Yes! We have an Ikea. It opened a few month ago and to Elisabeth's horror, neither Paul and I had been there. We are moving to a new apartment in a few weeks and need a few new things. We usually shop at local markets but there are some things that are hard to find in our city, such as fitted bottom sheets. Plus,Ikea is just a fun place to shop.
So we took off in a taxi. We only had to say the name in Chinese and the taxi driver knew where it was. We walked up and walked into a store that really was identical to any Ikea that we have been to in the US. The signs were in Chinese and English with Swedish names for the stuff. I only saw one mistake "Tabbles" for tables but the rest was almost perfect. The prices were low, the aisles were wide and it was really fantastic. We were not approached by a single salesperson the whole time we were there. If you have lived in China, you know how unusual that is! It can be exhausting for foreigners to shop in China. The bargaining takes skill and language that I sometimes don't have. It's hard to look and think when a salesperson is following you and offering their advice. So it was nice to just look and not feel any pressure to buy.
We went to the restaurant and had traditional Ikea food. I had salmon and Paul and Elisabeth had the meatballs. My salmon was meh but the meatballs were good. Then we went downstairs and had the 1 RMB ice cream. This is about .30 so an improvement over the $1.00 cone that you get in the U.S.
We did have one rather surreal experience. When we were standing in the fantastic kitchen goods section, I heard this song being played. It's by Faith Hill. Read the words carefully.
There will come a day
It's not easy trying to understand
How the world can be so cold, stealing the souls of man
Cloudy skies rain down on all your dreams
You wrestle with the fear and doubt
Sometimes it's hard but you gotta believe
Chorus:
There's a better place, where our Father waits
And every tear He'll wipe away
The darkness will be gone,the weak shall be strong
Hold on to your faith
There will come a day, there will come a day
Wars are raging, lives are scattered
Innocence is lost, and hopes are shattered
The old are forgotten, the children are forsaken
In this world we're living in
Is there anything sacred>
There will come a day, there will come a day
The song will ring out, down those golden streets
The voices of earth with the angels will sing
Every knee will bow, sin will have no trace
In the glory of His amazing grace
Every knee will bow, sin will have no trace
In the glory of His amazing grace
There will come a day, there will come a day
Oooh there will come a day
I know there's coming a day, coming a day
Yes...there will come a day! We hope in this.
And speaking of surreal things, we believe that we have the oddest cat ever. We got this car last Christmas at an outdoor market. He is just really quirky. Here is one of his quirks.
He loves water!
The shower goes on and he hops on the edge of the tub. He often goes inside the curtain we we are actually in the shower.
He grabs some water with his paw.
And drinks it. He seems to have no fear of water, doesn't mind getting wet. He is an odd duck of a cat!
1 comment:
My dad had a cat that would go swimming every morning in the ocean. Just jump off the dock and swim to shore. Seems one type of cat likes water - yours must have some of that in him.
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