In our city (well really it's a town), Xiasha, there is a supermarket called Wu Mei. Pronounced "Woo May". The translated version is said "Wu Mart" This is the only supermarket in our town. There are other grocery stores, but they are much smaller and you cannot get everything you need in one place. You can't always find everything you need at Wu Mart, but you can find a lot of things. Along with this being the only supermarket in Xiasha, it is also the most hoppin' place in town. Everything revolves around this one part of town. So, this is the place to be at night.
If you have ever been in Wal-Mart in America at the busiest time of the year, Christmas time, (before or after) you know how irritating it is to get some shopping done. Well, I want you to take that feeling and multiply it by about 20 and shrink the amount of space you have to walk through the isles by about 10. Now put yourself in a town where that Wal-Mart is the only thing in town worth doing for entertainment. Now, put about 15 Universities in that general area with students who have nothing to do. Now you know how it feels to shop at Wu Mart in Xiasha, China at night. I will never do it again.
Now I am going to add one more dynamic to this. Last year I could walk into our supermarket and go to the exact isle I needed to go, get exactly what I needed to get and miss any type of a rush. With moving out to a new area comes a great deal of learning. The supermarket is no exception. I don't know where anything is in Wu Mart, the learning curve takes a lot longer because everything is in Chinese, and apparently I didn't know what time to NOT go. So, as you can tell tonight was a bit stressful for me. So I decided I would blog about it an eat a Twix bar. :) So that's what I'm doing right now. And I feel all better! I love that blogging, or journal-ing has such positive effects!
This blog was not meant for me to complain, but simply to give you a glimpse of what something is like in China. I certainly made a vow to myself tonight that I would never again step foot in a Wu Mei at night, and that will make that part of my life run more smoothly. When that happens, I'm not concentrating on the bad and I can get more things accomplished for Him. Well, that's all I have for tonight. Thanks for reading! I love you all!
That's funny right there. Good snapshot of life in a Chinese college town. We miss you guys.
ReplyDeleteoh man that sounds crazy...times 20!!! We have the "mega mall" here and it is absolutely insane!! The Carrefour (pronounced Car-foo) is probably the equivalent to Wal-Mart here and it is not only crowded but smells like Durian (which is a really nasty smelling fruit).
ReplyDeleteGood luck and I hope you find the right time to go to the super market!! Thinking and praying for you!
About the Twix.....like the heart decoration thing in our kitchen says...."with the Father, chocolate and coffee, anything is possible".
ReplyDeleteSorry for the stress for you but your blog made me smile !!! :-)
Hope your future shopping trips are less stressful. Maybe you should eat the Twix BEFORE you leave to go to Wu-Mei !
I love you much....
Layna
Is there a "People of Wu Mart" web site yet? :-) It is good that you are learning how to release these stressful experiences by blogging (a little chocolate doesn't hurt, either).
ReplyDeleteThinking about you and the good work you are doing in China!
Oh Juliane, this takes me back! I laughed out loud while reading this because I can feel your pain and totally know what you're going through. Since I practically lived next door to the place I was there quite often and really had to learn when to go and when not to go. You not only want to steer clear at night, but also late afternoonish (4 or 5) and especially on Sunday afternoons. It's horrible! Don't know that I ever really found a "good" time to go:-) But let me know if you have trouble finding anything. Maybe I can dig through my memory and at least get you to the correct section of the store! Good luck! Thinking of you!!!
ReplyDeleteA good time to go is during spring festival. No one is in Xiasha
ReplyDelete