I take so many things for granted at home, and assume them to be normal. Now, I'm not talking about comparing countries to prove that we in Australia are so fortunate (although we are, and I am pretty sure I don't need to go anywhere to know that). Rather, my point here is to muse about the quirky things I learnt, discovered and experienced - including ones that still baffle me.
* In Germany, people sometimes move house with their kitchen. Granted, I don't think they move house at a rate that Australians do (for some reason, we love doing it?!), but seriously, what happens if the kitchen (that is, the cabinets, the surfaces etc) doesn't fit?!
* In London, one stands on the RHS of the escalator, and overtakes on the LHS. I don't get this - but we drive on the same side of the road as them, but we do the opposite?
* The Parisians are super-concious about what they look like. So many looked so glamourous! However, in Germany, people don't look quite so glamourous. And I like that. Outward appearances don't seem to matter quite so much.
* Bathtubs with the hose thing with no point in which to hook it up like a shower? How is one supposed to bathe in this? (Honest question, not some outrageous query. Point: you can't put it down because otherwise the water will go everywhere. Does one sit in the bath? Or squat? Because I didn't really want to run a full bath. And anyway, a full bath is for relaxing, with getting clean the secondary aim, I believe.)
* Beer is cheaper than water in Prague. So when they say that the leader of the Czech Republic is an alcoholic, they must be very serious...
* Despite being a large city, I didn't get lost in London. Okay, speaking English was very handy. But there are these boards every 200 metres or so with a little map. Super helpful. In fact, amazing.
* The best coffee in Europe is made in cafes started up by Australians or Kiwis.
* Not all English accents are nice to listen to. Some, in fact, are pretty much impossible to understand.
* More often than not in my grocery shopping, one has to bring their own bags to pack goods into. None of this plastic bag giving-out business. Also, Germany has this cool system for recycling bottles, where you can get a refund. Like that SA thing we see on our bottles in Australia, but for real in all of Germany.
* Also, Germany has the most amazing domestic recycling system. Four bins. Yes.
* They buy water in a bottle, with bubbles, for normal, everyday consumption. (Yes, people do drink water from the tap too, and thankfully I didn't get any funny looks for asking if it was okay, but apparently this is not everybody's preferred water choice.)
* Public transport. They do it well. I've turned a little bit German and get frustrated if I have to wait for more than five minutes.
* High density living - they do this well. Which also means that they do public spaces pretty well, including the provision of green areas.
* Germans don't jaywalk. Parisians do it big time. As do those in Brussels.
* There must be something about being good-looking in the requirements for being in the police force of Amsterdam...
* I saw heaps of really great buskers!
* Peanut butter doesn't seem to be a common breakfast spread.
* Pigeons are the same everywhere in the world.
* Paris has these free public toilets around and about; that's great. And they are supposedly self-cleaning. But this takes a long time, so one often stands in a queue wondering why it's progressing so slowly.
I am sure I'll remember more as I look through some photos, or recall stories and observations.
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