Shopping, Excursions, and Street-crossings

For the Double-10 holiday (more on this later), the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) has invited the Fulbrighters to a reception being hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). Suits or tuxes for men, cocktail dresses for women! My problem—I DIDN’T BRING an appropriate dress! I only brought recital clothes! This was my first real personal shopping assignment! So far, shopping in Taipei has been a challenge for me. Supposedly bargaining is an option, but I haven’t even attempted it! And I’m still not sure when it’s appropriate, so I just don’t do it! I obviously still need to learn the ropes because I generally can’t seem to find what I want very easily! People can correct me on this, but so far I’ve found that I can shop at large department stores, or smaller shops/boutiques on the streets. The underground malls at Taipei Main Station also contain small shops. The department stores, which mostly sell designer brands, are EXPENSIVE, and I’ve pretty much eliminated that option. Great for looking around, and the stores are BEAUTIFUL with wonderful food courts and fantastic bathrooms—one of them even had heated toilets—but MUCH too pricey for me. The small shops are inexpensive, but I’ve been having a hard time finding the right clothes. They’re either too teeny-bopperish or too dowdy! I usually don’t find anything in between. Maybe someone can advise me on this, but I wish there was something more mid-range, like Ann Taylor (preferably sale prices). Or even a Target, Kohl’s, Gap, or Banana Republic. There is a comparable store called Net, which is very similar to the Gap, but it is too casual—no cocktail dresses there! Another idea I have to adjust to is that I’m 1-2 sizes higher here than I am in the U.S.! This can be a real ego blower, and I have to keep reminding myself it’s because I’m in a country that has SMALL, SKINNY people! Or that the U.S. has size inflation! AND as some you know, normally I have no problem drawing attention to myself—a couple of my colleagues in my department have told me I’m the LOUDEST Asian they’ve ever met—but when I shop, I want AS LITTLE attention AS POSSIBLE. I don’t want any help, I don’t want the salespeople to notice me, I just want to do my own thing. This is VERY DIFFICULT to accomplish in Taipei! The shops are usually quite small, so many times I’m the ONLY person in the whole store. You really feel like you’re invading someone’s space, and I practically feel like there’s a SPOTLIGHT on me. And the salespeople are overly-attentive and constantly asking me if I want to try on something. This is not a gender-based instance—one time John was looking at some shoes and salespeople were on him like flies on you-know-what. That’s one phrase I learned how to say in Chinese—I know how to say I just want to browse. But STILL, the salespeople totally EYEBALL me the whole time and watch my every move to make sure they can help me—it’s a little STRESSFUL! But I DID find a dress, at one of those smaller shops on a street near my apartment, and stayed in my price range—I wouldn’t allow myself to go over $3000 NTs (ca. $100 USD). I managed to find one for $2600 NTs (ca. $80 USD), so I was satisfied!

Crossing the street in Taiwan and China is quite an adventure. In Taipei, at times the crosswalks have pedestrian lights, just like the U.S., but they actually let you know how many seconds you have to cross the street, which I find VERY helpful, especially when the children are with me. However, when there are crosswalks with NO pedestrian lights, it’s pretty much a crap shoot. The cross walks w/o pedestrian lights are essentially theoretical—you’re pretty much at war with all the vehicles. Xi’an, China, was ABSOLUTELY THE WORST—seriously, the stress I endured crossing the streets there was almost worse than suffering one of Luke’s tantrums! Crossing the street here really reminds me of being the “frog” in the video game, Frogger. My trick is to line myself up with someone else—I put myself parallel to another person, and follow that person when crossing the street. I try to use that person as a shield so in case a car does hit someone, the person I’ve lined myself up with would be hit first! Also, in Taipei, you actually have to physically flag down busses, kind of like hailing a cab. If you don’t visibly indicate that you need a particular bus, they’ll just drive right past you! You practically have to throw yourself in front of the bus if you want it to stop for you!

This past Sunday we took the children to the Taipei Children’s Museum, which had many hands-on exhibits and activities. Everything was going very well until I heard Luke yell from the construction center, “I PEED!” Sure enough, there was a yellow puddle right where he was standing! My first reaction was disbelief because REALLY, he had JUST used the bathroom before we left for the museum! I frantically pulled out all my wipes and madly wiped up as much as I could! John notified the museum people and took Luke to the bathroom—yes, we did bring an extra change of clothes. ONLY they were not the RIGHT clothes. Luke will only wear orange OR anything with some kind of vehicle (cars, trucks, tractors, trains) OR anything with animals/bugs, preferably dinosaurs. At the time of the accident he was wearing one of his favorites—an orange dinosaur shirt. SO OF COURSE we only had a yellow-striped polo shirt, and according to John, this put Luke in a TOTAL fit of despair in the bathroom! And once he gets going, it’s VERY DIFFICULT to bring him back! He eventually recovered, but he was a bit huffy the rest of the afternoon!

This week, Lauren went on an all-day field trip with her school and parents were also invited, so I tagged along! Since Lauren still doesn’t know Chinese very well and this trip involved several logistical issues—changing to swimsuits, putting on swim caps (yes, here in Taiwan, you MUST wear swim caps during swimming activities), several snacks, lunch, etc.—I thought I should be around to assist Lauren with everything. Several other parents tagged along, including quite a few dads! We took an excursion to Jinshan, an area just outside of Taipei which is famous for its hot springs. Our final destination was Jinshan Youth Activity Center, and this place had bike paths, a beach (we were on the coast), a water park, and spas. The water park is where all the school kids played, and Lauren had a fantastic time! The drive to Jinshan was gorgeous since most of it was along the coast—we got wonderful views of the ocean!

This upcoming week-end will be a long week-end to celebrate the “Double 10” holiday (10/10), which is Independence Day for the Taiwanese. So everybody has this Friday off, and Friday is the day of the Fulbright reception!

Next up….Double 10 reception, under/over dressing in Taipei……