One of the first people I met with in Shanghai is a women named Zhou Jing. She used to work at the Yamaha school and has been helping me navigate my way into the music world here. I felt instantly comfortable with and really liked her. The first day we met she had on this awesome little leather jacket, so I asked where she got it. Not able to remember, she called a good friend who squealed: “Haining. Let’s go shopping!” My fate was sealed. The following week we set a ladies-only shopping day. When the following Thursday came around I ran out of the house petrified I would be late. As I changed metro lines I realized being late was highly likely, so I reached for my phone to call Jing. No phone. If anyone knows me, you know I always have my phone. I felt naked. Alone. Scared. Yes, I suppose I am that dependent on technology–at least when I am in a big city where I don’t know many people. I ran out of the metro and jumped in a taxi. I only knew the vicinity we were meeting and was sure they would have left. Ten minutes later I arrive and miraculously see her car. As I run over apologizing she is laughing because NO ONE else has arrived yet.
Zhou Jing and I sat in the car watching the metro exit…. I immediately knew the women with orange hair sprinting out of the exit waving her purse around was ours. Qin jumped in the car just as frantically as I had. Qin is a good friend of Jing. She has been dating an Italian guy for 5 years and lived 2 of them in Italy, so she has an Italian air about her. A Chinese-Italian, talk about opposing cultures, but it works for her. Five minutes later a petite little woman comes running out of the metro…yes, she was clearly ours too. Zhou Chang, who has become a favorite of mine, works at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and is just the best. It took another 5 minutes to figure out the GPS and get moving. We were off, four ladies ditching work for a day of food and shopping. Haining, our destination for the day, is 125km outside of Shanghai and specializes in leather and fur products. Known as “the leather capital of China“, it is much cheaper than buying the same product in Shanghai.
Chinese driving scares me. Chinese women who typically do not drive is even scarier. Ok, it was not terribly. But two things were funny/bad. First…even though they had been here before, they did not know how to get back and I actually ended up directing them a few times. Second…we pulled through a toll and Jing was playing with the GPS, when she went left at a fork. This is not UK. China drives on the same side of the road as the states, meaning we belong on the right. I hesitated to ask what she was doing, but as I looked up and saw a huge truck barreling towards us I quickly told her we needed to move. She threw the car into reverse as the top-heavy truck whipped by honking.
We exited the highway relieved and a bit hungry. Fortunately, we found a little countryside restaurant on a lake. After arguing to get the best table by the water we shared a delicious meal of local specialities. If I did this everyday, my Chinese would be awesome. I learned so much from just listening and them answering my million questions. Side note: I, somehow, have become more comfortable speaking Chinese. It’s really fun and I am loving this newfound confidence. A good portion of the conversation on the drive out revolved around men. One is happily divorced, another wishes she were divorced and finds her husband boring, and the other raved about what good lovers Italians are. My input…where to begin. Let’s say we all ended in agreement: frequent girls days involving food, drinks or shopping are necessary. I’m especially pushing the food days.
After lunch we were energized and ready for a day of shopping. Like most Chinese shopping complexes, there were floors upon floors of shops offering similar products. With every shop we were more overwhelmed. After scurrying around arm in arm and haggling intensely, we walked away with some snazzy purchases. Mine was an amazing leather jacket….that took all four of us to bargain down using our very best acting skills. I played sad, Qin played angry, Jing acted as the reasonable mom, and Chang shock her head in disapproval a lot. It was required that we all buy something (a self-imposed requirement), so at the very end Chang and I ran around trying to find a bag for her. We knew the exact bag, but could not find it again, so we put 15 minutes on the clock and sprinted between stores. Success–bag found. We all walked out triumphant, laughing and exhausted.
Being women…we pulled over at a food stand before we even left the parking lot. Literally. As the sun was setting and the lot cleared out we sat eating our tea eggs while “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry played in the background. I could not help but smile as I felt completely content and at home. Great day.
After our drive home, Zhou Chang and I got on the same metro and really bonded over a mutual dislike of another Chinese woman. I thought I was being overly critical or I was just uncomfortable around her…but when Zhou Chang came right out and said what we were both thinking about her, I knew I found a good egg. Since our shopping day, I joined Chang to see the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and really enjoy hanging out with her. Photos of that to come. Here’s to ditching work and spending time with amazing women!
