10. ethnic groceries, smells and foods
9. sunshine (the solar kind, not the infamous childcare centre)
8. and in the same vein: humidity WITH heat--30 minutes between rain showers (max temp about 18 celcius so far) is a good day here and any day with ANY Ultraviolet is significant enough to write home about: things are positively grey and I guess it only gets better in April, from what the locals tell me.
7. hearing ANY English (and when I do, I'm a shameless eavesdropper!)
6. tim hortons and starbucks to-go
5. squirrels and all sounds from the trees (the only recognizable bird is that dang pigeon and who wants that???)
4. smooth (and dog-crap-free) sidewalks--cobblestones are killers for one's ankles
3. VARIETY at my local store (where's the cilantro???)
2. cheap energy: gas, water, propane, petrol, electricity (you'd think lights were run on blood, how dear the costs are for running a household or vehicle here)
1. my neighbours, family and friends just popping in, chatting at the curb with Endeanians and flipping a cap over witty repartee
Things that are great about this country:
1. lush gardens and privacy hedges that grow taller than I can trim them (7+ feet and growing)
2. boston ivy as ground cover, apples and hazelnut trees as garden decor -- complete with edible fruit/nuts, rose bushes as trees (6 feet with stalks thicker than my wrist) and hollybushes abound
3. traffic circles (why can't we have these? They make so much more sense and are much prettier than stupid lights...just yield to the cars already IN the circle, and stay to the inside if you're doing a U-turn--what could be easier??)
4. windows that open in all the way (like a door) AND angle in at the top for ventillation--very clever (but probably won't work with our winters-a shame, really)
5. chocolate...and not just as a treat but as a mainstay of a meal (as a drink or breakfast paste on fresh baguette, lunch tartinade or sandwich filling, dinner dessert or apres digestive, gift to hostesses--its everywhere and I'm LOVIN' it~!
6. milk in tetrapacks for less than 0.60 Eu a litre (cheap, easily transportable, good shelf life, tasty)--and come to think of it, cheese and yogurts and puddings all much more available than at home--these EU natives do enjoy their dairy products...
7. regular, close and cheap forms of public transportation right outside our home: tram, commuter train, busses...any number of trips within an hour for just over 1 Euro...(about a buck fifty)
8. free street parking, and not that impossible to find around where ever we've travelled (Toronto: did you hear that???! Free!! Mayor Miller: You either pay meter maids and get revenue or skip the whole process and endear yourselves in the hearts of travellers everywhere--wha
t choice is there?)9. all the energy saving devices and appliances: escalators that have motion sensors, wee little candelabra flourescents, high efficiency washers, heat exchangers instead of furnaces...they just makes sense
10. really cool outdoor art, and lots of it...some gloriously historic, and a full lesson in every plaque, and others just plain neat, like this forest of 2 X 4's--check it out!
11. wednesday afternoon no school for elementary students (now, this is a mixed blessing: do we enjoy spending time with our wee ones, or not? Its a matter of pacing: kids need this break, and frankly, so do parents who get trapped into the chaos and mundan-ity of their adult lives--plus, imagine how the teachers feel!)
so on that note, I'm now going to do some online research for what we can do with the kids tomorrow afternoon...perhaps there's a children's museum or an outdoor plaine de joue (playground) that we can find for a rest and a bit of exercise...we're also on the hunt for bikes and perhaps a trailer for our little one, so that we can explore the city more fully--lots of options, and we'll keep you posted...I haven't quite hit the culture shock I've been reading about, but I think it's near, so if you have a kind word, a funny story, a report from home and an itinerary for when you'll visit, I'll be most pleased to hear from you as soon as possible.
sounds like u r doing very nicely over there
ReplyDeletebring back on e of them 2 x 4 trees!
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