There's no place like the megastore

I'm the type of person who keeps trying different varieties of things until I find something I really like and then I'll talk about it for two years. Hot chocolate from the BQuick gas station in Baton Rouge, those delicious strawberry gummy candies in Taiwan, Percy Pigs in Scotland...the list goes on. Probably for that reason grocery shopping is one of my favorite activities in the US. I relish going up and down the aisles, scanning all the choices, and then making my selection. And I especially love grocery shopping in new countries...you can tell alot about a country from its groceries.

I've now gotten pretty good at distinguishing what most things are in German supermarkets (although today I bought a type of meat thinking it was salmon...schadeee) but shopping just hasn't been fun. (Apart from the time I made a complete fool of myself at a promotion outside a grocery store in Bremen: Scavenger me went up and grabbed what I thought was a free bag of popcorn, making the MC get on the mic to call me out in front of everyone to spin some wheel. Oops! I thought it was pretty funny, but a friend turned around and walked away completely mortified LOL).

I think part of it is that most German grocery stores are much smaller than the ones I'm used to in the US. Most products have between one and three options to try...the cereal aisle is a bit bigger but still blahhh. There's some economic theory that talks about how too many choices can lead to paralysis and unhappiness...the idea goes that having too many options leads inevitably to second thoughts and regret. I'm still not sure where I fall on this issue, but I sure love my big grocery stores.

So yes, my einkaufen gehen experience in Germany has only been so-so...until today! Turns out the megastore exists in Germany, and I'm still giddy from my afternoon field trip there.

The place: Kaufland, a mere five minute strassenbahn ride from my nearest stop. It's not as big as Wal-Mart, but it's close, and it even has the same jarring fluorescent lights. I could have spent half an hour in the mustard aisle alone...I was even carded for beer, not exactly something to shout from the rooftops...or a public blog...since the legal age here is 16, but it's keeping with big store protocol, right?

I find it's the little things I miss the most here, and this afternoon's taste of Americana made me feel a bit more connected to my homeland. I almost could have been in the US, I thought, had I not left Kaufland with reusable bags in hand and traveled back home with public transportation. But I'll take it.

In other news, I love the freedom of my life here (at least until I start the daily grind in February). I love being able to say "I want to go to Hungary next week" and then just pick up and go. And that's what I'm doing. I leave Wednesday for Budapest and two smaller towns in eastern Hungary before going directly to our PPP mid-year seminar in Cologne the next week. If the Rick Steves' episode on Hungary I just watched on Hulu is an indication, I'm in for a culturally enriching (and fun) time.