Shell in China

Friday, December 15, 2006

Is Plum an Old Woman Color?


Finally, my winter coat has arrived! This has been more of a process than I expected. Sit back with a nice mug of hot chocolate (of which I am insanely jealous) and let me tell you the saga of the Chinese coat...

It all started about three weeks ago when I decided it was getting too cold outside for the jacket that I brought from the States. Due to weight and size restrictions, I was not able to pack a heavier winter coat to bring. (Believe me on that one! I barely skimmed under the allowed amount, and that was after I tranfered my make-up bag from checked luggage to carry-on! There is no way a winter coat would have made it.)

Well, with the chilly winter setting in, it was time to upgrade. Lately I had noticed several new stores that had sprung up around town. (This in and of itself is pretty normal. Random stores just seem to pop up overnight here.) These new stores appeared to be tailors that would make a coat or vest. After looking at them for awhile, I finally asked my tutor if she would go into town with me to help me have a coat made. Getting this idea across took a little bit of doing. She kept wanting to go with me to a store to buy a coat, but the problem is, no Chinese coat for a woman would fit me. They are all so small and petite; the arms of a coat would be like 3/4 length sleeves. That may be fashionable for a blouse, but definitely not going to work for a winter coat!

Once I finally convinced her that I wanted to get one made, we walked into town and found a tailors to do the job. He had several styles to choose from and I went with just a simple, longer coat with a hood. Then it was time to pick a color! I choose this really pretty dark plum color, but both he and my tutor had a fit about it! They told me that dark colors are for old women and the tailor basically refused to do it in that fabric. He told me I had to choose again. Okay...so I went with a deep mauve kind of color. (The new color was fine, I just went with the darker one originally thinking it would stay clean easier.) The tailor also said that he was going to put extra down in it so that the foreigner would not be cold in Chengxian. Works for me!! So, after some measurements and a down payment of 50 yuan (130 total), we were out of there. He told us to come back next Wednesday to pick it up.

Fastforward to the next Wednesday...

I met my tutor at the gate and she said that she had gone downtown the day before to make sure the coat was going to be ready. (She takes her tutoring job very seriously! Tutoring apparently also means looking out for your tutee(???) haha!) When we got there, the tailor had not yet finished it. My poor tutor was pretty mad at him, but couldn't really yell at him since he was quite a bit older than us. She proceeded to apologize profusely to me, as if it was her fault. I told her not to worry about it, we could come back later. She insisted that she would go back and pick the coat up for me the next day. I had class all day, so I gave her money for it and told her that would be fine. (I felt bad about her going, but I think she was not happy about the coat not being done and though that her picking it up would help. It wasn't worth a fight...)

Well, needless to say, it was several more days before he actually had it done, but she finally brought it over to the house. It turned out really nice and it is definitely warmer than what I was wearing before. So, for 130 yuan (less than $20) I now have a warm winter coat that will see me through the next two winters in Chengxian.

Pictures:
Me just coming in from lunch. It is cold outside today! (The hat came from America, but I think I will need a new one before the end of the two years. That thing gets worn all of the time. I wasn't much of a hat person at home, but here it is all that saves my ears when we walk to town.)

Me, again after lunch, but Thad decided to add the pig slippers to the picture. I kick off my outside shoes as soon as I come in the house and on go the piggies! (You can see our space heater there on the right. It looks like a fan, but it has a heat element in it.)
Michelle, 12:40 AM

2 Comments:

Love the new coat. Looks very warm. Mauve is a great color for you. Hmm couldn't get such a nice coat for $20 in the states. Nice piggy slippers. love, mom
mom, at 8:59 PM  
Hi Mom! Yeah, it is a good coat and should to the trick for the next two winters. It turned out really well. When I come home to the States I think I am going to be really annoyed with how expensive everything is!

Love ya!

Shell
Anonymous, at 12:11 AM  

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Blog of a Peace Corps China volunteer serving as a TEFL teacher in Cheng Xian, Gansu, China.

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Name: Michelle Ross
Location: Chengxian, Gansu, CN

In America, I teach 8th grade English and reading and really enjoy spending time with middle school students. Some people think I am crazy for it, but Marsing has a great group of kids and I love being a part of their lives as they grow up! Right now I live in China and teach English and teaching methods to students who want to be teachers. I am here through Peace Corps, which I think is a fabulous experience and something that more people should look into doing! The application process can be a bit of a pain, but it is well worth the time and effort. Check out Peace Corps and give something back to the world that has given you so much!! Teaching runs in the family, as just about everyone is involved in education in one way or another. My dad is retired, but he was a teacher, counselor and principal for 30+ years, my mom is an elementary counselor, my sister and husband are both teachers and my brother will finish his teaching degree this next spring! "Those who can, do; those who can do magic, teach!"

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