Listen to U.S. immigration discuss living in the United States: First, let’s talk about the differences between a few words. Supermarket—this refers to a larger store that sells a wide variety of items, including televisions, clothing, and CDs. Grocery store—this is generally smaller and primarily sells food and small daily necessities. Store—this tends to focus more on clothing.
Some of the larger supermarkets in the United States include Wal-Mart, KROGER, TARGET, COSTCO, ALBERTSONS, JCPENNY, K-MART, and WALGREEN. Generally, large warehouse-style supermarkets are located in remote areas, and their prices are quite affordable.
Living in the United States, buying groceries is definitely not as convenient as in China. There are no early morning markets or small community vegetable shops; to buy groceries, one must go to a supermarket, which can be several dozen kilometers away. Therefore, living in the U.S. without a car makes it very difficult. People tend to buy in bulk, enough to last a week, so how can you get it home without a car?
Supermarkets in the United States primarily supply Western products. I simply refer to them as mainstream supermarkets. It is certainly true that mainstream supermarkets in the U.S. are filled with a wide variety of products, and in the spirit of trying foreign cultures, I have greatly benefited from this. I learned to make pasta on my own simply because I saw various types of pasta in the supermarket—long, short, wide, thin, flat, spiral, and shell-shaped; as well as various flavors of pasta sauce, which immediately sparked my desire to learn.
The self-serve salad bars in mainstream supermarkets are also something I enjoy. Various clean vegetables are neatly arranged in containers, and you can choose whatever you like. Salad dressings are also available, and in the end, you pack it up and pay before heading home.
Because the United States is an immigrant country, it gathers almost all races and ethnicities from around the world, resulting in many specialty stores to meet the diverse needs of different immigrant communities.
Compared to these mainstream supermarkets, I prefer supermarkets run by Asians, such as those owned by Koreans, and of course, those run by Chinese. In the Chinese supermarkets in Chinatown, I can find Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. Asian supermarkets offer many unique Asian foods that are not found in mainstream supermarkets. Some of these specialty foods are imported from various Asian countries, like the aforementioned Lao Gan Ma and Korean kimchi.
Others are produced locally in the United States: this can be divided into two categories. One category includes Asian specialty products produced by Asian Americans, such as the frozen dumplings that are ubiquitous in Chinese supermarkets; the other category includes products made by native Americans, such as pig liver, pig kidneys, intestines, chicken feet, and other foods that Americans typically do not eat but are loved by Chinese people. In a Korean supermarket, in a corner of the refrigerated meat section, there is a pile of pig liver, pig kidneys, and intestines, with a sign specifically written in Chinese to inform the Chinese community. Moreover, the staff can also speak Chinese.
Although the items in Chinese-run supermarkets are very cheap, vegetables may not be cleaned properly, and meat that does not sell on the same day may still be sold. In contrast, supermarkets run by Americans are clearly different from Chinese supermarkets; they are well-managed, with cleaned vegetables, and any unsold meat is disposed of rather than sold again. The prices of goods in American supermarkets are, of course, higher than those in Chinese-run supermarkets.
From my rough observation, the prices of vegetables and meats are basically comparable to those in China. You certainly cannot use the exchange rate of 6.9 to 1 to compare; rather, you should calculate it on a 1 to 1 basis, because if you consider American income on a 1 to 1 basis, it is roughly equivalent to that of Chinese people. Therefore, these products are relatively similar in price or even cheaper. However, if you calculate everything based on the exchange rate between the Chinese yuan and the U.S. dollar, shopping in the U.S. would be impossible, as it would be too expensive.
Additionally, returning items in the United States is quite convenient; anything you are not satisfied with can be returned. The staff is very friendly, and as long as you return it within a certain time frame, you can get your money back. When shopping, they will help you pack items by category into bags, and we often remark on how many bags we receive. At checkout, there is a quick lane for small items, allowing for fast transactions. After using an ATM card to pay at the supermarket, you are often asked if you want cash back. At first, this may seem puzzling—why would you get cash back when buying something? It turns out this is a cash withdrawal service provided by the supermarket, allowing you to shop and withdraw cash at the same time, achieving two goals in one go.
A major characteristic of consumption in the United States is taxation. No matter what product you purchase or any service you consume, an additional tax is applied. For example, dining out incurs tax, buying a pair of shoes incurs tax, and even buying a green onion incurs tax. The general sales tax is 6%, with the highest rates reaching up to 15%. This means that if a pair of shoes is priced at $100, you will actually pay $106 at checkout. These taxes are paid to the federal or state government, with varying rates across states.
For women, not buying cosmetics when coming to the United States is a significant regret, as there are many good options available here. The primary places for cosmetics are pharmacies. American pharmacies are essentially medium-sized supermarkets, such as CVS and Walgreen, which have a large selection of over-the-counter cosmetics for you to choose from.