onsdag, december 13, 2006

Supermarket Adventures

Or, how I discovered that I am very much an expat, and getting more so all the time.

Admittedly, I was jetlagged, but even so, yesterday, for perhaps the first time in my life, I got truly lost in a supermarket. Yes, I couldn't for the life of me find the cream cheese which I had set out to get, quickly, while my Mom and stepdad got the lox (to the Danes in the audience, yes that is salmon, but only the smoked kind is called that), so that we could all meet conveniently in line at the end of it all. I took so long to find the cheese, and then to find the line, that by the time I finally made it, I found my Mom loading food on the conveyor belt on her own, my stepdad having been sent on a mission to find me. My mistake? I tried to look for it by the other cheeses. It took a long time to find the cheese section. Then I tried to look for it by the milk. It was not easy to find this section either. The stuff was in the milk section, but as I envision cream cheese as a box of Philly (which is a very recognizable silver color), and as we were in a Whole Foods, which doesn't sell that kind of stuff, it took me a while to find it.

My excuse (other than jetlag) is that I was still recovering from produce-inspired sensory overload. Denmark doesn't have much in the way of produce. At Whole Foods, before even entering the store, I was confronted with grapefruit the size of melons, pomegranates the size of the grapefruit, and, well, I couldn't possibly name them all. A veritable plethora of fruit. And don't get me started on the vegetables. Or the deli section. Or the salad bar. And then just the size of the store. The largest supermarket I have been to in Denmark couldn't be more than a third of the size of Whole Foods. It perhaps didn't help that I was encouraged to chose whatever I wanted, anything I'd been craving, no holds barred...and I was so overwhelmed with choice that I simply couldn't choose anything at all.

So, as an ending to the adventure, I got lost. I, the mistress of supermarket wandering, former queen of 2am shopping adventures. I know my way around a market, any market, big or small. Don't I? Well, perhaps not anymore.

11 kommentarer:

M sagde ...

I have dreams about Whole Foods. Actually I dream of a Portland health food supermarket chain called New Seasons but I would trade getting lost and overloaded with choices in Whole Foods for getting shoved around in an aisle the width of my shower stall while trying to grab a sickly looking head of lettuce at Irma any day of the week.

You are so lucky.

Anonym sagde ...

I feel your pain. I get lost like this when I go home to Edmonton, where my parents shop at supermarkets the size of football stadiums. I'm so used to tiny urban markets where the vegetables all look like they've been in a fight. Of course recently we moved to a place right near Chinatown and now I can't find ANYTHING at the store EVER.

Hope you're having a wonderful holiday!

Anonym sagde ...

I am not one of these organic nuts but even I LOVE Whole Foods Market. I love getting almond butter instead of peanut butter sometimes. I love the fresh look of the meat. I love the colors and variety of the produce section. I don't shop there very often because it is pricey but when I do, I am like a crazy person throwing everything in my tiny little cart. Enjoy your trip home Kim. Pictures pictures and more pictures is all I am asking ;) Is Thor with you?

Vanessa sagde ...

Oh, the beauty of Whole Foods. I love going into that store. The produce, the cheese selection, and the olive bar!
Wherever you are, if there is a Nugget market nearby I'd recommend stopping in there as well for a bit of grocery porn.

Anonym sagde ...

I was shopping with the Lad at Berkeley Bowl, which is sort of an independently owned uber-Whole Foods, and he actually got scared in the produce section looking at all the odd fruits from points beyond. Something, a citrus called a "Buddha's hand" made him utter: "Dad, let's get out of here."

HB sagde ...

I think "lox" must come from "laks" - what do you think? God ferie!

jdbauer sagde ...

I could have sworn I commented here already. Hmm. Something about bringing back a freezer bad with whitefish salad in.

kimananda sagde ...

M, your description is funny, but in a sadly truthful way! I find it hard to buy vegetables in Denmark, actually, as the quality is generally so bad.

Roro, 'markets where the vegetables look like they've been in a fight'...that must be the Danish grocers, right? And, my holiday is lovely and relaxing. :-)

Daphnewood, hey, I hadn't thought about almond butter...that's good stuff. I'll see what I can do about pictures, but it's more of a hanging out doing nothing much holiday. Thor's been left at home, but we're coming here together in Spring.

Greg, it's only stores like that which can carry the scary fruit. Which is the best kind of fruit, in my opinion.

HB, nope, it's from the Yiddish, I believe.

Mr. Heartburn, a bag of whitefish salad? From the states to DK? Really? Did it survive the trip?

jdbauer sagde ...

It did indeed survive in a special Zabars freezer bag. Actually my friend traveled from New York to Spain to bring it to me. Of course she had other reasons for visiting, but the whitefish was a highlight for me after months of tapas and raciones.

I love "I believe"

Anonym sagde ...

Now adays stores shuffle the shelves now and again.

Why? The desire to promote more impulse shopping. IMHO. ;)

Anonym sagde ...

Whole foods: That's what I miss most about the US (perhaps along with Ben & Jerrys, er, Hardies).

I am not the only Dane who feels this way. The organic supermarked Egefeld on Gammel Kongevej 113 was apparently started by a guy, who used to live close to (or perhaps rather commute past) the Whole Foods on Columbus Circle in NYC.