Crazy fake market
So, I'm sitting in a coffee shop on my way over to RJ's house for pizza (it's delivery, just like home, only at home they don't offer a seafood pizza - that's not a bad thing), but I feel compelled to recount my little adventure at the fake market yesterday. As many of you know, you can purchase any brand name from Northface, Helly Hensen, Burburry, Louis Vuitton, Lacosse, etc. in a variety of different stalls, and I may already own a few purses and other brand-name esque goodies (ie, a pair of Louis Vuitton sandals - made of plastic, sure they're real ...). Anyways, after several successful visits and numerous purses later, I went yesterday with Shannon after our last placement visit to finish off Christmas shopping. When we got there, I was looking for a Lacosse sweater for Hillary, and a cute clutch for my sister (which don't exist in this country, apparently) and there was nothing to be found! We were later told that police presence was heavy that day and that we better come back on a weekend. That didn't stop us from buying (me) a purse and a number of neclaces and stuff, but it was a bust for the fake stuff. One girl said she'd take us to a "warehouse" where they kept the purses, and we decided to follow her and check it out. Now don't worry, we are smart girls, and smarter girls would have said no, but we wanted to further assess the situation. We followed the girl for about 10 minutes out of the market, and on the way determined that the MOMENT either one of us got the "no" feeling we'd be out of there. The key word was "jellybeans" (as it always is here - for anyone not feeling comfortable in a conversation or with another person this is the keyword for a friend to save them - at least in this group in Shanghai) and we were both well aware of what we were doing. We were taken into a large alley and into a smaller alley where an appartment door was located. Shannon & I decided that we would NOT go inside anywhere, so we told the woman that we were stopping here. After several minutes of asking us to come in and look at the purses and us saying "no, just bring them here and show us" we left. I realize the instance of something bad happening was probably pretty low, but you never know, and I wasn't about to be mugged and sold as someones concubine or anything. I just thought it was bizarre and would tell you about it! Have fun.
posted by Jenn @ 5:59 a.m.
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