A “cheesy” way of being reminded of home (Philadelphia)

One of the first things I do when I visit a new city (or country) is walk through a local supermarket or grocery store. This gives me great insight to what the locals enjoy on a daily basis, how much things cost in a neutral/controlled setting (verse on the streets), how advertising influences that culture (seeing the different food displays, signs, organization of products), hygiene in some ways, human interactions (i.e. simple courtesy in the isles with words and body language between customers, staff and customers, etc) and how technology is used to efficiently run a very important activity in society (i.e. security, checking-out, customer flow, etc.).

side bar — Ok, right now you may be saying Joe’s a few cards short of a full deck (testing has been requested before by many:) but I really do enjoy and get a lot out of this simple act of immersing myself into a local activity…you really can learn a lot, while enjoying a snack or two.

I’m also very curious about what products from the USA have made it to foreign shelves and what other countries products have a strong presence in a different culture.

I don’t remember the exact trip (many years ago) when I was meandering through an overseas supermarket and I suddenly stopped, focused extremely hard on a shelf and began to smile from ear to ear and felt a warm rush of home/nostalgia — I was starring at a section full of “Philadelphia” Cream Cheese!!

Who would have thought Philadelphia Cream Cheese was the Coke of cheeses around the world:)!

I’m happy to report that only two foreign countries that I have visited thus far have not had Philadelphia Cream Cheese on their shelves (Turkey and Morocco) — BUT Turkey (Istanbul) made up in a big way for not having Philadelphia CC on it’s shelves, with another great salute (reminder) to Philly — as you will see below.

I now have a fun mission tied to all my local supermarket visits, finding a nice reminder of home — thousands of miles away.