Might sound odd, but one of the real culture shocks for me was the way stores in London work. In the US, we're taught to buy in bulk. You need to run to BJ's or Sam's Club and buy 100-packs of everything, regardless if you'll even use it for a year. Here they never look that far into the future, no one has the storage space to buy that much. As a result, people only purchase for the next day, a week at the most.
The first time I really noticed this was in a supermarket. All of the packages have enough for one, or maybe two, meals. But because people buy and eat food usually on the same day, the food here has far less preservatives then back home. Probably explains why I've yet to see seriously fat people over here.
Last night I got to go out for drinks with my company, Grant Thornton. This lady came over and started talking to me and another intern, and we could tell right away she was American. Wasn't until a half hour later that she mentioned that she was "Ed's wife:" Ed being the global CEO. Only in London. She told us that if we ever wanted a taste of home, there's a Costco right down the street from their house. Might be taking her up on that offer soon.
On a more serious note, if anyone's willing to ship me a laundry bag I would be eternally grateful. No joke have spent 3 days searching London for one.
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