Observations From Our 1st Month

Tomorrow will be one month since we left Dallas and arrived in our new home. According to the "Phases of Cross-Cultural Adjustment" we have been in the exhilaration phase. Accompanied by a sense of mission and tourist enthusiasm, we have met many new friends & colleagues, set up our permanent quarters, and started exploring sights and shops. Here are a few observations thus far.

• Driving here is probably similar to NYC or some other very busy city. You have to be aggressive. Like in the US, the lights here go from green to yellow to red to stop but unlike in the US, they also go from red to yellow to green to go. You will get honked at if your foot is not off the brake when it turns from red to yellow in anticipation of green! Most roads were not built for 2 cars to pass each other at the same time. If you are approaching someone on one of these roads, one just pulls over to let the other pass. I think the person on the right has the right-of-way, but I don't think it usually matters. You always wave "thanks" to people when they pull over for you. In general, people do not honk out of anger, they only honk to get you to go. Cutting people off here seems to be OK, there is not road rage in that regard. To fill up my small tank, it costs approximately $100. The price of gas here is around $7.00 a gallon. Good thing I've been on the same tank now for the last 2 weeks!
• Mr. Clean is called Mr. Proper.
• British children's television is about 25 years behind American TV. We have a British satellite that came with our flat. The kids channel has the following kids show line-up: Strawberry Shortcake & Friends, The Bearenstein Bears, Ruppert, My Little Pony, and some show with Glow Worms. I remember all these shows and toys from when I was little!
• Kids pee anywhere around here. They strip down naked whenever they feel like it. Caden has "watered" lots of plants here and there too!
• Everyone walks. Everywhere. The thing I love the most is to see little old couples walking around and they are always holding hands. Not sure if this is to prevent falls or because they love each other. I prefer to think the latter :)
• Good wine is CHEAP! I have found this brand I like of Cabernet that is less than 500 forint. That is around $3.00.
• Diet Coke is called Coke Light. They also have Coke Zero here which I was happy to see. We found Dr. Pepper at Culinaris - a gourmet and international foods store. It was $2.00 for a small bottle, so I don't think we'll have it too often.
• They make the most amazing soft pretzels here. Kyle has always been a fan, but now I am too. They are perfect, not oily like the ones you get in the US. All the fresh bread here is really good.
• The dress code is quite loose. Now I'm not saying the ladies ARE loose, but you might think so based on their attire. Walking down the street at 2:00pm on Tuesday, you might think you are about to walk into a dance club looking at the way some women are dressed. Lots of TIGHT and SHORT skirts and shirts. Very interesting...
• Ice cream or gellato is everywhere. Its not just something for kids. Many adults will be eating it as well. They have yummy fresh fruit flavors and chocolate-type flavors too. Caden's favorite is "green" if we can find it - like a sour apple!
• The ex-pat community sticks close and everyone is so welcoming. I think it is because we are each others family while we are here together. I look forward to spending US holidays with everyone when we are not in the US. We are already prepared for Halloween for Reese with a hand-me-down outfit from Kari-Ann.
• Labor is pretty cheap here. We plan to hire our flat manager's wife to do cleaning and iron for us. She charges 1000 forint/hour. That is around $6.00/hour. Pretty good considering all the ironing we have piling up! So, dry cleaning is expensive, but having someone iron is not... Babysitters are supposed to be inexpensive as well. Now we just need to find one!
• Men here wear lots of capri pants.
• Most people smoke. I'm so surprised that it is still so common here. We have been able to find some restaurants where there are non-smoking sections. I worry about this with Reese & Caden.

I know there is so much more, but this is all I can think of for now. The next phase of adjustment is bewilderment, disenchantment, and restlessness. Not looking forward to that phase at all! Hopefully we will continue to do well skip over the next few phases to get to normal again!