In the wonderful 9 months that I spent teaching 5th grade math, at least 3 weeks were spent on the metric system. Parents, if you are reading this, I promise we did learn the metric system. Everyone that is but me.
Today was the first day that I ventured out of the house on my own into the great unknown of Germany. My first stop was the bank then I headed over to the market. Inside the Rewe ("Reh-vee") I walked up to the cheese counter. It was already in my plan to pick up some fresh bread and I thought what would go better with that than some cheese?
The selection wasn't exactly the best in town but I was already there and more importantly the CHEESE was there. Scoping out the glass case I glanced over the blue cheeses, the hard cheeses, and my eyes stopped on my all time love. Right there in the middle of it all, bearing a proud French flag on a tiny wooden stick, was the BRIE. The price was just right at 1,53Euros.
I proudly told the lady behind the counter "Eine" as I pointed down to the creamy bliss of a wedge.
The lady then took the brie wedge and placed it on the scale. There must have been other numbers on that scale but the only one I saw was 8,90Euros.
Immediately, when I saw that number my mind started to freak out. Flashbacks to the $10.00 bag of grapes in college came to mind. Then the worst thought of how I would explain to Husband that I bought 8,90Euros of cheese! That's not very budget minded at all!
So I asked the lady in English "Can you cut it in half?"
*Blank stare*
Still freaking out on the inside of what to do, I imitate with my hands the gesture of cutting something in half.
*Still a blank stare*
Finally, I take out my German Phrase book and start flipping pages in the index. The lady chuckles and I do too trying to lighten up the situation although I don't find this very funny. I come to the "S" section and scroll down frantically to the word "Small."
Looking back up at her I say "klein?" and again repeat my cutting in half motions.
Grumbling the lady takes the cheese wedge and cuts it into half. She weighs one of the brie halves and this time I see the price 0,80cents. In my head I'm thinking "0,80cents isn't half of 8,90Euros." This would be the point where the connections are made in my slow brain. An "ah ha" moment if you will.
The lady asks "Ist das gut?" And I reply "Yes, that is good. Danke."
So today I learned if you want an entire kilogram of brie cheese...it's gonna cost you 8,90Euros. Can you image 2.2 pounds of brie cheese for two people?
Here is the brie wedge that I ended up buying. I put the fork in for sizing sake. Oh and I ate the tip.
Check out the price of the cheese compared to the other grocery items. Imagine what 8,90Euros would look like on that receipt! My grand total at the store was 8,92Euros.
Evidence leftover from my afternoon snack. Shopping and saving money is hard work!
Who remembers this? Kids Have Dropped Over Dead Converting Metrics
Ah, the dreaded metric system! The only thing I know about metrics involves converting kilometers into miles for all the races that I run. (I know that 5k = 3.1 miles, so all of my conversions start from there and involve tricky multiplication and division that probably isn't necessary.)*
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