like to do in Pittsburgh that I am still hoping to find equivalent activities here. But I did tell her that I was never bored or at a loss for things to do.
One of the girls at the table asked me with a giggle why I didn't go shopping all day long, because that is what she would do. And later we experienced a little of her daily life, walking store to store, browsing clothes and thong selections. No wonder she can fill hours of her day shopping. In 60 minutes we barely walked a block. (As a side note, I found this really interesting, her enthusiasm for shopping, because she doesn't work, and only this weekend her boyfriend told me there is no difference between a stay-at-home mom like me and a prostitute. Yeah, lovely.)
So is this a Shenzhen thing? I get in a cab and try to go somewhere cultural, like a museum, and the cab driver has never even heard of the street. The one time we have tried to go to a musuem, the cab driver had to call the museum. They put someone who spoke English on the phone with me who asked me with all kinds of doubt and incredulousness, "You want to come visit our museum?" After getting there, I understood why. We were the only visitors, and some of the guards were sitting in front of a gallery watching a DVD! However, if I had asked the same cab driver to take me to Lowu, or Haiya, or Dongmen--no problem. They can get me to a shopping center, but not to a musuem.
At least in New York, a shopping "mecca" in the US, a cab driver can get you to the Guggenheim.
I mean, there's more to life than shoes, right?
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