Strange things you're not used to

[germangel 0]

oh forgot...

Refills....co-signing on what's been said already

Pancakes/pancake mix.....where I'm from pancakes are big thin and you cover them with chocolate spread, sugar, ice cream or jam. Certainly not butter and syrup, and what's with throwing fruit in there?? And whatever happened to flower, eggs and milk. Leave it to americans to make pancakes from a box.

The Pancakes....yes yes yes....here they call them Crepes although they aren't the traditional crepes, more like our Pancakes.

Now I want pancakes...not the American kind...

[TBoneTX 43,543]

one thing that bugs me is that in every store I am a different size. Some stores really vanity size and I'm like a 3. Others I'm a 6. Especially pants I cannot buy without trying them on first.

Back in the 1960s & earlier 1970s, one could count on consistency in clothing-sizes in the U.S., but not since then. I too must try on everything before I buy it. This is very likely because clothing is made in and imported from countries all around the world, where concepts of "sizes" differ. When I visit border towns in Mexico (which cater to American tourists) and want to buy a T-shirt, I now know to buy the larger size "up" from usual (no matter for whom I'm shopping) -- XL instead of L, for example. Therefore, just about all that we can do is to view the labeled sizes as a guide, and work from that point. This principle applies even to shoes!

[Jeraly 4]

On a visit to Ojinaga, Mexico (cool city, across from Presidio, Texas -- try to find it on the map), and without knowing a word of Spanish except for the crucially necessary "pollo," I managed to order and subsequently eat (in one sitting) a pollo entero (an entire roasted chicken) at Pollo Feliz. Question: Why is the restaurant named "Happy Chicken" if all of the chickens there are dead and are eaten, huh man? This quandary notwithstanding, it's said that each of us has 15 minutes of fame, and that was my 18 or 20 minutes thereof, si man.

Well what about El Pollo Loco? I mean - is it the poultry version of Mad Cow Disease???

[Az Parris 0]

Well what about El Pollo Loco? I mean - is it the poultry version of Mad Cow Disease???

I think it means "The Crazy Chicken".

We have a local chain restaurant here by that name.

[Jeraly 4]

Well what about El Pollo Loco? I mean - is it the poultry version of Mad Cow Disease???

I think it means "The Crazy Chicken".

We have a local chain restaurant here by that name.

That's what I was getting at...

[TBoneTX 43,543]

I would rather eat a happy chicken than a crazy one, although whether they're happy vs. crazy after they're dead is open to conjecture.

I believe that in Nuevo Laredo (Mexico), I saw a pollo restaurant called "Pollo Loco."

Here's a crucial question for our newcomers: Of the various fried-chicken chain restaurants here in the Colonies, which is your favo(u)rite, and why? Which is your least favo(u)rite? Examples are: KFC, Hartz, Church's, Popeye's. There may be other regional chains. Si, man?

[Marilyn. 340]

El Polo Loco FTW!!

KFC is teh suck

[Jeraly 4]

Never tried El Pollo Loco actually Kinda like Church's But right now I am a Wendy's person cause I love their salads

[Marilyn. 340]

Never tried El Pollo Loco actually Kinda like Church's But right now I am a Wendy's person cause I love their salads

El Polo Loco is great.. every time we go the chicken is soo good.. and I love their mac and cheese...

although El Polo Loco is not really fried chicken it is marinated and then grilled... mmm yum..

Edited August 17, 2008 by *Marilyn*

[trinket 30]

I am not yet in US but there are a few things which I observe talking to my husband and I find it weird.

You can get apartments which includes all utility paid! some even give free cable and internet! I was actually shocked knowing it, because out here in India when we rent out our apartments, the tenants have to pay their water and electricity and all the bills. I guess water and electricity charges are way low in US.

Another thing I find weird, may be its just my husband and not everyone, he buys all his week's groceries at one go, even the vegetables. I don't really enjoy to thaw veggies before making it(took him 2 hours once to thaw a cauliflower), and out here in India, we do every day shopping at evening, go to veggie market and buy next day's vegetables. So that freshness is a factor I will have to encounter.

[TBoneTX 43,543]

You can get apartments which includes all utility paid! some even give free cable and internet! I was actually shocked knowing it, because out here in India when we rent out our apartments, the tenants have to pay their water and electricity and all the bills. I guess water and electricity charges are way low in US.

In my experience (lifelong American), apartments that offered "all utilities paid" were more common perhaps 15 years ago than they are now. In Houston, where I live, there are very few such now. This is likely a function of supply and demand -- if vacancy rates are high, apartments will offer incentives to attract potential renters; if occupancy rates are high, there is no need for special incentives. Water charges (at least in my area) are reasonable, but electricity is terribly high. My electric bill this month for my 3-bedroom house was $224 -- oof! It was over $300 each of the last two months. Of course, the summer temperatures here have been rather steady at 95+ F. (35+ C.).

Another thing I find weird, may be its just my husband and not everyone, he buys all his week's groceries at one go, even the vegetables. I don't really enjoy to thaw veggies before making it(took him 2 hours once to thaw a cauliflower), and out here in India, we do every day shopping at evening, go to veggie market and buy next day's vegetables. So that freshness is a factor I will have to encounter.

It is quite reasonable that you would notice these differences. In my experiences outside the U.S. -- mostly in Mexico and Ecuador -- I have observed many more "specialty" stores (selling a particular, finite range of products) and fewer "hypermarkets" (large stores where you can buy everything from groceries to appliances to clothing to whatever). Examples of such large retailers in the U.S. are Wal-Mart, Super Target, and Super KMart.

I consider it a shame that there are so few "family" stores remaining in the U.S., in comparison with the rest of the world. There were more in past years (the 1960s and earlier). The concept of "mass retailing" -- offering many consumer items in one store, and in a chain of such stores around a city or the country -- combined with the economic principle of "economies of scale" -- meaning the more items that a store can buy from its suppliers, the cheaper the cost -- probably led to the slow demise of family-owned stores. When there is a story in our local newspaper about another family store going out of business, it is not uncommon to read this quote: "Wal-Mart (or Home Depot, or other big business) can sell products at retail for lower cost than we can purchase those products from our suppliers." It is sad, but true. I have NO training in economics, so others here can comment more meaningfully.

This is a roundabout explanation for why your husband (in typical American fashion) likely buys everything on one trip: because he can, because it's convenient, and because it's cheaper than shopping at several stores more often, unless there's good reason otherwise. Add to this the reality that Americans are always in a hurry, and the high gas (petrol) prices that discourage stopping at one store for one thing and another store for other things, and we can see the reasoning.

Regarding the vegetables, I can only conjecture that due to storage and preservation standards in U.S. stores, vegetables stay fresher longer than they might in other countries. I have never frozen fresh vegetables or even heard of that practice (I am a guy who has been single for a LONG time), so again, others can comment more meaningfully. I do know that proper refrigeration (versus freezing) will maintain the freshness of vegetables for a reasonable time.

You have asked some very good questions, and I hope that the above answers help a little. Please be encouraged to ask anything else.

[Krikit 1,163]

This isn't really "strange" but more of a "Hey, that's awesome." The grocery stores provide sanitary wipes at the entrance so you can wipe your cart of any germs on the handle. Now I get perturbed when the container is empty.

They also provide umbrella bags so you don't have your wet umbrella dripping all over the place.

[Reba 2]

Americans mostly do all their shopping in one huge go, because the markets aren't on every corner like they seem to be in most other countries. Its not as convenient to do shopping every evening on the way home from work. In the town where I live, everything is soooooooooo spread out its just crazy. The bank is on one side of town, the drug-store over there, and the grocery over there and so on and so on. Any neighbourhood I've lived in in Ontario, everything is all pretty much in one spot, grocery, drug-store, bank (at least a machine), and other shops. The way the town is set up here, is incredibly in-convenient, we have to drive all over the place just to get our weekly errands done. Its one of the major things that bugs me here.

Older, larger cities in the US are different of course, and set up with more of everything all together and within convenient reach of each other. But it seems newer towns and cities just kinda plop #### down wherever it lands and don't think about it, so that everyone is entirely dependent on their cars.

[Jeraly 4]

This isn't really "strange" but more of a "Hey, that's awesome." The grocery stores provide sanitary wipes at the entrance so you can wipe your cart of any germs on the handle. Now I get perturbed when the container is empty.

They also provide umbrella bags so you don't have your wet umbrella dripping all over the place.

Well I have never seen the umbrella bags but then I am in Palm Springs so very rarely see umbrellas either!!

The wipes are awesome though - I don't care about wiping the cart cause Jeremy pushes it but it is nice to clean your hands and cool them off from the 110+ heat

[TBoneTX 43,543]

The grocery stores provide sanitary wipes at the entrance so you can wipe your cart of any germs on the handle. They also provide umbrella bags so you don't have your wet umbrella dripping all over the place.

But, U.S. grocery stores don't sell moose brisket or deep-sea elk, proving yet again why Canadia (or whatever your country is called -- I draw a blank except for a dim recollection that it's like an Arctic western Kansas) is superio(u)r to the U.S., si man, eh. :lol:

P.S. Years ago, I had a Canadian girlfriend, so I have a lot of good-natured cheap shots to share, si man, eh.

Edited August 18, 2008 by TBoneTX