Sunday: Got up, showered, and ate breakfast at la casa de Amy, then went with her and her parents to tailor heaven: one building with tailor after tailor, all offering billions of fabrics and the ability to make pretty much anything for you. We met Amy's mentor from work, Iris, and Iris's boyfriend, and spent a couple of hours picking up, trying on, and ordering stuff to be made for ridiculously cheap. At Amy's mom's suggestion, I got measured for a dress shirt: "something small to start." Amy says they are there for several hours almost every weekend...and I'm starting to dream up all the things I could have made if I have the opportunity. Went out to lunch with Amy and her parents, who are warm, interesting people - they very much make sense together.
Bused home around 3 and chilled a bit, then decided I didn't want to go far but needed to get out of the apartment. Back to the supermarket! It's the one on the first floor of the 7-floor building I went to my first day here. So I started at the top and walked through 3 large floors of furniture, which reminded me a lot of IKEA, and of those "room" exhibits at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Walked through the electronics floor, the random housewares floor, and I guess there's one I don't remember. Then got to the grocery part, where I got some fun food and a few non-food things that I needed, like a hair dryer. (Yes, it's taken me 3 weeks. It was a low priority.) Also noticed that I could buy a small suitcase for under $20, meaning if I could ship my big suitcase to someone in Beijing, I could take stuff for traveling in the small one and use both to bring all my stuff home.
One of the things I struggle with a lot, and I don't think this is unique by any means (although it probably hits people like you and I harder than some) is the need to optimize. This is along the lines of what I was talking about before, with the impracticality of reaching all of my possible goals. It is very hard for me to recognize all of what's available to me here (from unique snacks to tailor-made clothes to friendly people to work experiences) and know that I really just can't optimize my consumption of them all. Even if I can accept not having the time and energy for everything, I still have trouble with the fact that I cannot optimize the way I spend the time and energy I do have. There are just too many unknowns - I never have all the information.
All that said - I know that my efforts to optimize, even if they are only halfway successful, still leave me with an experience overflowing with opportunities taken.
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4 comments:
I love going to the tailors in India and I love the way they measure you and you just know that whatever is being made is going to fit you very finely. So dream up some amazing outfits! (Maybe I'll even send you some sketches...)
Also, your last paragraph sounded like it was written by a true economist. (This, coming from a biologist who doesn't really understand it.) Don't worry about optimizing your consumption; that is too much pressure to place on yourself.
Just have fun, and every time you go back, you'll find out more of the insider information. And look! The girl from the bus called you-- that means you are a fabulous person. Okay, maybe I should have written all this in an email.
Moral: You're amazing and it sounds like you are having fun while you are saving the world, and that is very fine, indeed.
Ditto that. And remember what our good friend Barry says: you can't have or even consider all the choices, so just look for opportunities that are good enough for you. Seems to me you are doing that very well.
Well, ditto both of those comments--exactly what I would have said not nearly so well.
As Jose Manuel says, you have to leave something to do next time.
I've never been to a tailor. Get something fabulous that fits you and only you perfectly!
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