a typical day in China?

It’s hard to nail down a “normal” day in China.  No two days look quite the same, and while there are interesting moments, and weird phenomena,

most of the time, my day might look a lot like yours (that is if you are a stay-at-home mom)  : )

I wanted to briefly give you a little glimpse into our lives in China so far.

 

Dan teaches classes five days a week, and typically is at school from 9:00- 4:00.  This varies from day to day depending on His work load and class schedule. 

Days here seem very short.  The sun rises around 6am and sets at 4:00 pm.

I must say… it’s really hard to get used to it getting dark so early, and  I’m told that pretty soon it will start getting dark around 3:00pm.  So much darkness can easily discourage the soul, yet I know the One who is the source of Light, who shines His light into my heart, enabling me to keep joyful.

Abigail goes to preschool three days a week.  She leaves at 9 in the morning and returns around 2:30 in the afternoon.

Her class is all in Korean, and while at first was a bit overwhelming for her, she now loves it!  I catch her every once in a while singing a Korean song or saying a Korean word.  I’m hoping she will pick up the language and teach her mom!!

Most of the children in the preschool are South Korean, but she also has

several friends who are international and speak English.

Lydia is busy doing what most almost-two-year-olds are doing, playing with toys, spilling her drinks, getting into the snack drawer way too often, making sure that mommy has plenty to clean up, and waking up in the middle of the night to climb in our bed. 

I, of course, am still just a mom, whether in the USA or a thousand miles across the globe, my occupation has not changed.  I’m a wife and mother and all that comes along with that.  Recently I started homeschooling Abigail on her days home from the preschool, so now I’m a teacher too. I’m a student of this culture and language, and find it hard to make time to study!  Whenever we venture out of our little hiding place atop the hill (YUST CAMPUS) overlooking Yanji, I bolster up all of my courage and rack my brain to try to remember what little Chinese I know in order to get around. 

Today I would like to share with you what it is like to go shopping here.

It’s interesting how doing a simple task like going to the grocery store can become an adventure complete with challenges and excitement.

I will say that when we go out with our two little girls it is more challenging than exciting.

First we wait at the top of the hill for a taxi.  They often come to and from the school picking up and dropping off students so we are lucky if we can happen to get one at the right time.  Many a cold, windy day have we stood atop the hill waiting for a taxi to no avail….. well then we must make the trek down the hill to the main road to find one.  This trek usually takes about 10 minutes.  Not so bad, but when the wind is blowing and its COLD, it can be 10 minutes of misery!!

Once a taxi is procured, we tell him the desired destination to which we would like to arrive safe and sound.  We realize that putting ourselves into a Chinese taxi is putting our lives at risk.  Our children are not put in safe car seats, or even wearing seat belts. No, these such precautions are not available to us. So,we hold on to our children and I try to not to suck wind every time we barely miss another car, motorcycle, large truck or pedestrian.   The horn is frequently, should I say, almost constantly used by drivers in China, while blinkers and brakes are rarely used. : )

I have to empty my brain of all traffic laws learned in the states for these do no apply here!

When we arrive at our destination, we pay the taxi, which usually is between 5- 12 yuan ,this is about 1-2 american dollars.

So now we have arrived downtown, and most of the time we go to the large supermarkets, you could compare them to a walmart but maybe not quite as large. 

Now the staring begins.  An Asian man with a white female and their two mixed children are quite an interesting spectacle to the Chinese.

While I may be able to endure the blatant staring and pointing, our children have not yet become accustomed to it. 

Abigail once asked me “Mommy why is everyone looking at me?” I tell her it’s because she’s so beautiful. 

Lydia on the other hand doesn’t take it as graciously as Abigail, not being able to communicate her frustration in words she does in tears. 

Several times we have had a major meltdown in the middle of the grocery store which is not fun at all. 

Of course everyone stares at the foreigner with the screaming child to see how she will handle it. 

Eventually she is pacified, and we move on. 

Many times the curiosity of the Chinese can be a bit unnerving and I’m not sure as a parent how to handle it.  My kids are touched, hugged, and picked up by strangers, their hair is stroked, and they get accolades on how cute they are in Chinese.

I can imagine for a 4yr old and a 2 yr old, this can be very scary, especially if it is a toothless grandma!

Moving on….

Arriving in the supermarket I grab a shopping cart. Two security guards stand at the entrance making sure that nobody with a large purse or backpack gets through.  We must either check these in at a booth at the front or put them in a large black bag that is sealed by a clerk and unsealed at the cash register when we check out.  This is to prevent shoplifting… which I think is pretty smart, however annoying to have to wait in line to check in your bag. 

Shopping at the supermarket is somewhat familiar and comfortable since I can look at everything without harassment or pressure to purchase it and everything is priced. This is not so at the markets.  Large outdoor or even indoor markets look very much like what you might call a flea market back in the states.  Every seller has their own booth, cart or stand.  Close to our school it is very common to see farmers from the countryside come in with their donkeys, mules or cows pulling a cart with their vegetables or fruit. 

The market is where you can bargain and haggle to pay the price you want. These markets may have everything from clothes and shoes to curtains and material, dvds, purses, wallets, sports equipment, toys, home décor etc. 

Going to the markets can be fun but also a huge step out of my comfort zone, this is where my Chinese has to come out and also the bargaining. I am not a bargainer by nature, thank goodness my husband is. : )

We are so blessed to be able to communicate somewhat between the two of us. 

Sometimes we will run into a Korean-Chinese seller who speaks Korean, and Dan will be able to converse with them about the product and price.  With our powers combined we make a pretty snazzy team.  If I stop by a booth and start looking at the items I will most likely be accosted by the seller, and some are bolder than others.  I ask “ Duo Shao qian?” (How much is this) and they will reply with most likely the highest price. This is my lot since I have a foreign face. 

I will try to get the seller to come down a little,  Dan will try to get them to come down a lot! :)

The thing about markets is that although you might be able to find something for really cheap the quality is questionable. This is always our challenge.  Many things will bear the label of big brand name but this is almost always a knock-off.  We have already had our share of failed purchases.  Things that just don’t last past a week.

Buying something of quality will cost more for sure and sometimes may cost more than what we would pay in the states. Thankfully we have discovered Amazon China! 

This blessed website provides many a good product at a decent price.  We can order everything from milk to a microwave with free shipping! YAY!

Shopping draws to a close and whether we are in the supermarket or out in the bargaining markets we always have to purchase with the mindset of only buy what you can carry. 

This part is a challenge, especially for us Americans.  We are so used to pulling a car into the parking lot of a large grocery store filling our cart with whatever we want/need.  All we have to do is get it in the trunk of our car and take it home.

Here we have to limit ourselves to what we can carry.  This makes it so that we will have to go shopping more often since we can’t get as much at one time. 

It is also not possible to get everything we want at one store.  Western food is not readily available here but a few stores carry a few things that we enjoy. For example,  things like bacon, mozzarella cheese, tortillas, butter, and cream cheese usually cannot be found at the local supermarket.  Thanks to the information of other westerners in this area we have found a few shops that carry these items.  

I must say that since living here I have learned how to make things that I cannot buy in the store, like my own salsa and sour cream and my own salad dressing.

Making things from scratch is fun but a lot more time consuming and a lot more work for sure! 

There are those days when I just wish I could get a frozen pizza, such a quick fix for a meal right?  Gone are the days when I could buy cookie dough already made or crescent rolls in a can.  No canned chicken noodle soup or kraft macaroni and cheese. No ready made pie crusts, or boxed cake mixes.   

Oh well….this is part of it.  I have to remind myself that these are small insignificant things that we have “sacrificed”.

Besides I stay much healthier by staying away from prepackaged and processed foods right?  So it’s actually a bonus! 

Well, this is a good description of our adventures in shopping…. I would love to share more about our other adventures but it will have to wait….

Until next time,

Zai Jian!  (Goodbye!)