Shopping: A Cultural Experience

I've done more shopping on this trip than I have done in all of my previous trips put together. It must be Jayde's influence. :) It really surprised me how different my shopping experiences have been in each country. Bali was grateful, Hong Kong indifferent, and China angry.

Bali: The Balinese (?) believe that the first sell of the day sets the tone for the rest of the day. When we would shop, the store owners would tell us they were going to make a special deal for us and, if it was early, that we were the first sell of the day. The bartering process, at least for me, was awkward, but amicable. And, when it was over, the store owners were very grateful and thanked us over and over again.

Hong Kong: People here would barter, but not to the same extent. They did not seem as motivated to make a sell. The strangest thing, to me, was that they absolutely refused to let you try on clothing. Even the shops with dressing rooms would let you try on pants, but refused to let you try on shirts.

China: Although the Silk Market was heaven (floor after floor of shoes, purses, silks), it is manned by heathens. They had no problem letting you try on clothes here, but they didn't have dressing rooms. Instead, two of the workers would hold up a blanket while you got undressed in the middle of a very busy shopping mall. It didn't help, either, that the girls holding up the blanket would look over of the top and comment on how cute you are or how beautiful your skin is.

After the very embarrassing process of finding the perfect pants, the more unpleasant barter process begins. The shopgirls inevitably opens with a completely outrageous price to see just how much they can take you for. You'd be surprised how many people willingly agree to pay $100 for a knock off purse! Unless you agree to this outrageous price, the shopgirl is likely going to tell you at least 100 times that you are killing her, that you are a liar, or that you are in some other way deficient as a human being. This is true even if you eventually agree on the price and they sell you the item. Their demeanor does not change after the sell.

In one instance, Jayde wanted to try on a pair of pants. She asked the girl how much they were, the girl told her not to worry, to try on the pants first, and then she would tell her the price. The girl helped Jayde with the pants, the whole time telling her how beautiful and lucky Jayde was and how she wanted to be friends with Jayde. After Jayde found the right size and, again, asked about the price, the girl opened with a ridiculous amount. Jayde apologized and told the girl that she only had a certain amount to spend on a pair of pants. The girl kept trying to barter with Jayde, and Jayde kept telling her that she was not going to pay any more for the pants. When Jayde finally gave up and walked away, the girl ran out of the shop and screamed "You f$@king beast." Everyone turned to look at us. Immediately thereafter the shop owner came out and said okay that price is fine. The shop girl glared at Jayde during the whole transaction. As we walked past a store a few fronts down a woman asked if we wanted to look at pants. I grinned and said we had already bought some. She asked "How much you pay?" I told her 5 yuan less than we had actually paid and without hesitating she said "Okay, I give you same price."