New Like Me

When you are away from home, time goes at a different speed. In San Francisco I feel like a day counts like a week, a week is a months, a month almost a year.
When you are far from home, every day something memorable happens. You meet new people all the times. You spend a day with someone and you've got a new friend. After a week you feel like best friends forever. People come and visit you and in a week you plan 1000 things to do - that would have normally taken a month. You fall in love just like you were used to on summer times when you were 16: at first sight and once a week. You spend intense months with people that you have just met, and then they leave, they move, they go back... and it feels like a whole life is gone.
People I've met here change apartment every few months, change job at every opportunity, spend money twice as fast, see 5 seasons of Lost in a month.
Is it just me or do you feel like you are living at a different speed too?

Recently I've discovered two another interesting ones pretty common in ski resorts: first, they have dozen of kids scanning your pass at every lift - we have turnstiles almost everywhere in Italy. Second, and funnier, they have the "lift director", who makes sure no seats of the lift are left unused, picking people to make groups of 4.
They ask: "how many of you?"
- "three"
- "go ahead. Give me one single please!"
- "how many of you?"
- "two"
- "the two of you and the two of you, please go ahead.."

and so on, all day long. They are like playing Tetris with skiers and snowboarders! Impressive. It also reminds me of Micky Mouse directing brooms in Fantasia.

Do you know any other unique or unusual job opportunity?

Hi All,

My name is Ryan and I am an American who is about to relocate to London. As sort of a joke Christmas gift (but not really) my folks gave me this book by Toni Summers Hargis -- a very British sounding name, and it contains several chapters on cultural differences as you would imagine. One is on language entirely -- both the small semantic misunderstandings that can easily occur, and the larger social taboos and ignorance between American and British culture. So what have I learned so far?

1)    If a Brit leaves the room to go “knock up” another sleeping guest, he is not intending to impregnate that person. Simply wake them

2)    Underpants are pants. Outer garment = trousers.

3)    The phrase “I’ll be with you momentarily” is likely to cause confusion, since a more literal translation is likely to be taken by the Brit – making the meaning of the statement that the time spent during the actual meeting will be quite brief. I love that one!

Anyone have any other potential language pitfalls they want to share for the hapless American before his departure?

Having lived for considerable periods in Ireland, England and America, my accent is a confusing mix of the three. Until recently it was just Irish/English, but since becoming a full time resident here, I've been finding the American influence sneaking in and I can't seem to stop it.

More than the accent, it seems to be the words and phrases I'm picking up on. In Dublin, I use turns of phrase that only make sense to the people there, who use them too. Some of these do make sense, but it would just be an unusual or quirky way of saying something, and people here find it strange. But sometimes, they are completely indecipherable. I am regularly faced with confused or blank expressions in response to something I've said. It doesn't help either that my name seems to be impossible to pronounce or remember for anyone who is not from Ireland.

Since moving here, I have picked up so many new words and phrases, just because of the influence of the people around me. My friends back home make fun of me relentlessly for this. Awesome? Sidewalk? Cell phone? None of these were a part of my active vocabulary a year ago! Now I say them all the time. Then there's the inevitable 'like'...try as I might, I don't seem to be able to get through a sentence without it these days.

What about you? Do people look at a loss when you say something that is completely normal where you're from? Do you find yourself picking up new words and phrases? And are your friends at home giving you hell over it?!

Maybe I'm not one to talk here. My friends are always making fun of my completely inappropriate and impractical sartorial choices, especially when it comes to footwear. I understand that people want to dress for comfort and practicality, but this is surely a step too far! I'm talking about CROCS. Those brightly coloured plastic shoes that are so inexplicably popular here in Berkeley! I see whole families wearing them, and admittedly they are quite adorable on babies and little kids, but I don't understand why any self-respecting adult would allow themselves to be seen out and about in these. I really do not get it! Are they really that comfortable? And what is the point of the plastic? It can't be to keep water out because they are full of holes and open at the back. I have spotted the odd pair of CROCS back in Ireland but it's nowhere near as widespread as in Berkeley, where it's an epidemic! What do you think - am I missing something here? Will they ever catch on in Europe, or have they already done so while I've been away?!

San Francisco - America is the country of choices. Customers are given tons of choices in every shopping situation, which sounds good in theory... but if you are not used to it and, like me, you don't give a damn, it just pisses you off. They overload you with questions like:
"An hamburger please" - How would you like your meat cooked?
"Vodka tonic please" - Do you have a preference for Vodka?
"An Italian sandwich for me" - Everything in it? What kind of bread do you want?
Best Buy, at the counter - Did you find everything you were looking for?
Every restaurant, 10 min after they bring the food - How's everything is going here?
You handle the credit card to the bartender - Keep the tab open or close?

Yesterday I got this one at Nordstrom, that I find pretty funny: "Receipt with you or in the bag?". Ah! Who cares?!

I think there should be a default choice in all these things and they just should not bother questioning. Does any question bother you? Write it in the comments.

(read on about shopping, eggs, coffee sizes and more in the comments...)