tales from the bookshop, #2

after 1 month

My espresso machine got set up! An iced matcha and an iced coffee a day keep the doc away, I guess. No, really, I’m over the moon that we got it working, and that I get to do Latte Art again. This is my idea of fun. This is a step ahead. I’ve also given out some tastings, and received lovely feedback. Thanks to the volunteers ;)

*

I had people from the press coming in and having a chat with me. Not only did they take photos of the shop and me, but really motivated me with their insights as reporters and creatives. Even while they were out in the sun and at the lake, they were writing. And they were always out and about, always having somewhere to be.

*

A lot of tears fell this month. Because somehow it always seemed like people were putting pebbles and rocks on my path, laughing at me, wanting me to fail. First, the license taking forever (and more ups and downs in the process itself… I can’t make this up even if I tried to), then a construction spawning out of nowhere right in front of my store (as well as others’). Patience, resilience, and the everlasting knowledge that there’s always something. But it will be worth it.

*

I received following e-mail which brought me to tears:

Of course I accepted the comics and they’re now available at the store. How could I possibly have said No?

*

Many compliments at checkout, in the words of ‘Thanks for opening a bookstore with English titles’, ‘I was waiting for something like this to open up’, ‘Your selection is immaculate’, and ‘I’ll come back soon’. Most of the time I don’t even know what to respond, other than ‘Thank you so much’. I feel so much gratitude every week, and it feels surreal to hear such nice feedback online as well as offline, making it all worth the hassle.

*

A middle-aged man walked into my store with his wife and said “That’s not an English person, that’s a Chinese. Chinese people are selling english books!” and left the store again. Whether I was really a Chinese person, or whether I had understood him, didn’t seem to matter.

As I normally wouldn’t post about it, this time I added a statement online. Afterwards, I received a lot of kind messages, like: ‘This experience doesn’t diminish the fact that your store is one of the best things that could have happened for the city, and your positive energy is already appreciated’ and ‘Ignorance is the worst of all mental illnesses, and you do a job that is one of the best cures for it’.

*

A guest who is well-read and owns a home library came by with a bunch of great editions for my second-hand shelf. I gave him a coffee in exchange and he had a copy of the Literary Review with him that I could browse through. Pleasant morning.

*

Rainy afternoons, pigeons on the grass, live music and dancing. Kids playing in the water fountains close-by. Families browsing on the weekend. Couples collecting things from my shop for a gift to a friend. Funny commentary on my post cards.

*

Conversations that go on and on until I realise closing time was twenty minutes ago. And networking that has never felt easier.

---

Thank you for giving me tales to tell fondly,

Hannah