I was completely intimited by shopping in China. Surrounded by the Asian shape that allows for squat toilets to be comfortable, I was convinced that there was no way under any circumstances that I would ever find any pants or shirts or shoes or anything to fit me. Except maybe a hat. Or a scarf.
But faced with the increasingly cold weather and my ownership of exaclty two pairs of jeans that continue shreading with every step that I carefully take in them, I had to attempt it.
So today I met up with another Couch Surfer (Norma from Scotland, very cool and completely down for shopping), and plunged into the bargaining madness. We shopped from about noon until about 8 pm.
I wound up figuring out my sizes in jeans and shoes in China, which seem to correspond to no other sizing system I've encountered. Not only that, but I actually found things in my size.
Now, I'm ladened with a new pair of shoes, a new pair of jeans, a new hat, and some long johns to help me bare the "heat island" of Beijing.
I spent less than $50 on all of it. Amazing. And it all fits!
The last amazing part of this day is my increasing ability to speak this silly language. I actually got in an argument in Chinese. Even while it was happening, I was completely bewildered by it. It took basically every single thing I know in Chinese, but it still happened. And I'm still wondering how.
