Shopping!

The next day, the majority of the exchange students (including me, myself and I) made a trip into Wiener Neustadt to do a little shopping for some necessary items. Victoria, a local student from Wiener Neustadt, was nice enough to take us into the city and show us around a bit. We registered at the City Hall, got SIM cards for our phones, and stopped for our first Austrian coffee at a small cafe. Actually, I can't even say that it was my first Austrian coffee because I ordered a Chai Tea Lattee! (Silly me!) Victoria taught us a few phrases in German such as "Kan ich ein photo mochten?" (Can you make a photo?) and "Zahlen, bitte" (Check, please) since in Europe, the waiters and waitresses will not give you the check until you ask for it. After relaxing for awhile, several of the girls from Mexico, Olivia from Canada, Anja from Slovenia, and I went to KIKA, a small shopping mall, to buy things like towels, cups, plates, and cleaning supplies. When asking where we might find some cheap cups and mugs, I said "koche" (kitchen in German) as I gestured to the bowl that I was holding in one hand. Little did I know that this small mall had actual kitchens for sale...and that's where we ended up! With our arms already full, we went next to get some groceries at Hofer, the equivalent of ALDI in the United States. Grocery shopping has been one of the hardest things for me to adjust to. This just goes to show how much of a visual learner I actually am. First of all, everything just looks different. For example, the milk ("milch") does not come in plastic gallon containers but instead in 1 Liter paper cartons. Also, the water bottles look like water bottles for giants. The bottles do not resemble the liters of pop that are purchased so frequently in the United States. In fact, I have not seen these liters of pop anywhere. Instead, the liters of liquids (from water (vassar) to juice (saft)) have a totally unique and distinctive shape. You just have to see one for yourself...maybe I will remember to post a picture on here sometime. In addition to the differences in packaging, there are just so many different terms for foods. For example, you do not realize how many different variations of eggs, meats, and cheeses there actually are until you are trying to decide which one you want in a completely foreign language. I ended up buying lots of apples (apfels), eggs, (eis), cheese (kase), zucchini (same in English & German!), mushrooms (pilz), and sausage (wurst). I bought a nice White Wine (made in Borgenland) called Flat Lake Silver. Although the grocery store is in walking distance (15 minutes or so) from the dormitories, we decided that we were so weighed down that we needed to to call for a taxi. Luckily everything fit!