I love food. I enjoy eating tasty things that I believe are also good for me.
I hate waste. I don’t like spending oodles of money.
I like trying new foods, but I get confused looking at packages and not being able to decipher their contents.
After scrounging out of cans on Monday night (Jon said the tastes reminded him of his childhood in Iowa. Do you remember when fresh food was rarely available and we liked canned peas?), I walked through my fears and into Migros, the grocery store we were told has the lower prices. Thus our dinner tonight looked more like what we are used to. Yet it did not live up to my taste expectations: the rice was pasty, the tomatoes flavorless, even the organic carrots were remarkably lackluster. At least the “Pouletpaprika” (chicken legs seasoned with paprika) was a lively entertainer.
It was still fun: the shop is small and tightly packed, the clerks tolerant of my faux pas, and I did finally find the “Erdnusse” Jon wanted for our bike ride this weekend.
In fact overall the theme today seemed to be: do what you must and the Swiss will help you through it. The Migros checkout clerk, Sylvia at the Gumligen train station, and Susanne who handled our “inhabitant registration” at the town hall were all gracious and friendly, as well as Swiss-efficient, leading us through what we required.