Having lived in the US for a total of more than 2.5 years, most things here don’t seem strange to me anymore and what might be amazing, irritating, or weird to some newcomers has long become normal to me. However, there is one thing that keeps making me say I miss that from Germany! I’m talking about the quality of groceries. You’d think oranges and tangerines were fantastic here but the oranges at the supermarket are all kind of funky looking with white stuff over them and then they’re partly green and hmpf! The tangerines I bough had a ridiculous amount of seeds in them (think 1-3 per SLICE) and the olives in the glass were partly falling apart like a 3rd grade mushroom in Germany. My baby carrots had some weird portions (not too bad but still) and I don’t have to talk about ham and the like or chocolate, do I?
To be fair, there are some groceries here that are fantastic, like shrimps and beef and most fruits and veggies aren’t too bad. In general though I’d say the quality standards of a lot of German super markets and/or manufacturers are higher (prolly consumer driver).
But who cares about groceries when you can eat out or have TV dinner any day of the week, anyway, right?! (yuk) 😀
Now moving on to face care. Ahhhhhh! Nightmare here! Actually, not fair, it’s only really make-up remover clothes that suck. Spending almost 10$ on them compared to 2Euro in Germany you would expect them to work wonders. Uhm yeah no. Not that great. Same goes for cotton swabs. They practically fall apart here and you’ve got this huge fuzzy thing in your hand after cleaning your ears. Not good! The face cleaner I used in Ireland smells super weird here and is not 100% as effective as the one from there. Hmpf!
One thing I did find to have the same great quality as in Germany though is NIVEA Smooth Sensation Body Lotion but you know, that’s German engineering ;-).
(Just to be fair, there are a lot of items here that I find ok or great or feckin’ brilliant like make-up, my macbook, greeting cards, chex mix, scented candles, ice-cream,…)
11 Comments
I know what you mean about the grocery difference. But I don’t think you have to go further from your own country: I see the difference from my town and Barcelona city. In my town they are better quality, like just taken from the orchard. In Barcelona they look great but taste awful.
P.S: i know now were you are living in hehe 🙂
oh my gosh tell me about make up remover!! the cotton balls are so scratchy, the other day it felt like they put little stones in it. 🙁 hurt so much. i was so mad. now i am scared of those little cotton balls. and dont even get me started on food. ridiculous. and it doesnt even taste good. argh, oh well. come see us soon!!! 🙂 love ya
i know!! i pay 9 dollars for my make up remover pads and that’s the average price for that stuff here. it really doesn’t work that great either. i hear ya.
hehehe..it’s so nice for me to actually read about someone complaining about the US..because i’m constantly complaining about italy 🙂 … as for the groceries..usually the asian markets have the best fruit/produce and the prices are great 🙂 ..as for the make-up stuff…well, i wouldn’t know since i don’t wear any…but i had no idea nivea was german…good stuff 🙂 today i hubby and i had a good complaining session about italian insufficiency…we didn’t receive any mail for 2 weeks!!! and i was sad because i was really looking forward to getting my christmas cards from the states…we tried to call the post…they weren’t picking up so we went down…it took us 45 min to drive 4 km and find parking…hate living in a tourist zone with only one lane road to/from ski resort to city…found out our post person had been sick so no mail delivery! talk about crazy…anyhow, that’s life here…but i was telling hubby i can see oma, opa, SIL & BIL not enjoying visiting cali if/when they do come…i’ll just have to keep them in nature (beach/mountains/desert…anywhere but the city 🙂
Haha, same in England. There were things I hated. Talking about chocolate… its a nightmare they even use the word chocolate for what they sell… 🙂
Do you want me to send you some decent cotton balls and makeup remover?
I hear you. And you definitly don’t have to talk about chocolate. That and bread I miss the most about germany.
i totally agree on the quality of groceries. and you should think, that having for example oranges growing in their own country, that they should have a fantastic quality.
sweets, if u want me to send you some cotton pads or anything else, just let me know which brand you like.
what i also find disgusting are tampons over there. not to speak of bread.
Whole Foods (aka “Whole Paycheck”) has good groceries.
Cotton Swabs: Johnson’s is a good brand — they don’t fall apart.
Bread: Food Coops usually have great bread. (Search in Google for “food coop” plus your city’s name — almost every city has a food coop — they sell mostly organic products.)
Chocolate: Cacao Reserve by Hershey’s is chocolate Made in Germany.
Nothing here in the States comes close to German / European standard. Not to think about the strict regulations in Europe. Just take a look on apples in the store. One bite in it and your mouth is full with wax – doesn’t matter where you go – Haggens, Fred Meyer, Safeway…… Bread? Well the “typical American” bread is a joke. That’s not bread. After three years here in the States I haven’t found anything which I really like. Have to go to the German supermarket oder Trader Joe’s to get “real” food. But fortunately we Europeans don’t have problems to adjust.
Having lived in the States my entire life, and now living in Germany, I have been exposed to both food cultures. The U.S. has an unprecedented amount of food variety and quality, at least where I come from (Northeast). I used to watch a show called Phantom Gourment that airs in Mass. It’s ridiculous how many great restaurants are in the Boston and surrounding areas. Have you ever been to a Roch Bros. supermarket? It’s a bit pricey, but the quality is very high. I do understand and appreciate one’s loyalty to their own culture, especially with respect to food. I’m finding many German foods to be really delicious. But If I’m able to be objective, there’s no comparison with what the U.S. has to offer in the food department.
Let the food debate continue: http://www.toytowngermany.com/lofi/index.php/t85206.html
Hi, may I suggest Cutie California Clementines? Those have no seeds and are sweet. They come in a box, not a net or loose.