Whew, we made it!

I took the girls shopping at Wu Ai today. Wu Ai is Shenyang's everything-under-the-sky market. It's so big it covers at least a city block, and it has like seven stories. The place is huge!!! We were there for 2 or 3 hours, and we just covered one small corner-- only three stories of the corner, too.
Now that it's December, the first floor is selling Christmas stuff. Imagine stall after stall after stall, each selling tinsel, lights, animatronic Santa Clauses,* ornaments, and Christmas trees of every shape and color. Now, take that image you've conjured up, multiply it by a million, decorate it like your tacky neighbor's light display, and drown it in tinsel. Okay, now you're almost there.
My personal favorite decoration I saw was a bright pink and red tree. It was a typical artificial Christmas tree, similar to the one in my apartment-- only red. Then it was wearing a fluffy neon-pink tree on top of its branches. Neon pink and glittery.
I needed some jingle bells, so after I found my tacky jingle-belled ornaments, I bought them and hurried out of there as quickly as I could. I've always imagined Santa's workshop as a happy, wintry little place where elves make toys one by one with hand tools. Now I know it's a sweatshop. And it's in China.
Taking the girls out shopping is no mean feat. I have to bundle them up in wraps that don't take up too much space. I load them and my purse/diaper bag into the double stroller. Then I hail a cab and unload the girls and my purse into the back seat. I fold down the double stroller as quickly as I can and heft it into the trunk of the taxi. Then I hurry back and jump in the cab with my girls before too large of a crowd forms. Then the reverse happens when we pull to the side of the road and hop out at our destination.
Shopping with two little girls is only possible with enough bribes. I bring food, enough to feed a toddler and her mother twice over. I packed cookies, fruit leather, and saltine crackers, not knowing ahead of time what she would prefer to eat. I've stopped packing drinks because they're too heavy, and we can just buy a juice wherever we go. Penny munched the saltine crackers, I ate the cookies, and Naomi drank milk. Penny played with the iPad while I nursed Naomi. It says a lot for the iPad that it wins the attention of a 2-year-old, even in Santa's workshop's wholesale outlet store.
While we actually shop, it's kind of hard to maneuver the double stroller through the aisles between shops. This isn't because they're particularly narrow, but because if I stop to look at anything for even a second, a crowd forms. It's usually the shop owner and the owners of all the shops nearby. They pat Naomi's hand and try to pat Penny's cheek or hand. Penny squawks, then closes her eyes and pretends she's asleep, while I brush any hands away. Sometimes I'll say, "Don't touch," or if I'm in a particularly chatty mood, "She doesn't like people to touch her, but Naomi doesn't care. She's not old enough to mind." Then Naomi gets all the attention, and Penny continues to fake sleep. When I'm ready to go and there's a crowd, I know people aren't trying to be rude-- they're just interested and admiring. And it doesn't hurt that they're saying over and over how cute my kids are. I don't want to be rude to that! But I also need to leave, and there's a crowd. So I've found the best way to go is just say, "Hao, wo men zou le." It means just, "Okay, we're going now." It's also a nice way to say goodbye if you're leaving, like "Okay, see you later!" When I say that, people just go back to their business and leave me to mine.
When we're not stopping but just strolling through the shops, it's fun to hear people tell their friends to come look at the cute little foreign kids. "Hey, come look at the little foreign baby. She looks just like a little doll!" usually followed by, "Woah, there's another one in the back seat! I thought that one was a toy doll! Foreign kids are all so cute!" I just smile and pretend I don't understand. Almost as often (like 1/3 of the time), people say, "Well, that stroller is pretty cool. Hey, come look at this stroller!" I do have a pretty cool stroller.
On the way home, it was kind of hard to find a taxi (impossible), so we waited a while for the bus. Penny spilled her drink all down her front and onto her lap, which isn't fun when it's warm, much less when it's well below freezing. Meimei got too cold, so I had to wrap her in my sweater on top of her snuggle suit. The plastic bag holding all my shopping spoils didn't like the cold temperature either, and it decided to split into about 6 large pieces. And our bus still wasn't there. Some helpful ladies helped me hail a cab. It wasn't an official cab, and I'm not sure how they stopped him, but anyway. He charged me 4 kuai more than a regular cab would have, but that's like 60 cents and it was worth every penny. Meimei slept on the ride home, and we had lunch and took naps. Obviously I didn't nap (otherwise when would I have written this beast of a post?), but Naomi did and Penny still is, two hours later.
If every day were like this, I would recommend everyone move to China with two young kids in tow.


*Bah humbug moment: The guy's name is Santa Claus. When you write 'Santa Clause,' you're talking about the fine print on a contract (a clause). And you look stupid. Get it right, people. Claus. No "E."
Ahem.
Um, here is some good cheer to sprinkle on that: ************ (see, snowflakes!)