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Wednesday 3 June 2015

My Happy Place

Santiago is full of fabulous places; Cafes, restaurants, bars, parks, plazas, soccer fields and more. But the place that I feel most happy, most calm and strangely at home, is at a big consumerist haven... the mall.

They are everywhere and as globalisation takes over, they are becoming very alike, no matter the location. Malls in Australia, China (in the big cities) and Chile are amazingly comparable. You can see the same brands of clothing, food, cafes, even architectural features are sometimes similar.

When mall crawling I find myself knowing where everything is, even though I haven't been there before. The whole routine of parking the car, window shopping, drinking a boost juice and generally taking in the hustle-bustle environment is unusually soothing.

I also enjoy time outside in nature, in a library, having dinner in a restaurant, but the mall really sticks out as my happy place here in Santiago, Chile. I don't generally buy anything on my mall visits either. I think I must be a child of mall culture, consumerism at its peak.  How odd.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting that you have taken to "malling"!! This is what it was known as in Manila. And it was (probably still is) a very popular pastime. Perhaps it is a way to get out of the, at times, oppressive heat, humidity, pollution... but it was also a way of just seeing people and socialising I thought. I agree that all 'mega-malls' can seem very much the same. I sometimes have to think hard where I am -- what city, country -- when in one!! [Miranda]

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    1. Air-conditioning does add to the appeal in humid climates! I dunno, the format is just so familiar and comforting. Kind of sad that they all look the same though, mass marketing is taking over.

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  2. Thank you for sharing some of your experiences! I found your blog while looking for expat stories about Chile, and plan to move there this December, probably Region One near Iquique. Please post more! [Kevin]

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    1. Thanks Kevin! Hope you enjoy your time in Chile, let me know if you start a blog and I'll follow along!

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