A Trip to the Mall

Mall going seems to be a popular activity most places, and GZ is no exception. I was having a quiet evening, feeling somewhat settled, and not wanting to sit around my apartment, I decided to visit H&M. I had a couple of travel options. Option 1 – taxi. I decided I was feeling bold and went with option 2 - the metro, which conveniently has a stop directly under my apartment building. I descended into the labyrinth that is the GZ metro and headed off for my destination. It was crowded, but tolerable.
I headed into H&M and realized that even though it is a western chain (yea Swedish Fashion!) they stock the sizes pretty small. I found myself facing a sea of size 2 and 4 shirts, pants, skirts and dresses. I haven’t been a size 2 since 1986, so I had to dig through the racks and look for giant western people sizes. It was tough as H&M clothing sizes run small anyway. I found a stretchy shirt. Mission accomplished.
As I wasn’t quite through with my mall adventure and I was feeling hungry, I headed upstairs for some Japanese noodles. I was greeted warmly by the hostess Judy (Chinese people pick western names, this was hers) and we had a broken conversation in which she told me I have a beautiful name and that she was glad to be my friend. I was appreciative as I needed a new friend, especially one that speaks more English than I do Mandarin. This Chinese language thing is going to be a bit tricky. Traveling and living in other countries, signs were not written in incomprehensible characters. There are no cognates. You just have to hope for a menu or sign that has some English written on it. I need Mandarin lessons, and I need them fast, as communicating is a challenge. Judy brought my soup and I slurped it down and headed back to the Metro.
I found that in GZ, 7:00 is rush hour. I do not like rush hour so much. Imagine a city of 12-15 million people. Imagine all of them trying to cram into one subway car. Well, maybe not that many but at least 1 million. There was much pushing and shoving and standing really really close to people I don’t know, which is the most uncomfortable thing in my universe. I hope to overcome this while in China. I did not, however, overcome it during this metro ride. Next time during rush hour, I’m going to take a taxi.