Just tell me it will get better
#32
Re: Just tell me it will get better
Innit! Can anyone say "Hovis"? Or even "Kingsmill", I wouldn't mind. I got so desperate for some proper bread a couple of months ago, I asked my mum if she would ships some over, lol!! She said "It would go off before it got there, if they even let it through customs!" I forgot that bread there is perishable, unlike the weird stuff we get here. I think the loaf we have got in the fridge will outlive me.
Mmmmm.... Tesco hedgehog loaf, freshly baked, all warm and soft with Anchor butter.... ::: Drool::::
#33
Re: Just tell me it will get better
As for the bread, make your own. The rants, deservedly true, by my British counterparts here on the forums, got me to buy a bread machine and make my own. I have not purchased anything but Italian bread from a store in the last month. Unless you have a bakery nearby I would make my own if I were you.
Welcome to a different world. Takes time and patience and a lot of swallowing your disappointment to adapt yourself to your new environment.
#34
Re: Just tell me it will get better
well i must be one of the odd ones as ive been here only 5-6 months and feel right at home. (or maybe Ohio isnt that much of a leap!)
As to bread - I quickly learnt that most plastic bagged square stuff tastes like rubbish. I started to try the supermarket baked selection and found a sour dough one thats not sour tasting but makes good toast.
sounds weird - but write down the ones you have tried so you can remember and just work your way through the brands/types til something resonantes. A lot of people have recomended to me bread made at their 'local' independant bakery (often Italian or french owned). Have a poke round your neighbourhood and see if you have and bakeries like that and try theirs.
As to bread - I quickly learnt that most plastic bagged square stuff tastes like rubbish. I started to try the supermarket baked selection and found a sour dough one thats not sour tasting but makes good toast.
sounds weird - but write down the ones you have tried so you can remember and just work your way through the brands/types til something resonantes. A lot of people have recomended to me bread made at their 'local' independant bakery (often Italian or french owned). Have a poke round your neighbourhood and see if you have and bakeries like that and try theirs.
#35
Re: Just tell me it will get better
Hello everyone
I've just moved from London to San Francisco with my American husband and 16 month old son.
Unlike seemingly everyone else in the universe, I don't think that San Francisco is great. I'm constantly being disappointed by facilities, customer service, the unfriendliness of people and don't get me started on the public transport.
I've only been here three weeks and I know it will get better if I ever manage to make any friends. Just tell me that I won't hate it here forever. Or tell me that it never gets any better and I'll start divorce proceedings now.
I'm also desperate for a cheese sandwich - what's wrong with the bread here?
Clare
I've just moved from London to San Francisco with my American husband and 16 month old son.
Unlike seemingly everyone else in the universe, I don't think that San Francisco is great. I'm constantly being disappointed by facilities, customer service, the unfriendliness of people and don't get me started on the public transport.
I've only been here three weeks and I know it will get better if I ever manage to make any friends. Just tell me that I won't hate it here forever. Or tell me that it never gets any better and I'll start divorce proceedings now.
I'm also desperate for a cheese sandwich - what's wrong with the bread here?
Clare
Hi There
Sorry to hear that you are not too pleased with San Francisco I love the place having said that I would not want to live there its nice for a business trip or a night out but it will take more then 3 weeks to get used to.
Try www.molliestones.com for you bread and extra treats or www.wholefoods.com
bread here takes some getting used to and when I go back to the UK now I find it weird tasting.
San Francisco soar dough bread is wonderful.
I am in SF every week live about an hour away if you want a cuppa and a chat PM me
Last edited by Poppy girl; Mar 29th 2008 at 2:16 pm.
#36
Re: Just tell me it will get better
Hi There
Sorry to hear that you are not too pleased with San Francisco I love the place having said that I would not want to live there its nice for a business trip or a night out but it will take more then 3 weeks to get used to.
Try www.molliestones.com for you bread and extra treats or www.wholefoods.com
bread here takes some getting used to and when I go back to the UK now I find it weird tasting.
San Francisco soar dough bread is wonderful.
I am in SF every week live about an hour away if you want a cuppa and a chat PM me
Sorry to hear that you are not too pleased with San Francisco I love the place having said that I would not want to live there its nice for a business trip or a night out but it will take more then 3 weeks to get used to.
Try www.molliestones.com for you bread and extra treats or www.wholefoods.com
bread here takes some getting used to and when I go back to the UK now I find it weird tasting.
San Francisco soar dough bread is wonderful.
I am in SF every week live about an hour away if you want a cuppa and a chat PM me
Not sure if it's still there - (and admittedly the last time my parents went they weren't as thrilled with the quality) but there's a restaurant called "The Gingerbread House" in that area that is family owned and serves wonderful southern food. It's the sort of place where you have to make a reservation 2 weeks in advance so they will buy the right ingredients for the meal you've selected.
Maybe something for anyone in the area to try out?
#37
Country Member
Joined: May 2003
Location: Moved from Georgetown to Round Rock, Texas. 15 miles closer to civilization.
Posts: 936
Re: Just tell me it will get better
#38
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 12,865
Re: Just tell me it will get better
And food labels certainly are your friend. Stunning how many products have high fructose corn syrup in them.
#39
Re: Just tell me it will get better
Manc has occasionally posted a link to an article which gives an excellent account of the stages of culture shock. I can't find the exact one, sadly, but Wikipedia gives a pretty good summary of the four phases - The Honeymoon Period, The Negotiation Phase, The "Everything is OK" phase and Reverse Culture Shock:
Wikipedia: Culture Shock
EDIT: Just found this article, which is also pretty good.
Last edited by dbj1000; Mar 29th 2008 at 6:52 pm.
#41
Account Closed
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 15,019
Re: Just tell me it will get better
hiya
well, it's a huge culture shock as you are finding out. six yrs down the line and nope it's not for me but hopefully having a baby you will make friends and settle sooner rather than later. i'm afraid you just have to accept that this is not England and best not to even compare it. check out your local Wholefoods if you have one close by...bread, organic produce about the best around but don't go looking for marks and sparks or waitrose equivalents, they're not here. good luck
#42
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 12,865
Re: Just tell me it will get better
Again, just avoid the standard supermarket fare, which is typically disgusting. Maybe I'm just fortunate, but I have an absolutely fantastic cheese shop one block from my apartment that stocks an amazing range of cheeses, including about two dozen from the UK.
#43
I approved this message
Joined: Dec 2004
Location: Chicago
Posts: 2,425
Re: Just tell me it will get better
I keep hearing this, is it really true? Examples? Also, the iPhone offers a fairly snazzy interface but there are tons of phones with the same functionality.
#44
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5
Re: Just tell me it will get better
Lots of things I want to reply to here.
1. Bread. I had no idea it was such a widespread problem. I did buy a breadmaker within the first week (we had one back in the UK anyway), unfortunately I didn't know enough about brands and I panic bought a breadmaker which is frankly rubbish. I'll solve this one to my satisfaction eventually. Although to be honest it's not a priority. Your helpful hints will be stored for future use.
2. Cheese. Rainbow Market in SF carries a spot on English cheddar so I have at least got that ingredient of my cheese sandwich dream.
3. I know it's not Britain and I know it will take time. I really didn't move here on a whim you know. And I want it to work for us here. That didn't stop me eating cherry bakewells almost constantly in the week before we left.
4. Getting Out There. I'm going to a book club meeting next week and I've signed my son and I up for some baby music classes (very very expensive). I've met with some of my husband's college friends and with an old friend who moved here a year ago. I'm not sitting at home and moping (much). Being a stay at home Mum is also a little restricting in terms of what I can get out and do, if any of you have kids you'll know that when they finally go to bed you don't feel like doing a yoga class, you feel like having a glass of wine and a long lie down.
5. Mums. You'd think that there would be a ready made network for a person with a child. And to an extent there always is. However, it's really hard to break into these networks with a toddler, he's too old for me to meet new Mums in shock and too young for me to meet Mums at the school gates. Equally everything is sooooo expensive in San Francisco that I think stay at home mums are a rarity, I haven't even seen many Mums at the playground, it's mostly nannies and au pairs. That doesn't mean I'll give up.
And Finally...San Francisco is not a baby friendly city a number of people have told me that since I got here, it's impossible to get a pushchair on the buses or trams because the steps are too high, there are special ramps for wheelchair users which people with pushchairs are not allowed to use (!) There are no large toy stores, not even a toys r us. There are very few preschools. I have been made to feel like an unwanted minority. I was actually shouted at by a (crazy) man on a bus last week who said that my son was a homophobic statement and that I should be arrested.
We will probably move to Berkeley after a year, but I promised my husband we'd try San Francisco first. He's astonished at how hard it is to have a child here. Obviously last time he was here he didn't have a baby.
Thank you to the people who offered a meet up I'll PM you when I get my PM priviledges.
1. Bread. I had no idea it was such a widespread problem. I did buy a breadmaker within the first week (we had one back in the UK anyway), unfortunately I didn't know enough about brands and I panic bought a breadmaker which is frankly rubbish. I'll solve this one to my satisfaction eventually. Although to be honest it's not a priority. Your helpful hints will be stored for future use.
2. Cheese. Rainbow Market in SF carries a spot on English cheddar so I have at least got that ingredient of my cheese sandwich dream.
3. I know it's not Britain and I know it will take time. I really didn't move here on a whim you know. And I want it to work for us here. That didn't stop me eating cherry bakewells almost constantly in the week before we left.
4. Getting Out There. I'm going to a book club meeting next week and I've signed my son and I up for some baby music classes (very very expensive). I've met with some of my husband's college friends and with an old friend who moved here a year ago. I'm not sitting at home and moping (much). Being a stay at home Mum is also a little restricting in terms of what I can get out and do, if any of you have kids you'll know that when they finally go to bed you don't feel like doing a yoga class, you feel like having a glass of wine and a long lie down.
5. Mums. You'd think that there would be a ready made network for a person with a child. And to an extent there always is. However, it's really hard to break into these networks with a toddler, he's too old for me to meet new Mums in shock and too young for me to meet Mums at the school gates. Equally everything is sooooo expensive in San Francisco that I think stay at home mums are a rarity, I haven't even seen many Mums at the playground, it's mostly nannies and au pairs. That doesn't mean I'll give up.
And Finally...San Francisco is not a baby friendly city a number of people have told me that since I got here, it's impossible to get a pushchair on the buses or trams because the steps are too high, there are special ramps for wheelchair users which people with pushchairs are not allowed to use (!) There are no large toy stores, not even a toys r us. There are very few preschools. I have been made to feel like an unwanted minority. I was actually shouted at by a (crazy) man on a bus last week who said that my son was a homophobic statement and that I should be arrested.
We will probably move to Berkeley after a year, but I promised my husband we'd try San Francisco first. He's astonished at how hard it is to have a child here. Obviously last time he was here he didn't have a baby.
Thank you to the people who offered a meet up I'll PM you when I get my PM priviledges.
#45
Re: Just tell me it will get better
5. Mums. You'd think that there would be a ready made network for a person with a child. And to an extent there always is. However, it's really hard to break into these networks with a toddler, he's too old for me to meet new Mums in shock and too young for me to meet Mums at the school gates. Equally everything is sooooo expensive in San Francisco that I think stay at home mums are a rarity, I haven't even seen many Mums at the playground, it's mostly nannies and au pairs. That doesn't mean I'll give up.
http://www.momsclubsf.8m.com/