IKEA & Wal-Mart Experiences

Saturday, August 2

We got a rice cooker at Wa-Ma that spit out hot water everywhere. We were able to exchange it with no problem. However, trying to explain to a store clerk what we wanted was quite hilarious….lots of animation. We finally ended up with a Toshiba that is digital and of course the manual is all in Chinese. Wa-Ma and other stores have a ton of customer service people. If you are looking at something, immediately you have 5 clerks surrounding you to assist you with your purchase. They try to get you to buy a certain product or brand. They really try hard to be helpful. We were trying to buy Bounce for the dryer. We drew a dryer, acted it out, etc. They had no idea what we were talking about. They don’t carry anything like that. They have liquid fabric softener, but no sheets for the dryer. They kept showing us various things they thought we might be describing. It was so funny. Finally, a Filipino lady who spoke English came by and was able to translate for us. She understood what we were wanting, but had never heard of drying sheets either. I guess it is an American thing. I know I had seen them in one of the stores, so it must have been the American store. All the cashiers wear high-waisted jeans with a belt and a red polo shirt with yellow writing on the back in Chinese and English….Go Beijing, Go Olympics!

I was able to find a hair salon that could do my hair. It is just 2 blocks down the street. I was able to just walk in. They took my purse and put it into a locker and gave me a key. A translator came and talked to me to find out what I wanted to have done. I explained that I just wanted to have my roots colored to cover the grey. She then explained to a guy who then matched my hair color with their L’Oreal products. Then a girl came and put little plastic ear caps on my ears and applied the color. While it was processing she gave me a back and arm massage for 20 min. Then she had me lay down on my back on a flat couch and I was looking up at a mirrored ceiling. She washed my hair and gave me a head massage for 10 min. Then I got a special conditioner and more massaging for the head and neck. Then I sat under a big bonnet that steamed my hair. At first I thought color was really dark and that I had lost all my blonde. Then another guy blew dry and styled my hair and it looked really good. I was very relieved and happy with it. Then I proceeded to pay 590 Yuan…about $87.00. Gulp! Like I said….prices here for western things are about the same as the San Jose area. Maybe I will find a cheaper place, but this one was recommended by another teacher. It was convenient and very professional and clean. (Can someone from Warsaw let Teena Nichols at Think Young know our blog address and get me her email address?…Thanks! I think she would enjoy reading this.)

Friday, August 1

We went to dinner at Ming Lan’s. She lives in a gated community with villas. Her villa is about 5,000 sq. ft…..huge! It was very nice, and they had lots of very nice Chinese furniture. She and her Ayi (house maid/cook) prepared a feast. We had baked salmon, baked pork chops, a chicken curry, tofu stuffed with pork meatballs, rice, a spaghetti dish with pieces of chicken, and leche fruit for dessert. It was all very delicious and we were stuffed. What a blessing she has been to us! Her girls are 13 and 10. They use to go to QSI, but last year she home-schooled them because she thought they would be leaving during the year. They plan to leave the end of this year. They are quite creative. I wish Kayla was in my 10 year class.

Thursday, July 31

We went to IKEA again this morning with Ming Lan who arranged for a driver in a van from her husband’s company, Hitachi. This was great because we needed to get more things and exchange the bedding. Well, we were so thankful Ming Lan was with us to interpret. You are not allowed to return items that have been opened. The English return policy hanging in the lobby and at the exchange counter did not say that, but it does in Chinese. They allowed us to get a store credit, but we had to eat 10% of the purchase. Gotta really know what you want! Choices for the bedspreads (which is what we need) and sheets are limited. I remembered seeing comforter sets at Wa-Ma so decided to go back there for that. We used the store credit by purchasing other items so that was good.

We went to Wa-Ma only to discover that their comforter sets do not come with a bottom fitted sheet. It comes with a flat sheet with a skirt attached. Most Chinese have beds with a box spring and then a bamboo cover that looks like wooden blinds and they roll up. The flat sheet with the skirt goes over that and then the top sheet and comforter and shams. Oh well….back to IKEA!