I'm sure I've mentioned my grocery shopping woes before, so here's an update on how it's going:
I expected as a newly arrived expat to have to spend some time checking out different stores in a quest to find all our usual staples, and although that quest never truly ends, I'm now at a point where I've pretty much figured out what I can get, and resigned myself to what I can't. It's not too bad - it is possible to get a pretty big variety of western products here. The problem is that you can't always get what you want, when you want it. So you can't get too attached to a particular item, because it can disappear without any warning and you never know when (or if) it will be back.
It can be frustrating sometimes, especially since I am so health conscious and do a lot of home cooking. In fact, at times I feel downright discriminated against since I've noticed that there are always Pop-Tarts on the shelves, yet sometimes I search in vain for weeks to find a can of plain diced tomatoes. So I've learned that when I do find a good product that I like, buy lots and lots of it and hoard it away like a paranoid doomsayer stocking the bomb shelter.
And this applies not just to western imports, but to stuff you can find in with the regular Chinese groceries as well. Of course, there is always tons of rice and noodles and good produce. But there are some items which I would consider a necessity but I guess they are more "luxury" items to the Chinese. For example, I am currently out of dishwasher detergent because it has not been on the shelf in Carrefour for the past month or so. Apparently, not many Chinese homes have dishwashers. I probably shouldn't be surprised in a country that still sells a lot of bar laundry soap (the kind you use to hand scrub your clothes in a wash basin - or a river). Paper towels is another good example, but I'm thinking they must be imported also since anything disposable here is generally not very sturdy. Their table napkins are basically like large segments of toilet paper.
In the beginning I did try several Chinese products because I didn't like the idea of being so dependent on imports. They are so expensive, especially when you have to get them at a specialty store. But with a few exceptions, I pretty much gave up, at least with food. With health and beauty products you really have to shop local. This is a challenge first and foremost because of the labeling. In a lot of cases the only English word on the bottle is the brand name. The only way I could tell which hair product was conditioner instead of shampoo was the opening on the bottom of the bottle (like in the States). At least I hope it's conditioner - never mind whether it's for dry or oily or permed or colored hair. The bottles of skin lotion have a little more of an English description, but then I have the problem of finding a brand without a "whitening" formula (kind of ironic after all those years of trying to get a decent tan). But so far, we've managed.
So when people ask me what I miss from home, it's really hard to say because there are very few things that you NEVER see. I just keep prowling the stores to see what new shipments may have arrived each week. I still get a little buzz of anticipation every time I walk into the American shops, wondering what I might find - even the boys like to shop there. You should have seen how excited we got the day we found Triscuts and Thomas's English Muffins! I've learned you have to try and contain yourself or else you can really get carried away. More than once I've had a box of something in my hand and had to say to myself "I wouldn't buy Cheez-Its at home, why am I buying them here?" Something about the familiarity of the product, that tangible connection to home, the nostalgia even, overrides any sense of moderation.
What's getting me through right now is the fact that it's less than two months til we'll be back in the States for our home visit and, believe me, I will be stocking up again - I'm just not sure on what. To all of you back home: put in your requests now if anyone who would like some Chinese products - dried duck tongues, jellyfish, maybe some whitening skin cream?
Friday, April 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
It's still Shanghai, only better!
Well, it’s been a very busy month. We received six weeks notice to vacate our house because a new developer is coming in and renovating the neighborhood where we have been living for the past 8 months. It was a real bummer because we really liked the complex and were starting to feel at home there. It was bad enough that we just moved to the other side of the world, now we had to move houses again. I was worried about the boys (because I’m a mom and that’s what I do) and they were a little disappointed, too, but they didn’t seem nearly as traumatized as I thought they should be.
So we did some really fast house-hunting, some even faster negotiations, packed it up, and off we went. The move went very smoothly - this being the land of cheap labor, when they have any big job here (or even a small job), they just throw lots of people at it. The small army that was our moving team arrived at our old house at 9:30am and everything was unloaded into our new house by 2:30pm the same day.
Our new house is on the grounds of the Dong Jiao State Guest Hotel which is owned by the Chinese government. As the name would indicate, the hotel is host to many guests of the state and government officials. We’re told that the Chinese premiere stays here when he is in town, so there is lots of good security. Not that we can see the hotel from our house - it’s tucked away on the other side of the propery away from us riff-raff.
The grounds are beautiful with lakes and garden paths and lots of trees - all meticulously maintained by an army of workers who live in a dormitory on the property. I came back to the house after a walk the other day and I saw someone actually wiping down my mailbox post. There is also a HUGE sports and fitness center which both the hotel guests and the villa residents have access to. It is very swank and besides the lovely gym and Olympic-sized indoor pool, it has indoor tennis, bowling, badminton, snooker - you name it.
If I thought we were living in an expat bubble before, now I feel like we’ve actually left the country. The house is very American and after three and a half years abroad, I’m giddy over all the similarities to life back in the US. The house is only 2 stories which is a real treat after having to schlep up and down all the stairs in the other houses. The laundry room is on the first floor and is even inside the house! And the washer and dryer are huge! I think they are a pretty normal size for the US, but to me they look absolutely enormous. The oven is also big - Ian took a look the first day and declared that it was “turkey-sized”. I can actually fit in two cookie sheets at a time. You all at home are thinking “wow, she‘s really lost it”, but I feel so spoiled!
The biggest treat for the boys, though, is their new bunk bed - a right of passage for all boys, I think. They have been sleeping in separate rooms for about a year now, so I was a little surprised when they said they wanted to share a room, again. I obviously underestimated the appeal of the bunk bed. They have agreed to take turns sleeping in the top bunk and so far, so good.
There are lots of families here with kids around the boys ages, so it looks like they will have lots of playmates. There is one family that we already knew living here and they’ve all been making new friends, too. There’s a playground close to the house and there isn’t much traffic, so they are free to ride their bikes and skateboards around.
I’ve met several of the moms as well which is nice except for having to go through the whole ayi discussion again. Ayi is the Chinese word for “auntie” and in this instance, refers to a housekeeper. They can be part-time, full-time, or even live-in and virtually everyone has one - everyone except me, that is. I have various reasons for not wanting one, but it all really comes down to principles and it’s a hard stand to make when no one around you gets it. Frankly, I just don’t understand why every American (who, if they were lucky, maybe had a once a week cleaning lady back in the States - no cooking, no ironing) suddenly upon moving to China cannot live without domestic help.
Every time I meet someone new, it eventually comes up. “So did your ayi come with you?” I just say no, I don’t have one and try to leave it at that. But inevitably I get the puzzled look or they just ask out right “Why don’t you have one?” Sometimes I feel like firing back, “Well, why do you need one?” or if I’m really having a bad day, I’m thinking “Your kids are at school all day, you don’t work - are you too good to scrub a toilet once in a while? Don’t you realize how spoiled your kids are getting?” But if I did that I obviously would have no friends, so I’ve come up with my polite answer: “I love to cook, I really don’t mind cleaning, and I like my privacy”. That usually works, but they all still think I’m crazy.
So anyway, we are all happy in our new place and very relieved that the whole move is done. Now we can get back to regular life and look forward to more fun stuff. The weather is slowly warming up here and I, for one, am itching to get out and about to do some more exploring. Check back for more interesting entries this spring!
So we did some really fast house-hunting, some even faster negotiations, packed it up, and off we went. The move went very smoothly - this being the land of cheap labor, when they have any big job here (or even a small job), they just throw lots of people at it. The small army that was our moving team arrived at our old house at 9:30am and everything was unloaded into our new house by 2:30pm the same day.
Our new house is on the grounds of the Dong Jiao State Guest Hotel which is owned by the Chinese government. As the name would indicate, the hotel is host to many guests of the state and government officials. We’re told that the Chinese premiere stays here when he is in town, so there is lots of good security. Not that we can see the hotel from our house - it’s tucked away on the other side of the propery away from us riff-raff.
The grounds are beautiful with lakes and garden paths and lots of trees - all meticulously maintained by an army of workers who live in a dormitory on the property. I came back to the house after a walk the other day and I saw someone actually wiping down my mailbox post. There is also a HUGE sports and fitness center which both the hotel guests and the villa residents have access to. It is very swank and besides the lovely gym and Olympic-sized indoor pool, it has indoor tennis, bowling, badminton, snooker - you name it.
If I thought we were living in an expat bubble before, now I feel like we’ve actually left the country. The house is very American and after three and a half years abroad, I’m giddy over all the similarities to life back in the US. The house is only 2 stories which is a real treat after having to schlep up and down all the stairs in the other houses. The laundry room is on the first floor and is even inside the house! And the washer and dryer are huge! I think they are a pretty normal size for the US, but to me they look absolutely enormous. The oven is also big - Ian took a look the first day and declared that it was “turkey-sized”. I can actually fit in two cookie sheets at a time. You all at home are thinking “wow, she‘s really lost it”, but I feel so spoiled!
The biggest treat for the boys, though, is their new bunk bed - a right of passage for all boys, I think. They have been sleeping in separate rooms for about a year now, so I was a little surprised when they said they wanted to share a room, again. I obviously underestimated the appeal of the bunk bed. They have agreed to take turns sleeping in the top bunk and so far, so good.
There are lots of families here with kids around the boys ages, so it looks like they will have lots of playmates. There is one family that we already knew living here and they’ve all been making new friends, too. There’s a playground close to the house and there isn’t much traffic, so they are free to ride their bikes and skateboards around.
I’ve met several of the moms as well which is nice except for having to go through the whole ayi discussion again. Ayi is the Chinese word for “auntie” and in this instance, refers to a housekeeper. They can be part-time, full-time, or even live-in and virtually everyone has one - everyone except me, that is. I have various reasons for not wanting one, but it all really comes down to principles and it’s a hard stand to make when no one around you gets it. Frankly, I just don’t understand why every American (who, if they were lucky, maybe had a once a week cleaning lady back in the States - no cooking, no ironing) suddenly upon moving to China cannot live without domestic help.
Every time I meet someone new, it eventually comes up. “So did your ayi come with you?” I just say no, I don’t have one and try to leave it at that. But inevitably I get the puzzled look or they just ask out right “Why don’t you have one?” Sometimes I feel like firing back, “Well, why do you need one?” or if I’m really having a bad day, I’m thinking “Your kids are at school all day, you don’t work - are you too good to scrub a toilet once in a while? Don’t you realize how spoiled your kids are getting?” But if I did that I obviously would have no friends, so I’ve come up with my polite answer: “I love to cook, I really don’t mind cleaning, and I like my privacy”. That usually works, but they all still think I’m crazy.
So anyway, we are all happy in our new place and very relieved that the whole move is done. Now we can get back to regular life and look forward to more fun stuff. The weather is slowly warming up here and I, for one, am itching to get out and about to do some more exploring. Check back for more interesting entries this spring!
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