shampoo

I went to the corner grocery store today to pick up some suppliesyogurt,
fruit, water and shampoo. The first three items were simple enough; Ive
become a pro at picking them out. The shampoo was a bit trickier.

The entire left side of an aisle was full of shampoo shaped bottles and
there were four employees hanging out there ready to help me pick
something out. The bottles say shampoo and conditioner in English but all
the details are in Chinese. So the only thing I have to go by is the
smell.

I picked out a bottle of shampoo, which had a pleasant sandlewood smell.
The employees tried to talk me out of it because it was expensive. They
pointed at the price and then at other bottles and their (lower) prices.
But I persisted and wanted to pick out an odorless conditioner.

The employees showed me which bottles were conditioners and would hold
bottles up to me explaining (in chinese) their qualities. I couldn't pick
out any words so, to my ears, they sounded like birds song. I stared at
them, nodding and squinting, totally confused, trying to repeat them,
stuttering. Then we'd stare at eachother.

I found one conditioner that looked promising and wanted to ask if it was
good. I pointed at the bottle, raised my eyebrows and them gave them the
thumbs up. They didnt get it. So I said ta hen hau ma which literally
means he very good (question) but in my nervousness I screwed up the
tones. They made fun of me: I heard one repeat what I had said to her
friend and they laughed. Then she answered me in a loud voice yes at which
point we all burst out laughing.

I've been here for four months and I'm still surprised at how complicated
my daily routines have become. I'm nearly out of toothpaste... this should
be fun!