Dépaysement

Things I miss:

Strings on my tea bags-- there's no way to dip the bags here without burning your fingers. On the plus side, at least tea is dirt cheap.

Normal tap water-- not only does the tap water taste aweful (and I'm not one to be picky), but it also has a weird habit of not mixing temperatures, even though it goes through one tap. Seems impossible, but somehow, you try to wash dishes with warm water, and end up with a stream that is hot in the front and cold in the back. The exception to this is the shower, which is electrically regulated to stay at the same temp-- very nice.

Dollar bills-- my wallet is hardly capable of handling all the change, since euros have both one and two euro denominations as coins.

Brownie mix, cake mix, and instant baking goods-- even chocolate chips are hard to find here. I'm fine without my tube of cookie dough, but seriously, how do people who can't bake do their baking?

Erin with our first attempt at cake, made from scratch, without measuring spoons. It turned out looking more like pancakes than cake...

Door handles that make sense-- you don't realize it, but door handles in the US follow a certain logic: horizontal bars = push, vertical bars = pull, and a bunch of other unwritten rules. Now, I just push and pull on everything, and kind of look like an idiot.

Any lunch meat besides ham-- for some reason, turkey and chicken is nearly impossible to come by, and then only in tiny packages for 5 times the price.

Skim milk-- only comes in tiny containers, for double the price. Ah well.

Barnes & Nobel cafes-- there really isn't anywhere to go sit and sip coffee. The cafes only have a couple of tables, so I would feel weird staying there for a long time. I'm seriously considering taking up the Irish pastime of hanging out in pubs during the day just to get out of my room to read and write-- Joyce did it, why shouldn't I?

We did discover that the food court at St. Stephen's Green Mall is actually pretty classy-- but we're reasonably sure you have to buy something to stay there. Still, nice chairs, nice views, nice tea, not too shabby.

Mechanical pencils-- not popular here. Good thing I brought lots of spare lead.

Properly heated buildings-- it may not get THAT cold, but the buildings aren't far above outdoors temperature, so dress warmly!

Things I've Found:

Nutella in glass jars

Reusing Nutella jars-- they can be very useful!

Writing on the street to tell you which way to look as you cross

Big bread that doesn't squish to nothing

Light switches on your headboard

Happy hippos

A delicious candy-cookie creation in the shape of an adorable hippo, by the people who make Beunos.

Blacklights in bathrooms

Heated towel racks

Tapdancing Seagulls

All in all, very different, but not entirely a bad move.  The light switches by your headboard should definitely be brought to the US.