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I went to a different supermarket yesterday. The one nearest my place (just a few blocks away) is Kroger, which is the cheapest supermarket chain in Indiana. I guess I'm lucky that I had the cheapest one within walking distance this last year but now that I have a car I've realised that Marsh has a little more variety.
Anyway, going to a new supermarket was almost as much fun as going to an American supermarket for the first time. There were quite a few things I hadn't seen before but, better still, I saw some familiar products I didn't think I could get in the US. So now there's a couple less things that I won't be asking my family to bring from Australia -- Violet Crumbles and HP Sauce. The funny thing is that I rarely ate things like Violet Crumbles and Mars bars but knowing that I couldn't get them was enough to make me want them. Conversely, I used HP Sauce all the time when I was living in Oz; I couldn't eat steak without it! But now my diet has changed so much -- mainly Asian, Indian and Italian food -- that I decided not to buy a bottle. If I ever buy a BBQ then I'll start keeping HP in the pantry.
The really interesting part was the way this supermarket was arranged. You see, the HP sauce was on the shelf above the Nestlé chocolates. Nearby were Marmite, various jams and marmalades and something that looked like Gravox. I immediately realised that I'd found the British section of the supermarket! I shook my head as I walked past the steak sauce section, thinking how much more sensible it would be to keep the HP there. And then it got weird. As I walked past the Mexican food, I noticed candles for sale with Jesus and Mary's pictures of them! Now, we all know that tortillas and Catholic idolatry go hand in hand but really! (I also saw limes in the alcohol aisle, near the Coronas, I think. A more obvious combination. And every supermarket here has a small Kosher section but I've never seen menorahs for sale there.)
The question is: are these ethno-centric classifications more efficient than others? They could be, I guess.
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More importantly, when the feckerby did you start to say words like 'pantry'?
I'm sorry, but even if you used that term back here, there is no excuse for it whatsoever. A cupboard is a cupboard.
My family has always had a pantry in the kitchen. Here my kitchen cupboards are a bit on the small side, so maybe it's not the best word... But still, cupboards ain't cupboards: food goes in a pantry, clothes go in a wardrobe, etc.
As an aside, French has a nice symmetry between these words: garde-robe is a wardrobe, ie it guards your robes; garde-manger is a pantry, it guards your food.
OK, and when did you start wearing robes?!
When did I start wearing robes?
When I graduated! You were there, Lara! Don't tell me you don't remember; I have photos and you're probably in some of them.
Besides which, Americans call a dressing gown a "bathrobe". I have two of those in my wardrobe.
I'm just glad that no-one has mentioned that the French word robe means a dress. That would be much harder for me to explain!
Oh yes, the French word for dress. So when did you start wearing dresses, Nick? Or do you just keep them in your wardrobe?!
Do you have your own academic robes? Actually, I would have called it a gown, not a robe. I think it's called a gown in England - that's why there were disputes between 'town and gown' in Cambridge and Oxford!
Maybe you could rename your wardrobe a "garde-bain-robe"!!
Ooh, Nutella! You can get fantastic Nutella crepes in Paris!!
Ah, yes! I was pleasantly surprised to find Nutella available here despite the fact that Lisa had warned me that she was unable to find it in New Jersey. Every supermarket keeps Nutella, only I think that people look at it as a bit of a European delicacy. Also, all my American friends (and my French girlfriend) pronounce it Nootella. Surely our pronunciation is more sensible, given that it's made from nuts!
I guess I've been eating a little more Nutella than I did in Oz. If I pack my lunch to take to uni it's always one Vegemite sandwich and one Nutella sandwich. Occasionally I manage to give away a quarter of a Vegemite sanga to a classmate as part of my endless quest to educate the rest of the world about Australian culture. But not often.
Since when did Nick say 'pantry', b?
Surely you'll remember that even in Oz Nick expressed a liking for Heinz Tomato Ketchup! No prizes for guessing how he said 'tomato'...
Its definitely a graduation gown, Nick, if only because it has alliteration.
By God, you were born American. I balme the two wash basins.
C'mon! If anything the word 'pantry' is more British than American. Britons are always using words with more narrow meanings, eg 'lollies' only for boiled lollies, not all sweets. Americans do the opposite, they use a vague word for a range of different things eg 'candy' includes chocolates here.
While it's true that I used the word 'ketchup' in Oz, it was for good reason. I was reluctant at first to use such an American-sounding word but it was brought to my attention that, in Australia, Heinz makes both 'Heinz Tomato Ketchup' and 'Heinz Big Red Tomato Sauce' to two different recipes. So actually I was just specifying my preference. I never have and never will call that fruit a 'tomayto'!
I don't have anything against the word gown (aliteration is reason enough), I was just saying that the two words are completely synonymous.
I can't really defend the two hand-basins except to say that most people find the giant viewing-window to be more unusual.
satvik, rajasik and tamasik WTF?
No, I'm not Hindu. (But I wish I knew a little more about it, even if only to have a popular pagan example to contrast with all the Christian creationism in my class.) The title was a double-entendre, but a very simple one, taking the figure of speech literally.
I've never been to Sam's Club but I don't really want to support Walmart given what I've heard about their corporate tactics. Actually, I did shop at Walmart once, but I didn't like it, so I'm happy to keep going to the slightly smaller faceless corporations.
What? Are you saying that yoga isn't real Hinduism?
Next thing you know you'll be telling me that feng shui isn't really Daoism but a smart way to sell coffee-table books to a public enamoured with all things Oriental.
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