Michael Even when on vacation, you have to go shopping for groceries. A little water here, a little champagne there. Why not in the same supermarket as back home? In America, there is this phenomenon where, no matter where you are, you always encounter the same chains: the "Starbucks" coffee shop, the fast-food joints "McDonald's," "Wendy's," "Burger King," "Denny's," and "Taco Bell." Pizza places like "Roundtable" and "Pizza Hut." Grocery stores like "Safeway". "Good Guys" for electronic gadgets. And, of course, "Home Depot" (home improvement). Incidentally, the latter is now open 24 hours a day in San Francisco, so if you find yourself needing a suitable wrench at 2 a.m., you can quickly upgrade with a 24-piece set. A concept that people in Germany should not shy away from considering!

Funnily enough, these stores are always set up the same way inside: Whether you visit a Safeway in New York, Chicago, or San Francisco, the bread is always on the far right next to the wine, and the vegetables are on the left when you enter, nicely sprayed with ice water to make them look fresh. Take me blindfolded to the Safeway in Des Moines, Iowa, where I've never been, and I'll get you a six-pack of beer from the fridge in 30 seconds. Second row from the left, of course.

This helps people here, who move their home much more frequently than, for example, Germans, to quickly find their way around new areas. 5,000 miles away from home, but at least the supermarket reminds them of home -- people need continuity. So we didn't hesitate for long (or rather, I pestered Angelika until she agreed) to go to our (or more precisely, my) super-supermarket "Costco" on Big Island. There, you need a membership card (similar to "Metro" in Germany) and everything is available in large packages and at super low prices. I almost lost it when I saw local T-shirts with Hawaiian designs and surfer shorts on display! And the mineral water wasn't "Crystal Geyser" like at home but Hawaiian, otherwise everything was the same. I almost bought the 48-piece tire pressure set, but at the last second, I remembered that we were on vacation. Well, already completely Americanized...

What I've also noticed: the incredible low temperature that prevails in the supermarkets in Hawaii. I believe every store needs its own nuclear power plant, that's how cold they set the air conditioning there. When it's still a pleasant 75 degrees Fahrenheit outside, they cool it down to 58 or so inside, which is apparently considered a symbol of luxury. On that note, it's still wonderfully warm in Hawaii even in the evening hours, and anyone coming from San Francisco knows how valuable that is. One evening, when we were sitting outside at Roy's restaurant in T-shirts and a pleasant breeze started, the head waiter immediately came over and brought us two white chef's jackets to wear. By the way, Roy's is a very good place.

• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Hawaii: Big Island
  	South Point
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  	Kona Coffee
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• More topics you might be interested in:

  	Hawaii: Big Island
  	South Point
  	Mauna Kea
  	Kona Coffee
  	Tellme