Life in a new country is different. Sometimes it feels really hard, and sometimes it’s just different. The little differences can add up to be overwhelming at times. Other times they make for fun observations. Differences like…
-Drinking hot water instead of cold water. Filtered water is heated in the process here, so it’s only cold if you put it in the fridge or add ice.
-No one wears shoes in the house. You have to remember to take your shoes off before you enter.
-Showers are cold. The shower in my bathroom doesn’t have a water heater (and I think it’s pretty common here). So I haven’t had a warm shower in a month. But it’s actually been okay, because with the humidity I don’t feel like taking a hot shower.
-Light switches are sometimes outside of the room. Like the bathroom. If you don’t remember to switch on the light before entering, you will be in the dark. At home light switches are always inside the room.
-driving is on the opposite side of the road from home. I’ve been here for a month and it still throws me off that the driver is on the “wrong side” of the car.
-Meals are not small here. Even breakfast and lunch…there is a lot of food to be eaten.
-currency exchanges always throw my brain for a loop. I’m not good with numbers to begin with. My knee-jerk reaction when I see that soap is 450 is to think: “oh my goodness that is so expensive!” Then I remember that it’s actually only a little bit over $2, and I’m amazed at how ceap it is. THEN I remember that the average day laborer (IF they can find steady work) makes about $4 a day…and then $2 for soap seems like a lot of money. The mental gymnastics that takes place when purchasing anything is…exhausting. I can’t make change and calculations fast enough and the poor taxi driver probably thinks I’m stupid.
-It rains HARD and SUDDEN here. It’s like a faucet. I love it, because we never get rain at home.
-The sounds that I wake up to are very different than the sounds I would hear at home: Buddhits prayers, a variety of birds, a mongoose on the roof, street dogs fighting, geko chirpping, the whir of the ceiling fan, rain on the window…
-The language I hear around me on the street is foreign. I can’t read the signs. I recognize a few words and a few letters, but for the most part I wouldn’t know if someone was trying to get my attention. When someone does speak English they have an accent and my brain has to work harder to interpret what they are saying…especially if their accent is on the stronger side.
-Tea time: it’s different than where I’m from, but I love it. A good cup of tea in the middle of the day, sometimes with snacks. A chance to sit down and relax for a few minutes, to enjoy time together before we go back to our work.
-Meal times are different! Every meal is later than it is for most at home. We eat dinner at like 7:30 and that’s early for this culture.
At the end of the day, these are small things, and I’ll probably get used to them. I’m here for 4 months, and I’m sure some of these things will becoming muscle memory and normal for me. It happened when I was overseas for 6 weeks, so I’m sure it will happen again. Already I’m used to drinking hot water and taking cold showers. I’ll learn a few more words in the local language. I’ll start sleeping through the prayers in the early morning. I’ll adjust to later meal times. And I’ll figure out the currency eventually.