Examples Of Mall Ethnography

When thinking about the ethnography at first I could not think of anything that I would find interesting to observe. Everyone around me had really interesting ideas. One person wanted to observe a Wiccan group and participate. Another person wanted to ride public transportation for their ethnography. They thought it would be interesting to observe passengers and drivers. One day I went to the mall with my sister and I thought that observing the interactions of shoppers and sales associates would be interesting. However, I felt that the mall was a place everyone went to and has a good idea what happens there. Then I thought that I could go to a swap meet and observe what happens there. During the summer time my family attends regularly and has …show more content…
In the city I live in there are a few swap meets to go. All are a bit different from each other. Depending what you want that is where you go. The first swap meet I went to was the Van Buren Swap Meet in Riverside. This was the first time I had gone to this swap meet and I thought this project was a good excuse to go. However, this swap meet was smaller than most of the ones I have gone to. There was not much to see and I walked the swap meet in 45 minutes. The other swap meet that I went to was Rubidoux Swap Meet in Riverside. This swap meet was larger and busier than the Van Buren Swap Meet. This swap meet has more vendors that sell used items. It can be fun to find hidden treasures that you did not know that you wanted. The second time I went …show more content…
The swap meet is a place to experience a different culture. When people go to the mall nothing there is authentic. The food is not an accurate representation of where they are saying it comes from. When someone gets Chinese food from the mall they know that that is not the food they really eat in China. Clothes that are native to certain countries are mass produced by corporations and are not even made in their native country. However, when people go to the swap meet vendors from other countries are bringing their products with them. The both swap meets I went to were selling tacos. The tacos were like the ones someone would find at a Mexican restaurant or those taco stand people see on the street. They were also selling Mexican snacks and candies. One vendor was also selling sandals that he went to Mexico to get. Another vendor was selling kitchen cloth napkins that are popular in Mexican families. They are usually large and white and most of the time they have an outline of flowers. Customers will take them home so they can embroider the napkins themselves. The swap meet is a place to explore a different culture here in