You know that I've come face-to-face with bats, mastered the night tram, and ventured to terrifying carnival rides - but there is one thing that still makes me nervous. The Grocery Store. I'll avoid it like most college kids avoid the laundromat.
The first reason it is so intimidating is the crowds. Small aisles where there is barely room for shoppers to stand side-by-side, let alone stop, go, reach, and have a moving lane. If you are in someone's way, they will either brush by you in a hurry, or worse: stand right behind you until you notice they need to get by. It's not rudeness so much as that people are looking out for themselves first. Who can blame them?
The second reason is obvious, everything is in Czech. I've learned enough in my Czech Language course to get the basics, though I still rely on the pictures placed on labels. At this point I've gone enough times that I know which package is the turkey, what type of "Laughing Cow" cheese I like (trial & error landed me on the dark blue label), and I have memorized where to find the Pringles.
No matter what grocery store I go to, the cheese & yogurt sections are both far bigger than you can imagine. There are literally hundreds of yogurts to pick from. Yoplait and Activia are the only recognizable ones, and as a typical college student, I come home with all grocery store brand. As for the cheese - there are tons of cheeses I've never heard of, and in every form cheese can come in. I hardly ever risk it. Like I said, I get my dark blue labeled "Laughing Cow" and I'm set.
There has been some progress made: I am finally able to gauge the lifespan of my food, considering they use far less preservatives than we do. I have also been able to determine the appropriate pricing in terms of Korunas for most items here. Small victories, but victories none-the-less.
No comments:
Post a Comment