Saturday, November 12, 2010, I went to Sojourn’s World Trade Store in downtown Birmingham, AL. I have wanted to go visit this store when I found out about it to see all of the different items created around the world. I have always been interested in traveling. I like seeing all of the different architecture and items from different cities and countries.
When I went into the store, it was completely different than what I thought it was going to be. I walked into the store, and it was so trendy. One thing that really stood out to me was the music that was being played. The music had a kind of jazzy African feel, but what I liked most was all of the different kind of nativity scenes that were created. One nativity scene was built inside a baby bird’s egg, and the design and technique was absolutely stunning and so precise.
When I was in Sojourns, I was able to talk with the owner and ask her about the different items in the store. She was showing me some carved wood that was from Bethlehem, and she also showed me clay molds from Africa. This store is a great example of globalization which is free market trading economies between different nations. Here in America, we get a lot of our stuff imported because of cheap labor. Cheap labor is faster and better in getting goods. However, the down side that we tend to not think about is that the labor is unregulated and comes from poor populations. Also, a lot of the corporations do not have the consumer or worker in their best interest. However, nations continue to be involved in outsourcing because of the less money it takes to be involved in globalization.
Anyways, I still enjoyed walking through the store. I even bought an ornament that has a nativity scene inside of a star. I am thinking that this store would be a great place to get Christmas gifts for family and friends, and this event has been one of my favorite experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment