Good news, the weather channel was inaccurate, the anticipated rain did not happen. My packing was not affected because the temperatures were on target but so far I have not needed the rain jacket.
The days are long, it is bright outside at 5:30 Am and stays that way until about 9Pm. I’m getting up early, and nodding out every afternoon about 2p for a short snooze.
My second language of “visual communication” has naturally kicked in and I’m getting along quite well. I have not used my translator app in the past 2 days.
Some of the things I have found to be different (not better or worse) are:
- The grocery stores are small
- The milk and eggs in the store are not refrigerated
- The Grocery cart is rented, you have to put a coin in the handle, and it is refunded when you return the cart
- Tea in restaurants is served only “hot”
- Coke is served just about everywhere and it could be with orange or lemonade in it
- Drinking age for beer is 16, and liquor is 18
- Toilet bowls have a small amount of water in them
- Public “pay for pottys” have spinning toilet seats that get sanitized with each flush
- Cigarette machines are in public places and smoking is allowed in restaurants
- The public rail system is easy to use and sparkling clean
- Tipping is not customary
- Many homes have solar panels on them
- Recycling is a big deal, paper, glass, plastic all gets sorted into separate containers
- Car’s are driven fast and so are bicycles
- Check out a Mercedes Benz, ride in a taxi
If I had to do one thing different on my planning “to do” list, it would have been to do more research on my cell phone data plane. Yikes, lots of money being clicked away! 💸