mellybrown

the bread makes lovely toast!!!!!!

Emma M

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::::

Rete

It will never be the UK. Life here is different. Different customs and/or lack of customs depending on your way of looking at it. Friendships are difficult to make. Usually those we call friends are people we have known since childhood and newer acquaintances are usually just that "acquaintances".

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.

MsElui

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.

Poppy girl

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

Kaffy Mintcake

My parents are originally from Oakland. I have fond memories of lemon trees, eucalyptus, and dim sum on the weekends from visits to the grandparent's. Cost Plus World Market originated there as well - I remember going as a little girl.

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?

g1ant

Like most other food products, it has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. Start to read food labels and avoid that stuff like the plague. It is EVIL.

a.

Giantaxe

Plus the preservatives they put in to make the bread last longer. Having said that, there are so many independent bakeries in the Bay Area that it's pretty easy to avoid the standard supermarket fare. San Francisco may have its quirks, but lack of access to excellent food isn't one of them.

And food labels certainly are your friend. Stunning how many products have high fructose corn syrup in them.

dbj1000

I hate to tell you this, but culture shock doesn't typically kick in until later. The early months are the "honeymoon period", and like you I loved every little thing about my new home.

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.

Elvira

Yep.

TruBrit

never mind the bread, what about the cheese

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

Giantaxe

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.

Hiro11

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.

ClarePlaits

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.

elfman

this lot anywhere near you?

http://www.momsclubsf.8m.com/