Januar, Shelly, Sanket, and I took a trip to a little place called Metro after class today. Metro is sort of Chinese foreign-goods superstore. We all had to get papers from the Foreign Student Office to even be allowed to enter the Metro. Apparently, it's kind of a big deal.
Metro. As the sign says.
The interior is something like a Wal-Mart: One side is clothes and home goods, the other food. I say Wal-Mart and not, like, Super Target on purpose:
Metro Interior. Looks like Wal-Mart to me.
Even the color scheme (blue and yellow) reminds me of Wal-Mart (or Ikea, I guess, but the store is no Ikea). Anyway, we walked in, registered (as you must), and were met by...Halloween.
Halloween Costumes. Beautiful, just beautiful.
If you ask anyone about Metro, you're likely to hear that the store is expensive. Now, I've learned to be relativistic about "expensive." I mean, sure, dinner at the Cafe might cost 25RMB, which is a lot in China, but that's only $3.45. What's funny is that when people say Metro is expensive, they're right.
Examples:
Three-Ring Binder? That thing is more than $7.00.
What? Who would pay that for evaporated milk? And no, it isn't actually panda milk. (a side note, I think that price is for a case of, like, 12 cans, not just a single can. But, that's still ridiculous).
Coffee Maker? The first coffee maker I found in China, and it's almost $2000? Gah!
And The Winner Is... The $3200 cognac. Won't find that at Wal-Mart.
Still amongst the luxury items, there was also the familiar:
Miracle Whip. Despite its presence, I had to explain what it was to my friends.
Not Just Regular Bacon! Elaborate Bacon! Not sure what that means, exactly, but if this is the crappy, soggy, flavorless bacon they put on everything "American" here, I'll pass.
Crabs. Yeah, I know, they're just crabs, but we're nowhere near the ocean. This is first sea life I've seen in two months.
PB Und J. These babies came home with me.
I picked up a few items: The peanut butter, the jelly, some chocolate (Ritter Sport!), and some stuff to make dinner for Januar and Shelly...tomorrow!
Hayden
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