Getting to know our neighborhood

The next day we learned to food shop. In Belgium, to avoid having shopping carts stolen, you are required to put a 2 Euro coin into the handle of the shopping cart, which then releases it from the chain of other carts so that you can use it. When you return the cart and hook it to the chain of carts, the coin pops out. It is brilliant because 2 euros is equal to about $2.50 dollars so everyone brings the carts back so they aren’t stolen. It must save the food company millions!

You are also required to bring your own bags or you must pay for them and then you bag your own food. You are also required to weigh all of your own produce and use this clever scale that has buttons with pictures of produce on them. When you push the button, it then prints the price tag out. So in the end, the checkers just sit in chairs, scan your food and take your money. It seems to be a much easier job than in the US where they have to remember all the produce codes.

One more very different thing is that most all milk is “long shelf life milk” which means that it has been irradiated and is in these sealed cartons and kept at room temperature. The taste isn’t all that great so we’ve found a source for fresh milk. And then of course there is reading labels that are all in French. We’ve somehow managed to only buy a few strange things accidentally.

Here is a picture of downtown Braine-L'Alleud. It is a quaint town with cobblestone streets and a fun main square where every Sunday there is a outdoor market.



We feel quite proud of ourselves because after being here for one week we have hot water, electricity, phone, voice mail, DSL, UK cable TV and a gardener. I’ve also managed to get a pair of eye glasses repaired, joined the American Women’s club and signed up for a class. In another country, we might have gotten all of that done in one day but not knowing the language, everything takes longer. We sit and review our successes at the end of each day over a wonderful glass of French wine.