Shopping is one of the most basic, common activities at home, but here it’s quite an adventure. The first time we went shopping for food, we knew that there was a Carrefour market somewhere close. Our friends had left a bag from that store in our apartment, so we went outside and began showing it to people, asking, “Where is this store?” and “We’re looking for this store…” Everybody knew the store, and everybody was willing to tell us which way to go. The problem was that we couldn’t understand what they were telling us. So we followed a strategy suggested by a Chinese friend in Utah - we asked for directions, followed them for a short distance, and asked someone else. That got us to the store pretty quickly, and we actually managed to take a very direct route. Here’s a picture of Carol at the store comparing several brands of cleaners. The people at the store are always helpful, even if we don’t know the right words. Carol has learned to take the dictionary to the store.
Since that first trip to Carrefour, we have found several other good local stores. There’s a good-sized Chinese supermarket just two streets from our house, and it has a lot of the things we like. There’s also a Wal-mart, but we have to take the subway and walk for a while to get there.
My personal favorites are the bookstores. I know of two huge bookstores with six or more floors. Every floor is larger than any bookstore I’ve seen in Utah. Here’s the one closest to where I work. Now that’s a bookstore!
There’s a McDonalds restaurant by the bookstore (no, we haven’t eaten there yet) and there’s a KFC across the street.
So while shopping is a lot harder here, it’s also a lot of fun. Every trip to the store is an adventure, and since we have to go to the store for food and basic household supplies, we have a lot of adventures. It’s fun for us to compare notes each evening and share what we’ve learned. And yes, we’ll write a post about the outdoor markets and bargaining at some point. Those are a whole different category of adventure!