I Love Chinese

Born in China, grew up in Sweden, now back in China again. Currently on a break from my Law studies at Uppsala University to study Chinese at Beijing University. This is my story.

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It's Chinese Take Out Time

Saturday, October 14, 2006 - Shopping times

Today has been a busy day. A busy day shopping.
Ah, let me just savour that for a moment.
OK, done. =P
So after class I went shopping with a friend from class, and it was really fun. We went to a place that had a decent selection, decent prices, and best of all, the salespeople weren’t the bloodthirsty, jump-on-you-as-soon-as-you-enter-their-line-of-sight kind I’ve met so far in China. I swear, my last time at the Silk Market, it felt like playing HoMM IV with the wandering monsters and all. If you get too close – BAM!! – you’re under attack.
But no, these were pretty mellow, not too eager and not too laid back. Also, during the first hours at least, there were relatively few people, which made both browsing and haggling considerably easier. I bought some stuff, and I’m quite satisfied with both the buys and the prices.
Then, as we were on the bus back to Beida, Patrik called to ask if I wanted to go with him to the Silk Market. By then it was almost six already, but the Silk Market is apparently open till nine, so we went there. Another pleasant surprise – very few people and tired salespeople (less wandering monsters) made for quite pleasant browsing. Also, shopping with Patrik is the best strategy ever – all the salespeople speak English really well, but nobody speaks Swedish. Hell yeah! Swedish rules! He got a bag and wallet, and I got a bag as well, from this hilarious saleswoman – she gave me a really good price from start, 200 RMB for the biggest Chloé bag there is, and I could only bargain it down to 170 RMB. I would like to think it was because she liked me, cuz really, nobody starts off that low. What I heard last time was 500 RMB for the bag, and she told me her starting price to foreigners was 1400 RMB. When Patrik came over, she literally groaned as he starting speaking Chinese as well, as well as Swedish with me. But what really freaked me out was this: even though she didn’t understand Swedish, she knew we were speaking the language. That’s quite unsettling, even if she said she’s had contact with lots of Swedes and Norwegians.
Anyways, after our shopping trip – and yes, I’m still a little high on the successful haggling – we took a stroll around the area before getting the subway back. I wish I had brought my camera – some of the neon lights were really cool. A lot of rainbows and uh, very Chinese. Afterwards, Patrik went home and I went to the building next to him to visit another Swedish friend, Tobias, who was having a party. It was quite nice – didn’t stay long, cuz I was tired and not really in a party mood.
So all in all, a busy day. And even though I didn’t go out tonight, I’m still up at 2 AM. What can I say? As soon as it gets dark, I like China infinitely better. There’s just something about Chinese evenings and nights, a feeling that literally anything could happen.

Notes:
- I finally found out why a lot of young Chinese guys have one really long nail on one pinky finger. It made no sense before, and I always wanted to ask if they knew how many fingers they had, and maybe just routinely forgot about one. But as it turns out, letting one fingernail grow long signifies wealth, as it means you are rich enough not to do manual labor. How did I find this out? One of the workers at Kro’s had one long pinky nail, and explained it to me.
On that note, there’s a guy in one of my classes who has insanely long thumb nails. They even look sharpened. He’s Korean or Japanese, and I notice it and wonder every time, but I haven’t yet the nerve to ask. Maybe some day when I’m feeling cheeky.
- From my shopping trip:
A T-shirt, with a print of Absolut Vodka bottles, including “Absolut Vamilla.”
“African & Fitch.” Abercrombie & Fitch seems really popular here, by the way. Annoyingly enough, the clothes look far nicer than the ones I saw in the States. I might just stop resisting and buy that label some day... but not today. I’m a little proud of myself for that.

Best headline ever.

Feifei fumbled with chopsticks @ 10/14/2006 01:37:00 AM| 3 enjoyed the dumplings

3 enjoyed the dumplings
Anonymous Anonymous finished the dumplings and said..

aww babe... A&F are cool... troy and i buy it ALOT... we creamed ourselves when "general issue" opened up here (thats A&F and Hollister in the same store)

did i show you the photo of the girl with abercrombie and titch? she was on the front of a ice creme cart... HAHAHAHA...

the thumbnail thing is for counting money... i see some of our korean customers do that... its this werid way they flick with the nail...
but your thing on a status symbol is inacurate... its was in the past only in manchurian custom but in china (as in huns)i found this in wiki.. or somewhere...

Quite a number of Asian (usually Chinese) male (and sometimes female) workers, regardless of what type of job they hold (eg. mechanics, contractors, businessmen, restaurant owners, etc), do keep the nail on the pinkie long not so much as a sign of a comfortable job - the nail is usually kept long for nose-picking. This is a fact, it's not a joke and I find that disgusting.

The pinky is used to pick the nose because it is the smallest finger. They feel that using the pinky wouldn't widen their nostril too much. I was told this when I was a kid: A person with large nostrils are deemed unlucky - "If the nostrils are too big, the gold will fall out" - a belief that he/she would lose accumulated wealth.


HAHAHAHAHA

there you go... thats your fact of the day... now go spread your wealth of information

October 16, 2006 5:33 AM  
Blogger Feifei finished the dumplings and said..

umm yeah.. the wealth of information has been spread. =P The pinky thing is really interesting, but since the Chinese themselves claimed they had it as a status symbol, maybe it's just a convenient coincidence it also doubles as a nose-picker. Or maybe they just didn't want to tell me that particular tasteful fact.. And as for A&F, I like the moose, but that's about it. But as I said, I can be swayed, I'm just not going to wear it if I ever go to the States again.

October 17, 2006 4:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous finished the dumplings and said..

okay, its not what you think it is especially not in california... and just fyi the stores in cali, are usually packed with really HOT sales ppl, and sometimes when your lucky... there are semi nude (i know wtf do the thing their selling?) REALLY HOT LIVE MODELS!

anyways, in cali, hollister have the image you inflict on to A&F... its the stuff the sand and silicone crowd can afford... but i like "jonathan the seagull" (troys pet name for thier logos, i dunno where he got them or how he made them up, it is just what it is...) better than "adam the moose"

and i will stick to the idea that unless your manchurian one doesnt keep one's pinky nail long unless one wants a handy nose picker... not so sanitary tho... i barly wanted to touch my face with my hands coz they constantly felt so grimy let alone stick my NAIL which is dirter than a toilet seat (thats a fact!) up INSIDE my nostril!

October 18, 2006 5:58 AM  

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