Shopping and Cooking
Shopping is one of America’s most popular pastimes. In all but the most isolated locations you will find a large selection of new goods and tremendous variations in price. In retail stores, the prices displayed are firm and generally not negotiable. The following are some useful tips for shopping on a student budget:
Learn to be a good “comparison shopper;” that is, check prices at several locations before you buy
Unless good service is very important to you, shop at discount stores rather than department stores
Wait for items to go “on sale;” watch for advertisements in the newspaper, in store windows, and on television
Talk with friends about where to shop
Be aware that the “sales tax” on an item is not included in the displayed price but applied by the store clerk when you buy the item
If you buy new appliances or other large items, keep the store receipts, read the instruction booklets, and fill out the “warranty card” that comes with the product. Most products are guaranteed from defects by the manufacturer for a period of time.
Cooking in a new country can be an exciting experience because there are new foods and techniques to try. You may find that you have to adjust to new cooking equipment. Americans use cups and teaspoons instead of weight for measuring ingredients, and, unlike the rest of the world, we express temperatures in degrees fahrenheit instead of centigrade. If you cannot find the ingredients you need to fix that special dish from home, ask fellow foreign students who have been on campus for some time. They will know just where the specialty stores are located or have catalogs from mail-order suppliers.
Americans are very interested in food from other countries. Inviting someone to come to your home to learn to cook a special dish from your home country would be a wonderful way to make a friend.
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