I got stuck in the Russian Aisle at Global Foods this week.

It was because I noticed something for the first time. Even when a product doesn’t have a word of English on it, the shelf tags are in English. I wondered to myself, “Do they have someone on staff who speaks the language of every product they carry? How else would they be able to produce all of those shelf tags accurately?”
The first one I noticed was a bottle of beautiful deep green liquid. It was shaped like a whisky flask. There was no translation on the bottle. But the shelf tag not only identified the product, it also gave the English version of the company’s name that produced it – Gold Cavier.

These boxes of buckwheat cereal were on a bottom shelf.

When I turned the box over, I noticed that they had thoughtfully translated the cooking instructions into both English and Dutch. I wonder if a native German reading his box will be as entertained as I was. I bought this one.

On the top shelf was what appeared to be instant oatmeal in various fruit flavors. It was also translated into three languages, but none of them were English.

Fortunately, the universal language of pictures – and simple preparation requirements – were enough to give me a complete idea of how to use the product at home.

I’m really glad I bought this one. Unlike the pasty, mushy instant oatmeal we get from Quaker, this brand was as good as fresh cooked. Although, the pictures on the box are deceptive. There aren’t real pieces of fruit in it. Only the flavor of the fruit. Oh, well. Can’t have everything I guess.
After the packaged goods, I hit the refrigerated section to check out the Russian selections.

I spent last week in Great Britian. This week, I had a very pleasant visit to Russia. Next week, I’m thinking Malaysia, because this caught my eye as I walked past the ice cream freezer cases.