Mr. Pizza: Made for Woman
The temperature dropped below zero celcius today and Ryan and I agreed that in some small way it was beginning to feel a bit like home. Maybe in Canada we’ll see people get their knickers in a knot when the stereotype of Canadians as able to handle sub-zero temperature, but we’re actually reinforcing them. People have been bundled up in heavy coats, or wearing thermal-underwear, for months now, but we can still be found wearing sweatshirts sans jacket. Our classmates heading to Canada on an exchange similar to ours must be starting to be a bit worried about the cold. If 20-degrees C is jacket weather, I can’t imagine what they’ll make of 30-below—and Kamloops is actually a pleasant and beautiful place in the winter.
This morning we had snow on the school grounds, although it must have melted by 9 AM or something. In this photo, my friend captured the dusting from her window in the foreign students dormatory.
Jill took me to check out the new E-Mart that opened a short-distance away at the curiously named “Magnetic center”. E-Mart is a big Korean-owned supermarket chain where I found a Mr. Pizza which, as you can see by this photo is “For Woman”.
When you walk into the Mr. Pizza restaurant — remember, pizza for many Chinese expensive upscale dining — the entire serving staff, wherever in the restaurant they are, bow and greet you in unison. It’s a lovely place and it’s likely where I’ll go for my next pizza craving as the pizza is much less oily than Pizza Hut.
I really need a new pair of jeans and it’s seriously difficult to find anyone who carries my size. By Chinese standards my shirts are triple-X large and it took weeks to find shoes big enough. When I tell someone the size of jeans required they’ll tell me they have none once they’ve finished laughing at me for even asking for such a thing. I’ve been told Beijing has some markets catering to foreigners where I might have better luck but without a 2-day weekend it’s awkward to make a day-trip. Thankfully I did discover they have a great selection of Korean movies which almost always have English subtitles. I’m told their horror movies can be quite gory and it’s not hard to believe judging from the covers. Many country-people were hanging out watching the demo movies and were just jaw-dropped watching me buy stuff. It was pretty clear most of these fellows had never seen a Westerner before by the way they pushed around me to see what I was buying and the shock that I’d pay with my — gasp! — Chinese bank card. After the show, I loaded up on groceries especially some foods that remind me of home. In a moment of great weakness, I bought a Christmas tree and some decorations. Although I’ll substitute milk for cream, and leave out vanilla extract in my coming batch of egg nog, it’s still going to be fun to see how it turns out. It’s almost as exciting as the pancake mix, maple syrup (in Maple Leaf bottle, no less), and breakfast sausage I found today.
All the thought of foods from home that we miss culminated in the final breakdown: Ryan and I rode 20 minutes in the strong cold winds to find a French cabernet sauvignon, sharp white cheddar, a baguette, and more for a fantastic impromptu party. I still love Chinese food, but some wine and cheese go a long way too. The only particularly eventful thing during our bike ride was being cut-off by a taxi whose rear driver-side door was fully open while driving down the road; perhaps he decided he should close it to stop the draft. I snapped a picture with my cell phone, but I’m unable to retrieve it at the moment.