Little European and American Differences Pt. 2

A big cultural difference that I still cannot understand is how much more smoking there is here. Outside of the cafeteria at the university, there are plenty of students and some teachers smoking. When I went to see a world cup match, I sat with my lab mate’s roommates. One of his roommates rolled and then smoked at least five cigarettes while I was there and I came late. 

Another just different thing is that the locks on the doors are upside down. At my house in the US, the jagged side of the key is up. However, for all of the locks here, the jagged side is down. I think that people thought I was dumb because it took me a good two weeks to stop putting the key in upside down.

Another thing that I just didn’t expect was that the papers are longer here. Printer paper isn’t 8”x11”. I honestly do not know the size, but the width is similar and the length is greater. I only noticed it because the European papers do not fit in my American binder.

I swear that the toilet paper is longer here, too. At home, toilet paper sheets are squares, but here they are rectangles. I obviously did not bring any toilet paper with me, so I cannot verify this, but I am pretty sure it is true.

I also am pretty sure that the utensils are longer here. The knives and forks do not fit the same way in my hands. It leads to the utensils being off balance in my hands and me not being able to use them as well. 

Another thing that threw me for a loop a bit is that you cannot know whether to pull or push a door when you walk up to it. In the States, if a door has a handle, you pull, and if a door has a horizontal bar or a flat plate, then you push. However, here all doors have handles that you must turn. This means that you cannot just look at a door and know how to get through it. I do not understand why this is.