Grocery shopping in Europe. Or: "Reason #54 why I should have learned French"

Before this trip, I had only ever been outside the country once and that was to visit Canada with my family. And I was seven. 

I'm using that as my excuse for why I have absolutely no idea what any European customs are. None. And this lead to a few embarrassing moments, particularly at the grocery store. SO! I'mma go ahead and leave a little guide here for any first time Belgian shoppers. 

1. Stores do not provide bags for you. 

Right?! I was absolutely unprepared for this. The first time I went to pick up some items from an express supermarket they just unceremoniously pushed my items (a wine bottle corkscrew thing and some croissants) towards me. I then had to tuck all the croissants under one arm and carry the corkscrew in my hand as I wandered home. I don't know why they don't have bags. You just have to deal with it. And learn the phrase "je voudrais un sac."

2. Stores will not bag your groceries

There is no faster way to feel like a rude, presumptuous American than to stand and stare at a cashier for a full 2 minutes before you realize that they are not going to pack your bags for you, and you need to do it yourself. (You also need to provide the bags. Please refer to Rule #1.)

3. Many European credit cards have special chips in them. American cards do not. 

This means that the cashiers make you sign the receipt. Every. Single. Time. Debit, credit, under $25, always. Don't be that girl (me) that holds up the self check-out for a million years because they need to find someone authorized to check your receipt. 

4. You often need to weigh your fruits and veggies ahead of time. 

Also don't be that girl (me) who doesn't weigh her produce and gets to self-checkout and has to put everything back/ lie about what's in her cart so that she can just get out of there already because she's already holding people up with the credit card thing and HOW DID THE LINE GET SO LONG BEHIND ME?!?! Christ. 

5. More often than not, Cashiers are asking a question that you should just say "yes" to. 

So many times I've had to ask cashiers to repeat themselves in English only to find out that they were saying things like, "Is that all?", "Receipt in the bag?", "Have a good weekend!", or "Ma'am please stop hyperventilating, we're fixing the produce and credit card problems."

If they say it under their breath, if they are obviously not even paying attention to what they're saying, or if it sounds like something they've said a thousand times... Just smile and nod.

Alright. I think that's enough to get by on. Peace out girl scouts. 

Better late than never

First of all, sorry that the name of my blog is also the name of this blog entry. I don't know how to fix it/ I can't be bothered to click a few buttons and look. Later, later.

So I'm currently also writing another blog which is published on the school website. I thought I would just be able to share it with everyone... but it turns out that it is SUPER boring because it has to be very PG. Thus, I'm writing this new one. I'm going to now attempt summarize the last week in one entry. And I think we all know what that means: Bullet points!!

First two days of Belgium

• Accidently walked through red light district to get to my hostel. 
• Got a Belgian waffle and oh my lordy it was more than I had ever dreamed and more. I will never go back to funnel cakes. 
• Toured the European Commission & European Parliament. It was interesting to me but probably no one else so I'm not writing about it. If you feel an overwhelming urge to hear about the Lisbon Treaty and the economic ramifications of the euro zone, we can talk later.  
• Toured downtown Brussels and saw awesome murals all over. A-like so:

Two days in Luxembourg:

• Embarrassed constantly by small children who speak 4+ languages more than me. 
• Flicked off by two old men who were mad that we were standing in their way. (separeate occasions)
• Food poisoning in McDonalds. EVERYONE BOYCOTT LUXEMBOURG MCDONALDS WHENEVER POSSIBLE. Their manager is rude. 
• Went out for 21st birthday at a dive bar. An old man with about 5 teeth let his dog roam free in the bar. It was awesome. 
• Saw Harry Potter TWO DAYS before anyone else. Hi, I'm kind of a big deal. The only downside? It was subtitled with Dutch and French so the words took up half the screen.
• Observed a head shop in Luxembourg in which they were ACTIVELY growing pot. I don't know if they were selling it... we were too scared to go inside. This was in the middle of a shopping mall:

While we collectively gasped and clutched at our pearls, the Luxembourgians looked at us like we were waaay too uptight.

fin.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go wash my underwear in the sink. The nearest laundromat is 20 blocks away and I'm hitting sheer desperados.