nearly done

[deird1]

Five weeks to go before we're back in Australia.

I'm rather keen to go home (and show off the kidlet), but there are some things I will miss here.


German Things I Will Miss

- the snow
- the lockers everywhere, useable with a 1 Euro coin (which returns to you when you re-insert the key)
- traffic lights that turn orange before they go green
- the road signs saying "Stadtmitte", giving you a handy guide to where the local shops (etc) will be
- the bakeries and their wonderful pastries
- crepe stands in the street
- having France a few hours' drive away
- buskers who really know how to play the piano accordian
- squirrels
- little old ladies who stop me in the street to admonish me to put a hat on my son (yes, this is annoying - but I still find it rather sweet)


German Things I Will Not Miss

- the ice
- having to pay to use the loos
- traffic lights that only sit on one side of the intersection, making it impossible to see them if you're at the front
- freeway exits that seem designed for maximum chaos
- bakeries that DON'T HAVE MEAT PIES (oh the humanity!)
- all the food using pork instead of beef
- driving on the right side of the road


Aussie Things I Really Miss Right Now

- summer!
- cafés and coffee shops
- pies, sausage rolls, dim sims, thai food, hamburgers with the lot, flake, pavlova, lamb, and fruit that doesn't go off within a day
- magpie song
- footpaths that don't have cobblestones (prams are a pain to use in old towns)
- houses without steps up to the front door
- shops that are open on Sundays and in the evenings
- my family
- my cat



...so there's that.

Comments

[ruuger]

the lockers everywhere, useable with a 1 Euro coin (which returns to you when you re-insert the key)

traffic lights that turn orange before they go green

o_0 You don't have those in Australia? It always fascinates me how things you take for granted are totally different in other countries.

(I'm still amused by your reaction to the squirrels - I'd just always assumed that squirrels were everywhere, like rats)

Also, what's the deal with Australian meat pies? I just saw a Simon Baker interview where he was lamenting the fact that his children failed to get excited when he bought them meat pies. Is it like salmiakki and ryebread are to Finnish ex-pats?

[deird1]

Meat pies are... well, having never been to the US, I'm not sure if hotdogs are a good comparison, but... yeah, they're like hotdogs. As in: standard yummy lunch you can get anywhere, and ALWAYS buy for ball games, and a place that doesn't sell them is like WHY WOULD I EVEN GO THERE? THEY HAVE NO PIES! because meat pies are just the epitome of normal and life without them is rather incomplete.

[beroli]

We don't have the orange lights or the lockers in America, either. Our traffic lights have five settings:
Green. Go.
Yellow. If you're already in the intersection keep going. If you can avoid getting into it, do so.
Red. Don't go.
Flashing yellow. The control system for the lights at this intersection is busted; pay attention to the other cars and drive carefully.
Flashing red. The control system for the lights at this intersection is busted; pay attention to the other cars, drive carefully, and people going the other way (who have a flashing yellow light) have the right of way over you if it's otherwise unclear who should go.

[deird1]

We're like you, but with only the first four.

[ruuger]

Finland has green (go), orange (light is about to turn red), red (stop), red and orange both (light is about to turn green), and flashing range (lights are not working, so give way to right hand traffic). Pedestrians only have green, red, and flashing green (meaning that the light is about to turn red).

[deird1]

Germany has those, plus white flashing on the right-hand turns, to point out that the side road has a green pedestrian signal, so you know to look out for people crossing.