2. Asian Market
It's really better when you don't have a reason to go, but even so, there are plenty of reasons to visit the Asian supermarket. My friends and I would always play the 'Is It Edible?' game, which is when you wonder if foods like kimchi are edible. Kimchi comes in these jars and so it looks marbled, like someone's long forgotten homunculus still stuck gestating in a jar. It really looks awful. The fish fare only a little better in the edible game, but only because the fish look like fish. The smell usually keeps me away, however, and if I do happen to get close the eyes of the fish always nauseate me. I'm sure the fish would look fine if they were slathered in kimchi, though. he kimchi would probably look more edible too. Two aesthetic birds with one stone there.
But believe me, the Asian supermarket is a serious place and isn't only about games. It's also about candy, noodles, and seriously delightful mascots. There's serious culture shock too, since many of the products come in packaging that looks pretty similar to American name brand foodstuffs. There are snack cake that are packaged in the same thin rectangle that Little Debbies are and have almost identical designs on the front. But instead of some snack cake vixen in the upper left corner overseeing all and pronouncing it tasty, there's an arguably cuter bird that has rabbit ears. And this bird, god bless it, is actually eating one of its own snack cakes and having just a great time. If you bought these frosted cakes, you'd be having a good time just like the bird-bunny. Melinda, my ex-girlfriend, always said that the rabbit ears are where the bird stores its extra marketing sense.
I've listed some great reasons to visit the Asian supermarket. I didn't come here for any of those reasons. I just came to soak up the ambient vibe. I checked some bok choy over in the produce, but none of it looks good. I don't often have a reason for coming to the Asian supermarket, and like I said earlier it's better that way. I might check out some of the Asian pop cds they have for sale, or see what Asian films the video section of the supermarket is selling. That's the really beautiful thing about the Asian supermarket: they're so much more than weird food. They sell cheap kitchen equipment, cds, HDTVs, videos, and more toys than your kid could choke on. Some of the supermarkets even have jewlery stores. It's got loads more character than Wal-mart does, that's for sure. It's got almost everything you need for a good time with your friends. If you need candy, go to the Asian supermarket. If you need a video to watch for the night, then go east! And pick up some skewered whole fish snacks while you're at it.
So there's my praise for the Asian supermarket. They have everything you need to get by, plus a taste of exotic foreign culture. I'm walking around it right now, enjoying the mixture of the foreign and the familiar. There's the friendly flourescent lighting and cheap tiling every supermarket has. Then there's forty kinds of seaweed on the shelf. It's wonderful. I'm not buying anything though. I actually haven't bought something from the supermarket in awhile. Back when we were together, Melinda and I used to come here and pick up some candy, a random Asian pop cd, and a random Asian film. We did this every month, and the ladies running the store always smiled at us and never said a word. Sometimes they would talk amongst themselves about what we had purchase, but never let us in on any of their insights. Everything they said was hidden behind their language. Perhaps, the best reason to go to the Asian supermarket was to experience the mystery of the new, and it always was new to Melinda and me. Our unfamiliarity with the language kept us in check while we wandered the store. Our English words couldn't attach themselves to anything within; we simply experienced, and left. Eventually, we even stopped talking while we were in the supermarket, and we just silently touched things, observed them, and left. When we came back to the market we would touch and observe the same things as though we had never seen them before. Nothing was familiar anymore. After a few years together it felt like being quiet in the Asian supermarket was necessary to keep some kind of equipoise in our relationship. I always felt like she was the one off in the far east exploring open-air markets in Beijing, while I was watching her from a telescope here on the east coast.
So, here I am in the Asian supermarket. I lied when I said I didn't have a reason. I remembered why I came when I saw the rice cookers they have for sale here. Melinda always told me I needed a rice cooker. So I'm finally getting one. It's been almost two years since she told me to get one, so I have a lot of rice meals to make up for. I pick out the biggest one they have because I like eating rice. The cooker is colored pink and white, which is a pretty standard color scheme for certified Asian supermarket rice cookers. Now I'm at the checkout counter and the lady is ringing up my purchase. She's talking to me! I can't believe this! Since when did they talk to English-speaking customers? Is this some new job training? She's actually asking me questions. She's asking if this rice cooker is just for me. I say yes it is. She is shaking her head and saying that this rice cooker is better for two or more people, and best for a large happy family. She actually used the word happy. I'm staring in disbelief at her, but I know she's right.
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Word of the Day: Equipoise
But believe me, the Asian supermarket is a serious place and isn't only about games. It's also about candy, noodles, and seriously delightful mascots. There's serious culture shock too, since many of the products come in packaging that looks pretty similar to American name brand foodstuffs. There are snack cake that are packaged in the same thin rectangle that Little Debbies are and have almost identical designs on the front. But instead of some snack cake vixen in the upper left corner overseeing all and pronouncing it tasty, there's an arguably cuter bird that has rabbit ears. And this bird, god bless it, is actually eating one of its own snack cakes and having just a great time. If you bought these frosted cakes, you'd be having a good time just like the bird-bunny. Melinda, my ex-girlfriend, always said that the rabbit ears are where the bird stores its extra marketing sense.
I've listed some great reasons to visit the Asian supermarket. I didn't come here for any of those reasons. I just came to soak up the ambient vibe. I checked some bok choy over in the produce, but none of it looks good. I don't often have a reason for coming to the Asian supermarket, and like I said earlier it's better that way. I might check out some of the Asian pop cds they have for sale, or see what Asian films the video section of the supermarket is selling. That's the really beautiful thing about the Asian supermarket: they're so much more than weird food. They sell cheap kitchen equipment, cds, HDTVs, videos, and more toys than your kid could choke on. Some of the supermarkets even have jewlery stores. It's got loads more character than Wal-mart does, that's for sure. It's got almost everything you need for a good time with your friends. If you need candy, go to the Asian supermarket. If you need a video to watch for the night, then go east! And pick up some skewered whole fish snacks while you're at it.
So there's my praise for the Asian supermarket. They have everything you need to get by, plus a taste of exotic foreign culture. I'm walking around it right now, enjoying the mixture of the foreign and the familiar. There's the friendly flourescent lighting and cheap tiling every supermarket has. Then there's forty kinds of seaweed on the shelf. It's wonderful. I'm not buying anything though. I actually haven't bought something from the supermarket in awhile. Back when we were together, Melinda and I used to come here and pick up some candy, a random Asian pop cd, and a random Asian film. We did this every month, and the ladies running the store always smiled at us and never said a word. Sometimes they would talk amongst themselves about what we had purchase, but never let us in on any of their insights. Everything they said was hidden behind their language. Perhaps, the best reason to go to the Asian supermarket was to experience the mystery of the new, and it always was new to Melinda and me. Our unfamiliarity with the language kept us in check while we wandered the store. Our English words couldn't attach themselves to anything within; we simply experienced, and left. Eventually, we even stopped talking while we were in the supermarket, and we just silently touched things, observed them, and left. When we came back to the market we would touch and observe the same things as though we had never seen them before. Nothing was familiar anymore. After a few years together it felt like being quiet in the Asian supermarket was necessary to keep some kind of equipoise in our relationship. I always felt like she was the one off in the far east exploring open-air markets in Beijing, while I was watching her from a telescope here on the east coast.
So, here I am in the Asian supermarket. I lied when I said I didn't have a reason. I remembered why I came when I saw the rice cookers they have for sale here. Melinda always told me I needed a rice cooker. So I'm finally getting one. It's been almost two years since she told me to get one, so I have a lot of rice meals to make up for. I pick out the biggest one they have because I like eating rice. The cooker is colored pink and white, which is a pretty standard color scheme for certified Asian supermarket rice cookers. Now I'm at the checkout counter and the lady is ringing up my purchase. She's talking to me! I can't believe this! Since when did they talk to English-speaking customers? Is this some new job training? She's actually asking me questions. She's asking if this rice cooker is just for me. I say yes it is. She is shaking her head and saying that this rice cooker is better for two or more people, and best for a large happy family. She actually used the word happy. I'm staring in disbelief at her, but I know she's right.
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Word of the Day: Equipoise
posted by Scott at 8:34 PM
2 Comments:
Little late with this one. Sorry, I'm still getting used to this publishing schedule. I'll hopefully have another one later tonight, if not by tomorrow morning.
I like this story. The ending is a bit rushed, but it's a much better example of the direction I want this blog to take than yesterday's entry was. The narrator isn't very much like me, I think. The story isn't perfectly communicated, but I think the idea of the Asian supermarket expresses the relationship between Melinda and our narrator. I actually did visit the Asian supermarket yesterday, and that's why I wrote this. I felt inspired, which is what the Asian Supermarket does, it inspires. That's natural of it, since it is the happiest place on Earth.
Structurally, I think this flows nicely compared to 1. Endings. The ending is rushed, and I decided to put it in the awkward present tense, which probably hurt more than add to the effect. It was necessary though, since the narrator is remembering his relationship as he wanders the supermarket, and that is where the drama comes into the story. If the narrator wasn't in the Asian supermarket while he is narratoring, I don't think the story would have as much force. The present tense becomes necessary at this point.
Okay, I have to go back to work. Thanks guys!
Man, are you giving up already? It's more than a week since you published this.
What about the fact that everyone stares at you because you are not Asian? I actually liked the ending the best for the language used (it's not as precious) and it captures the bewilderment of the place and how he is alone now and finally it's just funny. Awkwardness, yay!
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