Saturday, November 15, 2014

Shanghai: Walmart Trips

So like everything I do in China, going to Walmart is just crazy...why? Because it's supposed to be something like home and recognizable, but it just isn't the same experience. This is an obvious thing, but can still give you a culture shock when experienced.

I had culture shock because I had not seen a Walmart since early May. It was such an experience, I decided to break my blog story timeline, and show you guys now. I am also choosing to post it now, because it's a quick post and I just have not had the time to write, photo edit, and blog like I did this summer. Ok so anyway...

As always, the adventure starts with the metro. Luckily, this stop is only 3 stations away from school
And of course a crowded and long walk across 8-10 lanes of roadway with 100s of my closest strangers!

I know you guys can see that sign! Not your typical Walmart, huh?! Yeah it's actually above some shops and is apart of a larger outdoor, mall complex. It's actually quite nice and there's a Burger King behind it, haha. I know this area quite well, needless to say....


The main entrance
Going up to the first floor. They sell all types of things on the outside of the store as well


So now that we've successfully made into Walmart, here's where it gets weird-ish...

Not the typical, warm Walmart greeting I'm used to... 
Here you can find all things dried...fruit, meat, noodles, and other things I am not brave enough to explore
Oreos at low prices...I always seem to go for what I know...and because of this I will not lose a pound LOL

Not so bad...just not home. But there's more! I call this the mad dash for fruit....

So you grab your bag, pick through the fruits to get the best ones (typical), but the have to wait in line to have everything weighed before you go to the register. It's really a pain sometimes, especially when people have 7 or 8 things to weigh, while you just want apples smh!

After that's all said and done...up we go...

Now the escalators go up about 4 floors, where you can get the same types of things as home; appliances, clothes, and specialty items. If you are not careful, it's easy to get lost just walking around and look at/for items...Luckily for you all, this trip was a quick mission. But unfortunately for me, the check out line situation was CRAZY as always.

My small pick up: Beef jerky, sea weed, apples, yogurt, olive oil, golden ores with strawberry cream, drinks, cressants, and butter...luxury items cost me (yogurt, butter, cressants, and beef jerky)

I can already see that this is gonna be a rough wait

The lines are such a buzz kill when your total shopping time was 30mins...
So not the most absurd thing I've done in China, however, when your are looking for normality, it just doesn't quite cut it...I still enjoy all of my weekly trips to Walmart!