When Words Fail

Not very helpful…

When you are first finding your way in a new country, there are a lot of words that your dictionary (or Google Translate) can’t help you with, in particular brands, which are just common nouns that rarely translate, and cultural reference points that carry some loaded meaning for native speakers. And sometimes you have very practical questions, like “Where can I buy an electric drill?” It is also a little surprising, and frustrating, to discover that a particular kind of store just does not exist where you are, and that some types of items that you used to take for granted are just really, really hard to find.

Here is a list of some of those brands and reference points the I have learned as an American living in Romania:

Shopping:

• Home Depot : Dedeman (Romanian), Hornbach (German)
• Safeway, Kroger, Food Lion : Mega Image (actually IS Food Lion)
• 7–11 : Shop-and-Go, Carrefour Express
• K Mart : Kaufland
• Walmart : Cora, Auchan, Carrefour, any “Hipermarket”
• AM/PM : OMV
• Hertz : Sixt
• Target : sorry, but you are out of luck…
• Pop Boys : sorry, but you are out of luck again…
• Ace Hardware : uh, no, just no…