 |
| Jackson takes advantage of an available lap on a rainy day. |
There's not too much happening that's new and different during the weeks lately, so I thought I'd relay some thoughts on our least favorite subject: grocery shopping. Put succinctly, it's misery.
First, there's the parking. The underground parking decks do offer free parking. That's where easy stops and torturous begins. The spaces are usually small with huge concrete pillars on both sides.
Once in the store, about 50% of the time, you must pay to use a cart. It's refundable when you return it, but it adds another step. Is this really necessary? Ugh. My preferred shopping venues have free carts. The carts themselves are similar in size and style to carts in the US, with one huge difference- the wheels. There must be a reason why this is the case (even though we haven't figured it out yet), but the wheels are not locked so that the cart moves easily in a forward manner. It's like the cart is on a hill and you must fight it the whole way to keep it going in the direction you wish. It gets tougher as you put more food in it and it gets heavier. One day I had a particularly bad cart and I swear I got a core workout just pushing the darn thing through the store! I decided to try to watch the pros/locals to see how they handle them. I got the giggles because everyone was walking to the side of their cart to try to control it! I had never noticed before because I was looking at the different food options. It could be worse; I could have a temperamental toddler to push around as well.
About those food options - Overall, many things are the same or quite similar. We've learned some new words including: rocket=arugula, capsicum=pepper, cos=romaine, sultana=raisin. There are some surprises, like when we realized the eggs were not refrigerated, just stacked on shelves or in aisles. Guess that works but I still put them in the fridge when we get home. Things are not organized in ways that my Americanized brain likes. Paper goods are not together, but in several different areas of the store. There is a substantial section for fresh, raw dog food. I've never seen that at home. These Aussie pooches are well cared for!
The cheese section is a source of amusement to me. I can't go by it without thinking of that last scene in the movie Borat where he's going through the cheese section. "What is this one?" "That's cheese." "And this one?" "That's cheese." And on and on. Except here, it would be "That's Tasty Cheese." Tasty Cheese is ubiquitous and mysterious. It is apparently a mild, white cheddar. I'm not a big fan and would re-name it "Only Kinda Tasty Cheese" if I could. It comes in ton of varieties (not a common thing here) - Light Tasty, Extra Tasty, Grated Tasty, Sliced Tasty, Extra Light Tasty, etc.
There is a lot less variety offered, which some days feels like a relief and some days is frustrating. We've been craving Mexican food but it can hardly be found here. So, I decided to make my own, only to have to go to four stores to find a jalapeno pepper and black beans. Some of the varieties offered are unusual to us. There are new potato chip flavors . We wonder if they're good, but not enough to buy them yet!
The prices are usually twice what they are in the States, at least. We knew this was the case here but it's still shocking at times. Some everyday examples: 3 liters of milk = $6, 2 liters Coke= $4, kilo (about 2 pounds) bananas= $12. If you want things that are not common here and obviously imported, you'll pay a lot more.
1 can black beans=$2.80
1 can Libby pumpkin=$6.99
1 small jar Hellmans mayo (only kind not full of sugar here)=$6.99
1 small box poptarts = $12.80
1 can of Dr.Pepper or A&W root beer=$2.80
1 bottle of Hershey's syrup=$9.99
The checkout is the last hurdle. There's nothing particularly unusual about the checkout procedure here, except that there is absolutely no sense of urgency about it. Not that things need to feel hurried, but it is amazingly slow to me! After careening around the store trying to find things (I've yet to meet a helpful store employee. Very friendly but not so helpful.), the last thing I want to do is wait 15 minutes to get through the line. That Tasty Cheese is Sweaty, Tasty Cheese by then! I did see this interesting line at one store.
 |
| Nice idea to check out without tempting candy if you're with kids. Funny that Coke is OK though. |
We realize that we will acclimate, get used to finding things or substituting, and find some things that we will actually miss. Food is comfort though and for now, we are really missing food that tastes good, doesn't cost a fortune and is easy to obtain. I would kill for a HT, Trader Joes or Whole Foods these days! For those in Chapel Hill, I usually avoided the Carrboro HT, as its narrow aisles, crowded parking lot and lack of selection bothered me. Now it seems like a shopper's paradise. We are also cognizant of the fact that idealizing one's home is typical of the adjustment process. We may look back at this and laugh in the months to come. Let's hope! And let's go out to eat.
Ha! That's not a great idea either. More next time...
7 comments:
Hahaha! I know how hard and frustrating grocery shopping in another country can be. Funny though how you get used to things eventually but always still miss some staples you are/were used to. When I first move to the US, 15 years ago, it was hard. Yes, you have a huge variety of everything, which at first was confusing though, but where is my Argentinean style white cream cheese? No, Philadelphia is too thick and sour cream is... well, not cheese. My cheese was like a blend between those two. And so it goes with lots of things. Funny enough, I still miss a few things that are just very different here, but the worst part is when I visit Argentina, now I miss all the things I am used to back in the US :) I guess we just get used to certain things and miss what we don't have!
Now, carts... That's a whole other story. Never heard about those crazy ones before!
We would definitely be broke by now due to poptarts being $12 a box! That's crazy. I guess you just adjust to some other food. Do you want me to mail you some of your favorites that you are missing? Just let me know, I'd be happy to.
Wow, does sound like an ordeal! Any Farmer's Markets you can walk to? We had a similar problem when we lived in Germany, just finding certain foods. It was in the late 80's/early 90's and there weren't many Mexican places there. So I had to actually make tortillas from scratch, and we found a Mexican restaurant about 40 minutes away that sold us a giant jar of jalepenos! Anyways, I know it's really frustrating! Eventually you'll figure out the best way do it, but geez, that's ridiculous!
Do you have any ALDI grocery stores nearby? I remember we had them in Germany, and they are basic, but low priced....
I think perhaps there's a reason why something like Vegemite can survive as a product there. Foreign food is great, but foreign grocery stores are a whole other world.
Always found it a great experience to visit different grocery stores as we moved around the world. You were right to look at the natives... learn from them. Found some Americans who have been there a while, they can help too. Like with Andrea's cream cheese comment (btw, we found that Philadelphia Whipped Cream Cheese get's closer).
that is so werid and jackson is having alot of resting time i can tell
Post a Comment