My shoes were literally falling off of my feet before I finally agreed to buy a new pair. I don't like to spend the money unless I have to, but it was high time - especially when the soles of my old pair had already started to crack. On rainy days I would end up with more water inside my shoes than in the puddles I stepped in unawares. So shoe shopping it was....how hard could it be? I'm not hard to satisfy, but I will not buy something unless I really, really, really like it. But I figured out of all of Taipei's night markets there had to be something I would like. The quest began. When I started looking on Sunday night, I wasn't aware that the following three days would be the hell of shoe shopping - and not just for me but for various store clerks who would end up giving me the evil eye.
It started with a pair of blue Converse. I fell in love with them. Easy! I asked for size 25. They didn't have 25, the largest they had was 24.5. Ok. I tried them anyways. I was tempted to be them despite them being a little tight, but I knew I would regret it. I politely deferred. This was the first nightmarket: Raohe. I proceeded to walk to all the stores in search of the shoes I wanted. No luck, and even when they did carry a pair I liked, the largest they could get was 24.5. I began to feel rather large as far as feet go. The first day ended dissapointingly mostly because I had set my mind on getting a new pair and I was going home empty handed.
Second day. I headed to Gongguan on a hell bent mission. I walked into the first store I came to. Nothing. My feet were just too big. The clerk apologetically told me that I could try other stores but that store did not carry such a ginormous size that is 25. The second store I went to seemed to be my lucky charm. Not only did they have several of the ones I liked in my size, but the one pair that I absolutely wanted was too small and they promised to order in a 25 and have it for me the next day. I left smiling and satisfied. Life was good.
Third day. Jumping up and down in excitement, I headed to the shoe store to pick up my new pair of size 25 shoes. I put on the right foot and it felt oddly tight. I looked at the size: 24.5. Really? Someone had made a mistake. I communicated to the clerk that I wore 25. She went searching for a larger pair. She came back apologizing profusely. That one shoe did not come in a larger size. I would have to try elsewhere. Grrrrrrr........ I started popping into every store I came to after that. I was desperate to find something that I liked in my size. Finally, one store clerk explained that 25 is the largest size for women and the smallest size for men so most stores don't carry it. It was an unlucky number indeed.
I gave up on Gongguan and headed to Shilin. I proceeded to put four different store clerks through shoe hell at four different stores. The scenerio repeated itself over and over: I would ask for 25 and would be brought a 24.5. The clerks would come lugging armfuls of shoes as they tried to find one that would fit me. They would finish looking at me disgruntled and cranky as I politely explained that a 24.5 was just too small. Some even managed to bring me a 25.5 or a 26, but wearing those I bore some resemblance to Donald Duck or a clown on lunch break from the circus. I know I have big feet (and at this point I felt like it was deformity) but a 26 just made them look ENORMOUSE. One store clerk looked alarmed and immediately got on the phone to (I'm assuming) a neighboring store. I must have looked really upset at that point, because he was trying so hard to find a number 25 for me somewhere. He looked especially apologetic when he came back to tell me the same bad news.
Close to tears (over shoes, for heveans sake!) I stormed off to the subway and sat outside glaring at the unaware Taiwanese girls that walked by. They had normal sized feet, they could fit into any shoe they wanted, their foot wasn't bigger than 24.5. I now realize that I hate the number 25 with a passion. I tremble at the thought of going shoe shopping again any time soon. Now that I think about it, I dread going shopping for jeans too. After all, I am taller than the average woman ; I may have to settle for capris instead of actual pants. But that is another bridge that I will cross when I come to it. As for the shoes; I settled on the one pair that they had in my size and walked out that same night with a new pair of shoes. I can't complain, I like them and they are comfortable. Mostly it's just a relief to get it over with....hopefully I won't need to buy shoes again until I go back to the USA - where women's sizes go much larger than a silly little number like 25cm.
