Is it really THAT different to the US??

Yeah, I don't have one around me. Maybe when I move to Glasgow!

Yes!  When you get to Glasgow, the Sainsburys near Drumchapel and the Sainsburys at Braehead both have albacore tuna in water.  The Sainsburys in Crow Road does not.

There is a Waitrose in Byres Road, but I've not been impressed by it, so have only been in once.  There is a huge Waitrose (newly built, i believe) out of town, at Newton Mearns. 

Each supermarket in the States is set up differently too, so I think its just a matter of getting used to the local store you use.

As for eggs in or out of the fridge, I have to laugh. Hubby the UKC was here from September by himself till we got here in March. One of the first things I noticed was that his eggs were in the fridge. I guess being in America for 3.5 years converted him in more ways than one. I'm hopefully going to convert him back to keeping them in the cupboard.

We keep eggs in the fridge, mainly for convenience. It's just that once they have been refrigerated they have to be kept there - which is why supermarkets don't do it.
My parents had a walk in pantry and used to keep them there.

Paper towels and toilet roll should be in the same aisle.
Gravy shouldnt be stocked in the frozen food department and yet ice cream toppings be stored in the baked goods aisle..

Depends where you go....in our Morrison's paper towels and toilet roll are in the same aisle, gravy is near cooking oils and baking goods and I've no idea where ice cream toppings are!

 I must admit I don't 'get' salad cream - it tastes like, nothing.  

Horses for courses.....DW loves it!

I had to laugh on Saturday. Daughter needs to ingredients for ginger bread for a project at school. Now, I don't do a lot of baking (I HATE IT). So, in Morrisons on Saturday....find the flour, find the baking soda, all the assorted baking stuff is right there on one aisle but for...SUGAR. So I looked at hubby and said, where the hell do they keep the sugar??? Do you not use sugar to bake here??? So then I thought, oh wait, maybe over near the coffee one aisle over? Nope.  Now, I'm just getting annoyed because the store was packed with screaming children and parents who obviously could care less that the rest of us were getting headaches...and I just wanted the bloody sugar so I could get out of there. Finally, in this small alcove in the back of the store, where all the custards, jellies, meringues and such I find...sugar. Of course, its so obvious it would be there.

I always think that has to do with where you live in either place. Being from NH and moving to the little village I'm in here, I find both places similar. Its just a bit more flat here and a lot fewer trees as we have lots of farmland and fields which are nice too.

True and good point..I was in Dallas and Houston.
When someone says it is a long drive or too far away, I just laugh in my head, remembering hours spent in gridlock just to travel a few miles.

Things that make me nostalgic for GB:

1. The signature tune from Antiques Roadshow (the "real" AR) always takes me back to Sunday afternoon tea with the family

2. The sound of the "dawn chorus" -- British birds are a lot more melodic than the ones here

That's really odd. All 3 supermarkets in my town keep the sugar with baking stuff.

Sugar with baking stuff here too!

Yeah that's why I was so confused. Creme of tartar, baking soda, flour, baking powder, etc, all grouped together...but the sugar was no where near it.

LOL.... sugar is with the coffee and tea in my local Sainsbury's.
I'd challenge anyone unfamiliar with the shop to try to find the ice-cream toppings... they're next to the breakfast cereals! 

At the big shops in Edinburgh that I went to (ones near Ikea and Murrayfield), the sugar and other sweeteners weren't in the baking section, but near the coffee and tea. I never really bake or use sugar, but it did confuse me the first time I went looking for sugar. The smaller shops have the sugar near the flour and other baking items, though.

I miss the organisation of British grocery stores, though. I'm in Canada now, and nothing is neatly organised. You'll have Thai, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, and other "ethnic foods" spread throughout the store in no particular order. You'll have to go all over the store just to get chutney, taco seasoning, coconut milk and curry paste. I even found that soy sauce and teriyaki sauce are often not even in the same aisle, nor are the popadums and chutney. So frustrating!

Things that make me nostalgic for GB:


2. The sound of the "dawn chorus" -- British birds are a lot more melodic than the ones here

I have to laugh at this because while I agree, I curse them every morning because they wake me up (too early) and then I have a hard time falling back asleep because I get distracted by the chirping. It's strange because in MA, my house was surrounded by woods and I only ever heard what sounded like one bird in the morning, but here (Telford), in the absence of woods, I hear a ton of birds.

I have to laugh at this because while I agree, I curse them every morning because they wake me up (too early) and then I have a hard time falling back asleep because I get distracted by the chirping. It's strange because in MA, my house was surrounded by woods and I only ever heard what sounded like one bird in the morning, but here (Telford), in the absence of woods, I hear a ton of birds.

Well, the MA birds wake me up before first light -- so you can't win on that score! At least the British ones sound nicer than the squawking and cawing I get!

Well, the MA birds wake me up before first light -- so you can't win on that score! At least the British ones sound nicer than the squawking and cawing I get!

 

I'm sorry you have squawkers!