Shopping is a Continuous Cycle

Well, classes start tomorrow and I believe I am about ready for them. I picked up the remainder of my school supplies and books today, which was quite a task, let me tell you. I went with some fellow Study Abroad students that I've befriended; this probably slowed me down, but definitely made the trip more enjoyable. However, we didn't get to the shopping strip until around 3:00, and most stores around Kingston close at 5:00 on Sundays. I finally found my school supplies at Wilkinson's, which happened to be the last store we entered around quarter to five. I imagine that it looked quite comical to see six college students running full-speed around the store, cramming notebooks, staplers, and other items into the crooks of our elbows as we attempted to juggle an armful of supplies.

The early closing times of the Kingston stores makes for very difficult planning when it comes to buying groceries, necessities, or even school books. For one thing, I've been busy the last couple of days with orientation plans, field trips, and other initiation events that have prevented me from getting to the stores until after most of them have closed. I've been able to keep up with groceries and food fairly well, but that's proving to be another problem. The food here doesn't seem to keep as well as in the States, probably because they don't use as many preservatives. While that's undoubtedly healthier for me, it also means that I can't buy in bulk or else the food will go bad before I can eat it. Which means that I'm going grocery shopping every couple of days just to buy my meals; eating out every day would just be too expensive.

Shopping has never been my favorite pastime, setting me apart from other women everywhere. I especially hate clothes shopping. So you can imagine how frustrating it must be for me to discover that I packed barely enough clothes to last me one week without doing laundry. It looked like so much more when I was packing my suitcase! Now I've got to find some time this week to find some inexpensive tops while simulataneously worrying about the start of classes tomorrow...and it seems I've come full circle. I really didn't mean to rant like this or complain; it might seem inconvenient to me now, but I'm sure I'll be able to adjust to the way of living here...even if it does include more frequent trips to the store.