Jan

I shop everyday, at least that’s what I tell people. I am on record as saying the refrigerators, um, let’s just say they could be larger. (Seriously, they could be. Right? In other places, refrigerators are larger, so it is possible that the refrigerators could be larger here, too. But they’re not. At least, mine is not.) So, I shop every day.

Today, while in the grocery store (and without my list!) I remembered that I wanted to buy what the Dutch call Hutten Kaas. (What’s that sound like to you? That’s the trick, you know. The names, in Dutch, will often resemble it’s ‘merican counterparts.) I knew that kaas is cheese, so I figured “cottage cheese” would at the very least look something that. Like every other time I looked for it, I gave up. I gave up until I saw Jan stocking the refrigerated section.

Jan

I asked Jan the question I ask everyone I approach, “Do you speak English?” Anyone who is comfortable with English will invariably say something like, “Yes, of course,” which is what Jan said. Before asking about cottage cheese, I started with an easier request—crème fresh (it’s taco night at Casa Jay). “No problems,” he said as he repeated the words crème fresh. As he walked away, I heard him ask a question.

To make sure he was speaking to me, I waited long enough for him to turn toward me until I said, “Did you ask where I’m from?” He had, and I told him. He turned excitedly to face me and said, “I lived in North Carolina for two years as an exchange student. It is a small world; isn’t it?”

It is indeed. When I asked him where he lived in North Carolina, he answered, “Do you know where Wake Forest is?” I told him I did. “About thirty minutes from there,” he said.