IKEA Beijing =)

            If you judged the ease of shopping in China by my facebook statuses, which often boast of picking up DVDs of whole seasons of TV shows and movies that are still in the theaters in the States for under $1, you’d be SO WRONG. Shopping in China is HARD. I fight my way through fearless crowds for every piece of crap I buy. And the biggest size of any women’s clothes is somewhere around a 6. Boooo!

            So, during my recent three-week trip to the U.S. to defend my thesis (DONE!), I bought a few suitcases full of clothes. Did I mention that I brought an empty carry-on packed inside of an empty suitcase, and that my other suitcase was full of gifts? That’s right; I didn’t take anything that I would have to bring back to China. That gave me plenty of room to load up on shirts and sweaters and pants and shoes (3 pairs) at Nordstrom Rack (love that place!).

            Tiger was shocked when I kept pulling stuff out of my suitcases (nod to Hermione and her bottomless bag spell). But he was happy about the carry-on: PS3, PSP, games for both, Sony eReader (I still love you, B&N), guitar for PS3… My miniature Chinese closet was overflowing before I left for the U.S., so not much got shoved in there. I lugged it all to the bedroom in the morning and back to the couch at night.

            On the morning of my third or fourth day back (I can’t believe I’ve only been back a week), Tiger said three beautiful words, “Let’s go to IKEA.”

            I have been to IKEA in several countries, and I get that people want to test couches and beds before purchasing them. But the Chinese take “testing” to a whole new level. I felt like I was trespassing into people’s homes! An old lady laying on her stomach in a bed kicking her legs up like a school girl, a man lounging on a couch with his feet on the coffee table as he yelled into his mobile phone, a woman breastfeeding her baby, people posing for what looked like next year’s Christmas card photo. There was a Chinese booty on every chair, bed, desk, table, throw rug. I swear there were people hiding under the beds, so they could get locked in and sleep there (it was 9:30 PM by the time we left, and the place was still packed).