When you live somewhere and move away, it’s easy to forget the things that were strange, funny or hard, especially if they’re just small details of life. There are a few things that have struck me again, this time around, in no particular order:
- Gallon milk bottles are so unwieldy.
- The light switches are the wrong way around. The number of times I’ve stood there, looking at a row of light switches, determined not to switch the light off when I want it on would be too many to count.
- Toilet bowls are full of water. It has the unfortunate result that your hands can get wet when wiping when you’re not paying attention.
- The juice is so yummy.
- Food is cheap. Especially processed food.
- It’s colder outside than it looks, even when it’s sunny, it can still be -10C outside. It gets so cold it hurts your skin.
- There is no ‘green bins’ here for organic rubbish. All your compost has to go in the trash, and it stinks up a storm, not to mention fills up your trash bags mighty fast!
- Grass is for parks, not for backyards or sidewalks.
- The playgrounds are fantastic.
- Missing home hurts.
- People decorate the outsides of their houses for the seasons. Right now there are a lot of Easter and spring decorations up.
- How real the fear of the unknown can be: that you’d rather stay home than try to find your way to the nearest park/shop/whatever.
- Gas is so cheap. It cost me US$45 to fill up the car the other day, compared to NZ$130.
- Moving countries is a logistical pain in the neck. Not to mention expensive.
- Driving in Manhattan is not for the faint of heart. In fact you have to be hard of heart and head to drive successfully in Manhattan.
- Just because the distance on the map looks short, it doesn’t mean it will be a quick trip, especially not in New York and its outlying areas.
- IKEA is a labyrinth of epic proportions: wonderful for the first couple of hours, but by the end you feel like running to get out of there.
- Everything seems better when the baby has a night where she sleeps through the night!
Comments (5)
We’ve got loads of grass down here anytime you want to visit…fields and fields of it! And our light switches are the right way ‘round. (Except on the stairs, where there is a switch at the top and bottom. Half the time one of them is always “wrong.”) Good to have the perspective that gas and food is cheap here, since it doesn’t feel like it to many Americans. Today’s a perfect example of looking warm since the sun’s out. I was contemplating a pre-breakfast walk when I saw the view out the window, but changed my mind when I saw it was 31 F.
Haha, thanks for the post. I had to giggle as some of the things that bother you because it is the opposite for me. : ).
-I would much rather have a gallon jug with a handle then those 3 liter juice bottles without a handle!
-The light switches I can handle; it’s the power point switches (outlets) that get me. If they don’t have the little red sticker to tell you which was is on, I am baffled.
-Toilet bowls… I won’t go there.
Getting used to a new country is an adventure and a bit overwhelming at times. What would we do without a wonderful church family?
Enjoy your time in New York.
Michelle : )
Well, I get muddled enough with light-switches even living in this country. (We have several that have two switches for one light.)
And I can just “smell” your rubbish bin - sympathise with you on that one.
You may have lived in New York before, but I guess shifting to a completely new suburb means you have to relearn where all the daily basics are again. Safe driving!
We miss you too!
I can empathise with quite a number of those differences - and also with some of Michelle’s response. But the one that strikes the loudest chord with me is “the juice is so yummy.” Whatever others may think, I still think the ordinary ‘frozen concentrate’ like Minute Maid beats anything here in New Zealand. Enjoy the juice!
Love,
Mum Hoyt
I agree wholeheartedly! Bring on the frozen concentrate. : )