Shopping day in Brno

Saturday morning me and three girls from the church hopped on a train and headed to Brno for a day of shopping. This was going to be my first time in Brno, which is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, and I had heard many good things. The train ride wasn't long, and it was a nice way to see the countryside, which is now covered in snow. Once arriving in Brno the girls led me to where they wanted to go shopping: the mall.

I was surprised that they wanted to go to the mall, because I had heard that the main square was really nice and there where tons of shops that had everything from Czech lace and glass to toasters and turtle-neck sweaters. However, I had also heard from the older girls in my English classes that Brno was the place to shop for cloths and the mall was the best spot.

Upon entering the mall I completely forgot I was in the Czech Republic. Sure, the people around me were speaking Czech, but my eyes where convinced I was back in the states. The first store we went into was the New Yorker and every sign was in English, American music was playing in the background, and there was an entire section where you could buy a t-shirt with English plastered all over it. I was hoping this would be the only store like it, but to my disappointment every store we went to had something from English culture, be it the clothing, music, or the language painted on random things. There was only one store that we went into that I feel was Czech. It was a outdoor store called Rejoice, which is a Czech company that has been around since the 1998.

I hate to make generalizations, but after my experience in Brno I feel confident in saying that a mall is a mall, regardless if you are in Erie (Pennsylvania), Washington (DC), Toronto (Ontario), Nairobi (Kenya) or Brno (Czech Republic). I have been to all these places and found the same thing every time. It saddens me that American pop culture is being exported all over the world, seeing that most of it is garbage, however it angers me when people complain about it, because as a country it is their choice to import it. Do I laugh every time I see a hip-hopper in Policka? Of course, because I know they have no idea what culture they are imitating, therefore not being critical of it.

On a more positive note, I did have a lot fun in Brno, and I think the girls I went with did too. We didn't end up buying anything, but we did take some fun pictures and enjoyed a day in a big city.