The State Department Store

Lonely Planet describes the State Department Store as worth a visit just to see how much stuff they have all crammed into one building, so I visited expecting an eclectic mix of mayhem, but I was disappointed.  It just had your standard department store shoes, clothes, et cetera, but not even the best selection.  On the top floor, there is a very miniature food court (think, three options) and a bookstore that carries only Mongolian books and a few ESL textbooks.  There's also a stationery shop, which is decent, but much more expensive than the little shops that are everywhere else on Peace Avenue.  There's a gym, too, so if you feel like being pervy, you can stand and watch the buffest Mongols working out.  All in all, the State Department Store kind of depresses me.  And I don't like going there because I always have the impression that the masses of people standing around in front of the store or just inside the entrance are trying to figure out the best method to get into my pockets.

On why I plan on spending a shit-ton of money in Mongolia

I love to shop.  It might be a problem.  It doesn't matter what I'm shopping for, as long as I'm shopping, I can get /really/ excited about it.  I even love grocery shopping-- it means I get to go out of the house and buy things.  In Mongolia, the obvious thing to shop for is wool products. 

I don't know much about cashmere and the other assorted wool products that come out of Mongolia (there's sheep wool, yak wool, camel hair-- what animal does cashmere even come from?  and what makes it just so soft and itch-free?), but when I peeked into factory which was described to me as 'abandoned', I saw piles and piles and piles of wool, and workers busy stuffing it into bags (the reason I peeked was because, as I was walking past, I was thinking that that abandoned factory smelled like a stockyard).  I can only assume that it will be shipped to another factory where it will be washed, spun, and dyed (or something-- I have a very vague notion of how wool and other threads are made).  Now, about Mongolian cashmere and the other wool products on offer here, I'm in love.  I want to buy three of everything, except for I'm earning a very modest slightly-better-than-average-but-modest-nonetheless Mongolian wage, and I just can't afford it (it doesn't help that I've got debt to pay off-- kind of like Shopaholic, but not quite so dense and selfish, I hope).  Well, there is the cashmere, and it is delicious.  My dad wears sweaters all year round, so I plan on getting him a nice sweater for Christmas.  There's also camel hair blankets, which are divine (I bought one for my younger brother for Christmas, and I'm seriously scared I'm going to end up keeping it, I love it so much).  There are yaks wool long underwear, which I'm constantly daydreaming about purchasing as soon as the temperature hits -15Celcius (I plan on staying warm this winter).  There are sheep wool blankets, which are a little scratchy, but which I think have good character (I bought a green one for my parents for Christmas.  This is another Christmas gift which I want to keep!).  I'm in love; I want it all.

On a side-note, the flies here are atrocious.  I think they're on a mission to drive me crazy.