The more things change . . .

I moved into my new apartment today - it's beautiful, but more on that in another post.

I spent most of the day doing moving-in related things: setting up my internet connection, figuring out how to work the satellite TV (not sure I still have that figured out), and shopping for various items.

Because European beds are different sizes than Canadian ones, I didn't bring any sheets with me. In order to sleep tonight, I needed to get sheets and a pillow for my bed. In order to eat today, I also needed to purchase food, cutlery and dishes. My relocation agent had checked earlier to see if the mall was open today, as it is a statutory holiday here. Fortunately for me it was.

However, unfortunately for me, none of the shops at the mall carried sheets or pillows (or at least sheets or pillows that would fit my bed, and didn't have cartoon characters on them). So after loading up at the grocery store (yes they have peanut butter in Poland!), and dropping off my groceries, I took a cab to my local Ikea.

Ikea is pretty much the same everywhere. Same meandering layout, same merchandise. I did feel a bit disorientated trying to buy a pillow - I couldn't figure out whether they were firm or soft from the packaging, and they were rolled up tightly. Sadly my Polish phrase book wasn't much help. I guess I'll find out tonight.

I also had a tough time trying to buy sheets. Sheets here are sold by dimension (so 160 cm x 200 cm instead of queen, king etc). I thought I had it figured out, but then realized that's only the size for a fitted sheets. Flat sheets have completely different dimensions, and they don't come in sets. Each sheet is sold separately.

But, I managed to buy a mattress cover, fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillows and pillow cases that all fit my bed (if not match perfectly). And as with every other trip to Ikea, I managed to purchase a whole lot more than I intended.

So that was my day - shopping at a mall, which is just like any North American mall (I even ate at Subway - the most popular food court stop seemed to be KFC), and then shopping at Ikea.

And you all thought Europe would be different. . .