This week my battle has been with brands. Shopping back home is a breeze because I know where things are and I know what I like and what I don't like when it comes to the products I'm buying. Here? Nope. No clue.
I have to shop twice a week because my fridge/freezer/cupboard storage is nil. As much as I'd love to buy a 1kg bag of brown rice that would last me all semester, I can't because I don't have the room for it. I have found some things like cheerios, frosted flakes etc. but for the most part North American brands can't be found. I nearly had a breakdown in trying to buy laundry soap yesterday, because I had no clue what I was buying! I read so much fine print on those boxes and bottles my head nearly popped. My kingdom for a bottle of Tide!
Honestly though, even when you find a brand from back home it can prove disappointing. Pop, juice and a few candies that I loved back home I hate here. Pops and juices are too sweet for my liking and candies like skittles are flavored differently so they're not what I think a Skittle should taste like. Lucky for me it was a very small pack of Skittles or I would have thrown them out. I found a bottle of "American Style Ginger Ale" in the Marks & Spenser grocery store today and while I was quite excited to try it, I knew it would be the British equivalent of what American ginger ale tastes like. It's not bad to be honest, but it's a tad more gingery than I'm used to. Still, it's comforting to have around, especially because I have a slight cold right now. Peanut-butter is another disappointing product. It's very dry and without much peanutty flavour. Mind you, it may just have been the brand I bought. We'll see when I run out and get more. Margarine is a no no here. I knew Becel was called Flora over here so without thinking, I got a light tub to go with my english muffins (so hard to find by the way) in the morning. Big mistake. The stuff is so salty it's like I've spread a bit of some cow's salt lick on my muffin! I guess I'll be using unsalted butter when I use up this tub.
Fruit and veg in store is fairly pricey, but I've discovered that the farmers markets that pop up are the best and cheapest way of getting the fresh stuff. A pound of apples in the store might be 2 pounds but at the markets you can get them for half that. Same goes for assorted peppers, cucumbers, bananas, grapes. I'm making sure I eat some sort of fruit or veg at breakfast and lunch and two types at dinner. I didn't have to think about it at home because it was just done but here I really have to make sure I'm eating that stuff.
Grocery shopping isn't all doom and gloom though, there have been a few nice brand surprises! Weight Watchers has way more products here! I've found W.W. yogurts and three different kinds of bread! Big grocery stores like Sainsbury have products like W.W. soup, candies and ready meals in types you don't see back home, cheese, cooking sauces and even wine! The only thing I've tried so far is the yogurts and they're really good. Oh! Speaking of yogurt, they're quite fond of making yogurt flavors it shouldn't be. I have so far seen aero bar yogurt, smarties yogurt and rolo yogurt. Ew.
On a less food related note, I bought a pair of rubber boots! They're by the brand Hunter, so they were pricey little buggers. Lucky for me I bought them at a store that gives a 20% discount to students. Woohoo discounts! I wondered if I should just get a cheap pair of rubber boots like a few other girls did but when I asked around, all the lovely people who have lived through a Chichester winter said "NO! GET THE HUNTERS OR YOU'LL REGRET IT!" Needless to say I took their advice.
Pretty spiffy!
The lovely fuzzy white bit at the top is actually a wellie sock. I bought a pair for my boots because apparently your toes go numb in the winter without them. I know from experience that numb toes is one of the worst side effects of winter and contributes to my clumsiness. Thus, socks.
I'm hoping by Christmas I'll be done with my brand trial and error and know what to get when I need it.
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