Embrace the Differences

Observations about things so far…

 

Apparently this is a push not pull country when it comes to entering buildings.  All doors go opposite from what we are used to doing. Three days in and I’m starting to get it right at least some of the time.  On Monday the kids couldn’t get into the play place here at the hotel.  Ben pulled with all his strength but couldn’t make that stubborn door budge.  It was kind of funny actually as I stood on the playground motioning for him to push and giggling to myself.  Funny that even a six year old has that written in his subconscious brain already.

 

Same thing about the light switches.  Down is no longer off.  Up is off.  This one could drive me batty.  I’m a little neurotic when it comes to having all the light switches lined up in my home (see this story if you don’t believe me).

 

Our driver picked us up from the airport and took us to the van/bus thing.  He said to leave the luggage at the back and come sit down while he loaded it up.  He went around to the driver side and we herded the kids to the passenger side to load them in.  Only there was no door.  Oh yeah.  We looked at each other.  It won’t be the last time we make that mistake.  The driver had gone to the passenger side to open our door for us.   Lucky for us, slow moving kids masked our mistake and I don’t think he noticed our flub up.

 

Driving home from the airport began thinking about how we sure had been on a lot of expressways or divided/one way roads.  Then I finally realized there were no cars on the other side of the road, because they drive on the other side of the road.  Turning my head to the other side I found all the other traffic.

 

We walk to the grocery store for everything.  It’s not a bad walk, but we have to carry everything we buy plus our kids.  The stroller didn’t fit in the air freight box so I just gave it away before we moved.  Probably should have kept it and checked it on the airplane.  In the moment though it was one more thing to carry and I was trying to minimize.  By the time our other stroller arrives in sea freight we’ll live in the suburbs and won’t need it quite so badly.  I knew.  I just didn’t think.  Oh well.

 

My frustration level is really high right now.  Don’t really want to talk to anyone and certainly not about “how do you feel about” this and that.  The answer is crappy and like I want to cry all the time.  It’s better to just leave it be for now.  I need a few weeks to normalize to my new life.  And even then, in about six weeks, right when I start to figure out my life, we will move again and start all over.  We knew exactly what we were getting into when we agreed to this assignment and in the long run it’s going to be amazing and something I will never regret doing.  It’s the here and now that is hard.