Going Shopping

Shopping is a challenge, but we’ve been pretty successful at finding what we need. The grocery stores are open later then the other stores, so I usually have time to shop after work. Everything is closed on Sunday. Planning ahead is essential. But since everyone is shopping Saturday it can get pretty hectic.

The stores are much more compact than in the US. When they are crowded, it’s nearly impossible to walk through. You have to look hard for what you want because it’s crammed into such a small space. The stores are generally well organized, though.

On Saturdays, there’s a lot of pressure to grab your item and move out of people’s way. If you don’t move fast enough, they will elbow you out. Now imagine not being able to recognize the brands and you can’t tell if you are buying dishwashing soap or laundry detergent. It can take some time to examine the label and figure out what it is. And sometimes they just don’t have what you are looking for. Oatmeal is called havermout and comes in a small box rather than the round tubs we’re used to. The picture on the front makes it looks like cream of wheat. The only give-away was the very small Quaker Oats logo on the corner of the box. And baking soda in the familiar yellow Arm and Hammer box? Not here! You get that stuff in the drugstore behind the counter. I was lucky to have found that tip on an expat website because I never would have found it otherwise!

We found a store close to our house that’s like a miniature Home Depot. We’ve already been there a lot for things like batteries, light fixtures, shower curtain rods, and floor wax. A bit further away is a more traditional hardware store. This is the store that sells Weber Grills and all the accessories, too. It’s more like an Ace Hardware store. The guys working there were very helpful. They helped us find some odds and ends like the small bits of wire that we needed to install the light fixtures and conversion kit for our American grill.

Another good find was the cheese store. At the grocery store, you can buy gouda cheese. Your choices are young, old, and very old, but it’s all gouda. I like gouda cheese just fine, but it gets boring after a while. But when we went into the cheese store, all the names were unfamiliar. Fortunately, they were not super busy and the guy at the counter was willing to help us. We asked for something a bit stronger flavored than gouda, but not as strong as limburger. We gave us several samples and we bought a couple of pieces. Too bad I can’t remember the names of the cheeses that we bought because they were pretty good!

To finish out the Saturday rounds, there is the banketbakerij to get apple turnovers and other pastries fresh from the over, the chocolate shop where you can buy a pound of chocolates for 9 euros, and the wine shop. Phew! I’m tired already!