Differences

Friday 17 August 2012

Whenever we travel home, we stock up on a few items.  When living in Gabon, the list was HUGE and it consisted of everything from spices to salad dressing to q-tips and clothing because most of those things were completely inaccessible within Gabon.  In Norway, the situation isn't quite so dire but we still like to bring a few comfort items.

I hoard these items, especially food.  I'll bring in a box of my favourite granola bars and they'll last close to a year.  I treat Shake n' Bake nights like a 5 star meal because those boxes took up precious space and weight in my suitcase on my one trip home.  As the items start to dwindle down, I get even worse.  I've been known to hang on to less than half an ounce of vanilla Starbucks syrup 'just in case.'

Joe and I clearly have different opinions on said special food items.  He rips into his like the world is ending and he doesn't want to leave anything behind.  This last trip, I brought him 3 packs of RealFruits and they're half gone less than a week later and if I didn't hide them last night, they'd already be gone.  (Yes, you read that correctly - I hide the treats in order to preserve them.  It drives Joe nuts.)

He doesn't really 'get' my strategy so I explained it as follows:

One day, you'll be having a really terrible day.  Everything will be going wrong, you'll be grumpy and frustrated and hungry.  You'll scour the cupboards looking for something to ease the pain when all of a sudden you remember, "Eff yah! I have RealFruits" and your day will get better.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Have a great weekend!


4 comments:

  1. oh my God - KRAFT MAC&CHEESE. that's my expat must-have. you can get it in England, but it's sooooo expensive, so I always pack a few boxes of that plus some Goldfish (yum!) and then I don't get as homesick :)

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  2. Fuzzy peaches....pop tarts....Reece's cereal...
    I totally get both your perspectives and do something in between. However, you're right, there is absolutely nothing better than having a crap day and realizing you have some treats from home still left over!
    Every time I fly home, I come back with 2 suitcases, one of which is almost entirely food! The Aus customs people just laugh at me when I give them my declaration card!

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  3. You can get Real Fruits in Malta!

    Mike's thing is KD (Kraft Dinner or Kraft Mac and Cheese if you're American). We got a great tip from a fellow expat to ditch the macaroni and just fill our suitcase with the cheese packets - saves lots of room!

    My food imports are Miracle Whip (no such thing in Malta and I hate eggy mayonnaise), popcorn seasoning (we sneak it into the movie theatre), and of course big jugs of maple syrup (I swear the stuff here is watered down).

    And I ration them too :)

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  4. ^ Yes, maple syrup, omg. I'm unfortunately in the 'eat it like the world is ending' camp, but I'm working on strengthening my willpower. So nice when your favorite food's still around!

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