Only in Shenzhen, kids. Only in Shenzhen.
Last week I encountered such a bizarre situation. I would have been at a loss for words in English, so even trying to think it through in Chinese wasn't going to happen.
In mid-July my favorite umbrella was stolen from right in front of our apartment. It was an awesome umbrella. I had bought it at one of the Body Shop stores in Hong Kong. The Body Shop is one of our musts everytime we are in Hong Kong because we don't have them in Mainland China yet. This umbrella was a plain black full-size umbrella, except the inside was lined with a beautiful blue-sky. It was just the greatest umbrella ever, well, maybe second to one Randy got me years ago that had a reproduction from the Sistine Chapel lining the inside.
I had gotten in the night before late enough that I just hung my dripping wet umbrella on the outside of our apartment door, meaning to bring it back in before I went to bed. I, of course, fell asleep instead. The next morning, Randy saw it still hanging there before he left for work, but didn't think to bring it in. About an hour after he left I remembered to look for it, and it was gone.
Having something stolen from you is nothing weird in Shenzhen. It happens all. the. time. Mostly it is bicycles or cell phones, though purses, shopping bags, and jewelry are often targets, too. I know women, Chinese and foreign alike, who have had necklaces ripped right off of their necks in front of Wal-Mart. All the Starbucks across the city have added locks onto their tables so customers can lock down their purses or computer bags. So it wasn't a total surprise my umbrella disappeared, though it was a little strange considering that most of my neighbors in this garden could be described as very rich.
But then, last week Myles and I were walking home from the grocery store and it began to rain. Of course, I didn't have an umbrella with me. A woman approached the gate at the same time as us and offered to share her umbrella with us. I looked.....and it was a Body Shop umbrella with a blue-sky scene.
Certainly, I could have complimented her, in Chinese even, on the umbrella, and asked her where she bought it, again in Chinese. These were vocabulary and grammar well within my ability. It would have confirmed or dismissed what I obviously suspected. However, I couldn't even think in English. I was actually flabbergasted. It was possible that she or someone else had been in Hong Kong and bought one. But this being Shenzhen, it is also possible that somehow my stolen umbrella ended up in her posession.
But at least she was generous enough to share it with me on a rainy day.
In mid-July my favorite umbrella was stolen from right in front of our apartment. It was an awesome umbrella. I had bought it at one of the Body Shop stores in Hong Kong. The Body Shop is one of our musts everytime we are in Hong Kong because we don't have them in Mainland China yet. This umbrella was a plain black full-size umbrella, except the inside was lined with a beautiful blue-sky. It was just the greatest umbrella ever, well, maybe second to one Randy got me years ago that had a reproduction from the Sistine Chapel lining the inside.
I had gotten in the night before late enough that I just hung my dripping wet umbrella on the outside of our apartment door, meaning to bring it back in before I went to bed. I, of course, fell asleep instead. The next morning, Randy saw it still hanging there before he left for work, but didn't think to bring it in. About an hour after he left I remembered to look for it, and it was gone.
Having something stolen from you is nothing weird in Shenzhen. It happens all. the. time. Mostly it is bicycles or cell phones, though purses, shopping bags, and jewelry are often targets, too. I know women, Chinese and foreign alike, who have had necklaces ripped right off of their necks in front of Wal-Mart. All the Starbucks across the city have added locks onto their tables so customers can lock down their purses or computer bags. So it wasn't a total surprise my umbrella disappeared, though it was a little strange considering that most of my neighbors in this garden could be described as very rich.
But then, last week Myles and I were walking home from the grocery store and it began to rain. Of course, I didn't have an umbrella with me. A woman approached the gate at the same time as us and offered to share her umbrella with us. I looked.....and it was a Body Shop umbrella with a blue-sky scene.
Certainly, I could have complimented her, in Chinese even, on the umbrella, and asked her where she bought it, again in Chinese. These were vocabulary and grammar well within my ability. It would have confirmed or dismissed what I obviously suspected. However, I couldn't even think in English. I was actually flabbergasted. It was possible that she or someone else had been in Hong Kong and bought one. But this being Shenzhen, it is also possible that somehow my stolen umbrella ended up in her posession.
But at least she was generous enough to share it with me on a rainy day.
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