Saturday, October 13, 2012

Any Differences?

Yes!  There are quite a few!  First and foremost, everything is so much smaller!  The cars, the dishes, the mugs, the washer and dryers, the ovens, the toilets... The rest of the world must think that Americans are over the top.  I just blame it on our size!  But let's be honest.  You blow you nose once and throw the kleenex in this trash can, and it's full!  There's a reason the trash guy comes 3x a week instead of one :)


 Check out the papertowels compared to ours at home!  I am at the grocery store every other day it feels like, because we run out of things so quickly.
Pretzels come in containers
And tomato sauce comes in bags
But the little girl aisle isn't much different :)
  1. They don't have a section for refrigerated milk-- it all comes in cartons on the shelf
  2. No refrigerating the eggs either
  3. More yogurt than you could EVER imagine
  4. You have to get your fruit/veggies weighed by one of the workers before checking out
  5. The selection of hot, fresh, baked breads are to die for
  6. The meat cuts are different...haven't figured them out yet
  7. You tip EVERYONE down here-- for taking your shopping cart, for filling up your gas, for helping you back out of a parking spot (one day I had to tell the cashier that I didn't want the bagger to bag for me because I didn't have any change to give her!)
  8. There are Nana's (maids in their little uniforms) everywhere.  Ever read "The Help"?  That's what it feels like down here.  Huge disparity between the classes.
  9. Stray dogs everywhere (even German Shepherd types--Yikes!)
  10. To greet people, you kiss them on just one cheek.  But Joe found out his first day here, that men don't greet men this way--he really freaked the gay realtor out :)
  11. Every man for himself on the road
  12. Street Performers juggle, dance, to all sorts of tricks while you are sitting at red lights, and then come collect tips just before the light turns green
  13. The jardinero (gardener) asks you for black bags to put the trimmings in
  14. We've seen random horses that have escaped from their pastures, munching on the grass in the middle of a busy street!
  15. At McDonalds, they have Orange Juice and Peach juice as an option for the kids in their Happy Meals
  16. Restaurants are dead until 9 or 10pm at night!
  17. I'll be adding more, I'm sure :)

5 comments:

Kathrin said...

Actually, those Pretzels are even imported from Germany, as their label is the original German one we get to buy here, too....but they are the best!
So of you get tired of Chile, you could try out Roche Germany. I live right in the city where headquarters are. ;-)

Kathrin said...

Actually, those Pretzels are even imported from Germany, as their label is the original German one we get to buy here, too....but they are the best!
So of you get tired of Chile, you could try out Roche Germany. I live right in the city where headquarters are. ;-)

Kathrin said...

Actually, those Pretzels are even imported from Germany, as their label is the original German one we get to buy here, too....but they are the best!
So of you get tired of Chile, you could try out Roche Germany. I live right in the city where headquarters are. ;-)

Kathrin said...

Actually, those Pretzels are even imported from Germany, as their label is the original German one we get to buy here, too....but they are the best!
So of you get tired of Chile, you could try out Roche Germany. I live right in the city where headquarters are. ;-)

Susan Anderson said...

Interesting stuff. Quite the culture shock!

=)