(Athens on a nice, sunny day. ☀ Unrelating to showers, I know. )
Shower time is my personal thinking time. I’ve become a pro at questioning the most random of the random while I’m scrubbing my hair, as I’m sure it is a good thinking time for other people as well.
So here are some random thoughts I’ve had while being here in Greece. Only have been here a full week and I’ve had a lot on my mind already questioning the differences between Europe and America.
01. I find it interesting how the internet language changes once you sign onto local wifi. Over here, Google.com becomes .gr. Believe me, I’ve typed in .com and it automatically becomes .gr. Anything connected to Google such as Blogger changes to .gr. At least there’s an option to change the language to English once you log in to local wifi. Facebook also has a “click for translation”, giving you the option to translate to Greek from English. Something minor as signing onto wifi I find amusing.
02. This was something I have thought about a few times before, and I feel like it’s a no brainer, but I find it funny to think about the animals responding to the local language. In foreign countries, speaking English to animals is useless because you get no reaction just as if you were to speak another language to American pets, you know? Once you leave your home country, not only is the language different for people, but it’s different for animals too.
03. Can someone explain to me why America is so against using the metric system? Did we have to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the world to prove that we can become bigger and better by using our own measuring units? I hate that I can’t figure out the differences between pounds and kilos, Fahrenheit and Celsius, inches and centimeters. I know it doesn’t take much effort to figure it out (I should have paid attention in school when I was younger to remember these things, I know I know) but it’s just stupid having to resort to Google for the conversion. I’m pretty sure only America opted out of the metric system, and I find that kinda ignorant.
04. I also mentioned the differences in plugs and outlets? Like, why can’t there be a universal plug? Are there different electrical currents the requires the design of the prongs to be different? I’m sure there’s a reason for it, but it makes life slightly complicated having to read up on volts and watts and this and that when traveling out of the country. The thought of frying my expensive electronics scares me.
05. Europeans are so fascinated with American life and culture. But I honestly can’t tell if it’s genuine fascination or mockery. I’ve found that Greek slang involves American words; I’m sure it’s like that in other countries as well. I’ve also found that when I come across people around here that find out I’m from the U.S., they get such a kick out of speaking their broken English to me. The kids here are probably more fascinated than the adults; their eyes light up when we talk of America. And they widen even more when they find out I hail from New York. They have such high thoughts of New York City, putting it up on a pedestal. It’s so strange.
These aren’t as amusing as other documented shower thoughts, but these are some things I’ve been thinking about since my time here (yes, still only a week – too soon to be judging already) If you want amusing shower thoughts, I highly recommend the Twitter account @rshowerthoughts.
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