It’s not exactly Buckingham Palace, but...

Someone needs to tell the grocery stores that 60201 is not comparable to the area surrounding Buckingham Palace. ©

I arrived in Evanston, Kellogg's home, on Sunday night. Thus far, my entire attention has been on getting myself set up on in the US. In some ways, it has been easier than I expected. Some frustrations remain, nevertheless.

60201 – Evanston – is a quaint little university town. Thankfully, this means some of the numerous amenities around the town know exactly what my requirements as an international student are. The bank made it almost effortless to get an account, even sorting out proof of residence for me through their knowledge of the university intranet and contacts at the university. The cell phone shop automatically game me my student discount for my monthly phone bill – without asking for any form of student ID. While I stood at the front of my apartment, waiting to direct them, the removal people already knew how to find my apartment block’s rear loading entrance and had started moving furniture in.

However, what frustrates me is that there seems to be few grocery stores in my part of Evanston that provide genuinely student prices. Living in Park Evanston, Whole Foods is next door and extremely convenient. However, the cheapest priced bread (for example) is $4. This is still over twice the cost of what even the premier groceries in London would charge. In fact, that kind of price could only be found in London if you lived next door to the Queen. The Northwestern campus is nice, but it’s not Buckingham Palace. To save on the weekly trip to Jewel-Osco, I’m thinking of using an online grocery service. This would also help me plan my meals upfront – a sure way to control those notorious US calories.