One thing about moving to a foreign country, is that you underestimate the convenience of being able to simply go out and buy the things you need when you run out. For example, just today, August 16th, I finally managed to find Listerine. Without any Walmarts or Shoppers Drugmarts available, or any Pharmacy's or grocery stores carrying it, where do you go? Sure the local European version of Dollarstore carried some foreign liquid that resembled mouthwash (with no seal on the cap), and the Turquish cheap street, Bourbonne carried some similar mouthwash resembling liquid with no seal, but no actual mouthwash.
One of the main problems is that in North America, we've gotten used to being able to go to these superstore chains that carry everything we need. We simply have to drive to the nearest one (you can Google it, use Directory Assistance, or even use the map on your cell phone), and buy everything you need. Here it is quite different. There is a particular store for everything you need. And most of the time, it isn't a chain store, but rather a locally owned business. If it is a chain store, its most likely the only one in your area of the city, or in the country even. For instance, on the block around my apartment, there is a printer ink cartridge store, a butcher shop, a baker, a produce shop, a key cutter, a stationary store, a bookstore, a Pharmacy (that only caters to medical needs), etc. So for someone new to the area, setting out to find something simple that you need can be quite the adventure. Most of the time, you end up stumbling across the store that carries what you need by total accident and just have to go in and buy it right then, like today.
If you go to a mall or the city center you can usually manage to find some department stores like we have in North America. The biggest (and to my knowledge the only) mall in Brussels is City 2, which takes up 2 blocks and 4 levels. In this mall today (which is the 3rd time that I'Ve been to it) I managed to find the European equivalent to Futureshop (Fnac)(hidden on a floor I didn't know existed), the European equilvalent to The Bay (Gallerie Inno), and the European equivalent of a mini Shoppers (minus many things, obviously including the grocery, household and drug sections)(Di).
Grocery shopping is a whole other story. There are no Sobeys, Safeway, or Superstore sized grocery stores anywhere in all of Belgium (probably even Europe). To my knowledge, there are 2 superstore sized grocery stores in Brussels (which are actually probably close to the size of Sobeys in Saskatoon), and they are at opposite ends of the city, near the extremities. There are a handful of medium sized grocers, which are about the size of the Co-op Foods in Redvers, and a bunch of little stores, which are about the size of your average 7Eleven. I actually came across a medium sized store today (also in the giant mall), and yes it is much bigger than the small stores, but it has a few isles that we don't have in Canada. For example, every single Belgian grocery store, even the smallest one, has a Chocolates section. This medium sized store had an entire isle devoted to Chocolates. Every grocery store, including the tiny one near-ish our place, also has a fair sized liquor, beer and wine section. This grocery store also had an entire isle devoted to wine. Finding a breakfast cereal here was also different. Unlike in Canada where the giant cereal isle is split into 2 sections, healthy and sugary, here there is only one. Healthy with chocolate. That's right, almost every single cereal comes with chocolate in it. Chocolate is an integral part of breakfast here.
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