Same Same, but Different….

We heard this all the time when we were in Cambodia…it is a perfect saying for Beijing. There are so many things here that “look” the same – comforts from home but when you take a closer look, they really aren’t the same. Not at all. There are so many examples of this- Walmart comes to mind. A seemingly nurturing trip to the local Walmart was anything but. NOTHING was the same…nothing was what I wanted and yet…the name was the same. I find it in products, too…same name, but SO not the same, which makes it almost cruel. One thinks they are getting a little hug from home. Something that is familiar, and comforting, only to be left hanging…

We ventured out yesterday – to a much closer seafood market. I was pleasantly surprised. Very clean and fresh and the prices rivaled those at the Big Wholesale market…even beating the “group buy” rate for fresh salmon. And one random bonus, was the candy man.

Halloween is coming. And that is one of those holidays where China “tries” but just doesn’t quite get it right. The pumpkins aren’t the same…there are no huge bags of candy to buy and decorations are scarce. One thing they DO get is that “foreigners” have candy. And loads of it. My compound is famous for having many participants in this ritual….they come from miles around to get in to our compound for candy. Last year, there were so many people in our compound, I actually became uncomfortable…don’t like crowds. Especially when it looks like the zombie apocalypse. A car even rammed the gate at the front of the compound – they were so eager to get in. All for delicious foreign candy.

I was in the clubhouse yesterday, at the gym. When I walked out, a gentleman approached me and asked if I lived here. I said yes, and he wanted to buy 2 tickets to get in…for Halloween. He didn’t live in the compound. He was from Illinois and wanted his 2 year old to experience the closest thing to an American holiday. Of course, I let him buy my 2 tickets…but then I wondered, HOW did you get INTO the compound when I can’t even get OUT of the compound without my I.D.? It makes me worry a bit about Halloween night. But I digress…..

When I think of candy at home, I always buy my favorites…I mean, why shouldn’t I get one or two pieces of Krackle? Or Almond Joy? No such luck here….I had planned to have Doug bring yummy candy back from Chicago, but his flight doesn’t get in until way after these goblins should be in bed. Never mind. Chinese candy man has all sorts of delicious options. Some items were hard candy- my favorite (or most ridiculous) was the Durian candy. HOW could someone think that that stinky gross fruit should be made into a candy? Or the little packages of dried green peas. Or pickled chicken feet? Could you imagine getting one of these yummies instead of a snicker’s bar? I don’t think so. I ended up buying 200 kuai worth of various and least offensive types of candy. They actually did have Chinese snickers….I will try one and see if it is remotely the same. I bet it isn’t. Same same but….there were plum candies, and what I call “Shrimp flavored” candy…they have shrimp on the wrapper. It really tastes a bit like a Butterfinger mixed with sawdust. My driver turned up his nose at these, stating they were “too sweet”!

Isn’t candy supposed to be sweet?? Another of my favorite finds was a chocolate ball…filled with Baijiu (Chinese liquor similar to vodka). Now, how do Chinese parents feel about their child getting some of these in their bucket? I wouldn’t care for it. Goodies similar to fruit snacks, (which I love)…I opened one and popped a strawberry in my mouth..and spit it right back out. The texture is oooey gooey….NOT chewy. And there was some sort of pit in the middle. Um. Strawberries don’t have pits. Yep, those are going in the “give out” basket for sure. Fake kit kats, fake dove bars and lots of jelly type things, including one with cooked rice suspended in the jelly. An entire row of pickled things…and dried meats of some sort…and finally little biscuits and cakes of all “flavors”. That’s in quotes because chicken, dried meat, green peas and durian are not flavors that should be found in candy and cake. But that’s just me.

By the time I had filled a large shopping bag with candy, I had several “watchers”. Local people LOVE to watch- I always have one or two openly gawking at me and what I am doing at the moment…usually without a care for my personal space. Lee sometimes questions what I am doing, but today he did not. At home, he did ask WHY so much candy. He was astonished that people come to the door and we give them candy. I have to admit, it did sound a little strange when I was explaining it to him. The orange gourd and the severed arms and bones were probably too much. He didn’t ask. A good thing because I don’t really have a good solid explanation for that stuff. He did ask if we do this for every holiday. It’s confusing, I am sure, but no…people do not ring the bell at Thanksgiving or Easter and we give them candy….:)

So, last year, we gave out hundreds of dollars in coveted American goodies. I thought I was doing this awesome thing….maybe not? This year, we are giving out an abundance of local treasures….things that look like what Americans might eat. They aren’t. They are same same but different.