Conquering Boots, Morrison's, Pounds, and the Bus

Or, How I Accidentally Committed Petty Theft

My adventures in culture shock continued later today (surprise). After eating out for breakfast, I knew that I had to stock up on some groceries and other supplies before I turned in for the day. After breakfast, I went to some welcome talks and picked up my ID card. It was late afternoon by the time I was finished, but I needed to go shopping and the city center is only a 10 minute walk from the University. 

I went to a sort of mall, where I stopped at Boots drugstore. This was very similar to Walgreens or CVS. It stocked basic drugstore items, and even a few American brands, but standing there, as the stark florescent lighting reflected off the white linoleum floors, looking at the shelves stocked with brands that I didn’t recognize, the words of a well-meaning acquaintances floated into my head “They may speak English, but remember, it’s still a foreign country”. Those words had never rung so true until that moment, as I was forced to buy Sensodyne toothpaste since the shelves lacked Crest, and then I desperately searched for Band Aids, but found only unfamiliar brands of bandages offered for seemingly too much money. “Surely they must sell packs with more than 40 Q-Tips?!” I said to myself, as I looked at the outrageous price of £2.89. 

I left Boots, with 2/3 of what I had on my list at twice what I thought I’d spend. I made my way next door to Morrison’s, one of the supermarket chains in Leeds. As soon as I stepped in, I knew I was in for chaotic experience. The ceilings were low, not those high warehouse ceilings found in American grocery stores, which meant that the noise of carts rolling, intercom calls for price checks, the beeping of check out scanners, and the general conversation, turned into a wince-inducing din. I already had one bag to lug around, so I went to get a rolling cart. I found them chained together with a coin machine, asking me to insert a £1 coin to rent the cart. Not only did I not have a coin, but I also didn’t want to waste any of my precious money on renting a shopping cart, so I decided to go with one of the handheld baskets. I threw my Boots bag in the basket and began adding vegetables and breads, etc as I went along. The basket filled up quickly and became rather weighty. My biceps were already shot from dragging my luggage up 4 flights of stairs yesterday, so I ended up having to take rests every aisle or so (woefully out of shape, I know). 

I ended up with some veggies and fruits, some bread, butter, cream, cheese, eggs, and spices. I also got some aero chocolate, since it looked interesting. I had to wander up and down the aisles looking for eggs, eventually asking an employee, who mumbled the name so softly and gruffly that I just nodded and wander in the direction he pointed until I found them. Apparently in England, eggs are stored on regular store shelves, which is interesting and slightly worrisome. Needless to say, I’m still going to keep them in the fridge. By the time I went to buy my spices, my basket was overflowing and I was reaching muscle failure. I threw in some jars of salt, pepper, cinnamon, and garlic powder (I couldn’t for the life of me find actual garlic cloves). I went to check out, placed all my items on the belt, and found that I had to bag everything myself. I paid, it ended up being only about £15, not bad! 

I realized that there was no way I would make it the whole 30 minute walk back to my dorm, so I had to take the bus. I checked the bus time and stop on Google maps, and headed out. I had a little trouble finding the stop, and I was so frazzled I couldn’t even remember what bus number I was supposed to take. I ended up walking down a few blocks and back a few blocks, resting every so often. I had crossed the street and was outside the Morrison’s wifi area, and since I don’t have a UK SIM yet, I couldn’t check where I needed to be on Google. I sat on some steps to a church with 6 bags of groceries, looking like a crazy person, for a while, trying to figure out what to do. I ended up walking in the direction I lived, hoping that I would see a stop that would take me where I needed to go.

As luck would have, I found a stop! It was also full of students with grocery bags, so that was a good clue. Getting on the bus was a whole different adventure. I stepped up and had to ask the driver if the bus was going near my dorm, but all I could remember were the cross streets. When she asked where I was going, all I could say was that I was going to the stop nearest those cross streets. I went to pay, and the fare was £2, which isn’t bad! I had gotten some coins as change at Morrison’s so I pulled those out and was frantically trying to set down my groceries, search for the coins in my bag, and decipher which was the £2 coin. The kindly bus driver helped me out as I held out a palm full of coins (the money here is lovely and colorful, but there are far too many coin denominations, and I still have no idea what a quid is…). 

And that's not even all the coins...

I ended up having to stand on the bus, but I made it back to my dorm (which is at the top of a hill), and up 4 flights of stairs. It wasn’t until I went to make dinner, that I realized how little I had bought. Stocking a usable kitchen is difficult. On top of that, I hadn’t bought any tupperware, so I couldn’t make anything that would yield leftovers. I settled on scrambled eggs. As I was unpacking my groceries, I realized that I couldn’t find my pepper. I figured I must have left it unbagged at the store in my haste and briefly mourned its loss. However, after I got back to my room and unpacked my bag from Boots, what do I find, but my jar of pepper. Somehow, while everything was in the basket, it must have rolled into my Boots bag—I checked my receipt and sure enough, it wasn’t on there. Whoops. 

I’ve always loved heist and con movies, wishing I could be like the suave con men who commit daring, yet elegant crimes. I guess having lifted spices in a foreign country (allegedly) will have to satiate that craving. 

There were some high points to my day, however. I met 2 girls from my floor, one from Sweden, and one from Australia, and a guy from Germany. We talked about classes and ate dinner together, and discussed what our home countries were like. Shoutout to Ethan, you’ll love this: the girl from Australia told us about how her tiny dog likes to bark at kangaroos, which apparently come rather close to houses there! Right up into your yard sometimes, and are completely fearless of humans. Amusing, yet terrifying.