What We're Expecting: Combat Shopping

During our home finding trip, the realtor spent an afternoon taking us to local shopping areas. It was kind of interesting to see, but someone needs to tell them that not all Americans buy Versace and Armani.

They showed us the international grocery stores, where we'll be able to buy the common brands from the US and Europe. They also showed us the wet market, where fruits and veggies are cheap. They took us to Walmart, which is similar to ours only in name. They took us to a couple shopping malls.

And when asked where Chinese people shop, they took us to Auchan (pronounced Oh-shawn) where things are cheaper than Walmart.

This is a picture of the check out lanes. If you look closely and squint, they are numbered starting at one and the picture gets fuzzy around twenty. All the way at the other end of the store is lane number 107 and everything in between had a queue. The place was ridiculously crowded and the book bag I had kept getting bumped into. The realtor thinks it wasn't too bad because the time of day, a truly horrifying thought.

Very few products had English written on them, and slightly more than that could be identified with pictures. We'll spend a fare amount of energy avoiding this place, but we also realize it will lure us in from time to time. For example, this is THE place to get our cell phones.