Grocery shopping in Germany, for me, is great exercise. Because everything is so much smaller here- I have a little kitchen with not too many cupboards, and the fridge is about half the size of an American one- I have to shop at least twice a week and sometimes more depending on the week. This is great exercise because the closest store is about a half mile away and the big store is about two miles into town. Some mornings I walk to the closer store with Noah after taking the older kids to kindergarten or we go on the bike with the trailer. The great thing about the bike with trailer is I can get more into the trailer and pull it home rather than carry it. When we get to the store, we have to lock up the bikes and our helmets (bike theft is one of the most common crimes here in Gottingen) before we go in to shop. Sometimes, depending on the time of day and Noah’s mood, I will take him into the bakery next door where they always give the kids these little balls of bread called “Kustanien brot” which is shaped and looks like kustaniens (similar to a chestnut but not edible that fall all over in the autumn and kids love to collect and play with them). One thing about grocery shopping that is different here is you have to put a coin into the shopping cart to use it and then you get it back when you return it after shopping. Great thing about this is, the parking lot is not littered with unreturned carts and it helps keep costs down because they don’t have to have employees going in and out to stock the carts throughout the day.
Most of the grocery stores are smaller here in Germany than in the US. The close one I go to the most often is probably about the size of the produce and deli departments of a Fred Meyer (best one for me to think of since I used to work there). The selection is, of course, not extensive but it works for us as a basis for our weekly shopping. One great thing about this store is it is owned by the same company as owns Trader Joes so we get lots of their products. The rest of the selection is most similar to a discount grocery store. There is also a much larger store in town, similar to a Safeway, that I have more recently started going to on a regular basis. Since I got my new bike, it has been much easier to get into town so now I can do some of my shopping there as well. Before, Ken would stop there about once a week for those food items we couldn’t get nearby. It has a much larger selection, various ethnic varieties, and isn’t very expensive- it is the most similar to an American grocery store. There is also another, much larger store, at the mall that is a lot like a Walmart where you can buy food, clothes, housewares, etc. in the same place. I don’t get there very often though because I can get what I need other places and for me, it is so easy to buy more than I need when it is available. When I used to work at Fred Meyers, I know I purchased more than I needed because it was there and convenient even though unnecessary.
The other reason I say grocery shopping is good exercise here is because you have to do everything yourself, other than ring it up. You load it all onto the conveyor belt yourself and then into your bags. They are pretty fast, since they don’t have to put it into your bags, so I have to move quickly too. Now I know how much physical work it is to be a cashier at a grocery store. The other major difference in any shopping here in Germany is the lack of credit cards. Very few stores, pretty much only the large department stores, will take credit cards. Everywhere else is paid primarily in cash or with an EC card, the German equivalent of a debit card. The good thing about this is, we don’t buy more than we actually have the money for, something we had been working really hard to learn in the States. Now we have no choice but to live within our budget and we are much happier this way. After all this, I load it into the stroller or bike trailer and pull it home, which has added about 20 more pounds to my load. I really love that just in my everyday life, something as simple as grocery shopping has added extra exercise. Of course, it’s not as easy as just jumping in the car and driving for a few minutes when you need something but that has the added benefit of making me evaluate whether I really need that item and saves me money if I decide I don’t.
My mom said it felt very strange to go back to the States and shop in a large store after being here for a month to visit this summer. I can imagine after doing it for three plus years, it will seem even stranger to me. I can’t even believe I would ever buy more than one gallon of milk at a time, a whole gallon seems huge to me now. I also buy flour in bags about a quarter of the size I used to, everything is in smaller portions so I guess all shopping will seem strange to me. I do miss the relaxing days of shopping I used to do with my family and look forward to maybe doing a little bit of that with my mom when she is here at Christmas.