The first attempt to go out and buy the family groceries brings on quite a culture shock. Nothing is familiar. My first trip to QFC was overwhelming. I walked through the front door and was confronted by trollies (carts) with baskets standing up at 90 degrees. Completely clueless on how to use one, I had to wait and watch another customer fold down the basket before I could proceed. I was scared I would break it.
What came next was a pointless wander through a supermarket (grocery store) so unfamiliar that I was exhausted within twenty minutes. I had to go home for a rest with only a fraction of what I had planned on buying. Leaving wasn't quite so simple. I didn't know where to put my groceries once I reached the checkout; I didn't know what the shop assistant (store clerk) was saying when she repeated three times paperorplastic (well it sounded like one word), and then when asked if I'd like help out to my car I almost fainted. Help carrying my groceries? I then of course didn't know if I was supposed to tip --- don't you tip for everything here? The worst part was that no-one actually understood a word I was saying to them.
It gets easier ... in time.
Meat
Welcome to the butchers (butcher shop), where beef cuts have different names; a cut of pork does not come with that lovely layer of skin that cooks up into a fine crackling; and unless you've recently won the lotto, lamb just became a pricey delicacy.
What to buy?
Porterhouse - Tenderloin
Scotch Fillet - Rib Eye
Eye Fillet - Fillet
Beef Strips/Stir Fry - Flank
(in compilation stage)
