The culture shock of arriving in a new country can be severe. Possibly you're driving on what feels like the wrong side of the road, the street signs may be in a different language and none of the items in the supermarket look vaguely familiar.
For an expat, the first 6 to 12 months can bring all sorts of surprises. Over time though, we begin to adjust and maybe even forget about the things we originally felt we couldn't live without . On a good day when the sun is shining and you're enjoying what your new country has to offer, you start to feel like there's really not that much difference between where you are now and where you were originally from.
And then something happens.
Today, the battery in my car went flat. For about a minute I stood looking at the car wondering what happens next. I then remembered hearing G say something about an organization that we were a part of - if only I'd listened to what they were called. I had a quick search through the car and of course found nothing. I rang G. He was in a meeting. I rang a girlfriend who then gave me the number of AAA. Yep - that sounds about right.
I spoke to a man and had a conversation that involved me repeating the number 28 at least 48 times. When the man finally came, he went to number 7.
When he rang me from number 7 I told him I'd stand out the front so he could see me. I was expecting someone to arrive in a vehicle maybe looking something a bit like this:
Nope.
When he approached I wondered if he was the pizza delivery guy. He arrived in this:
After much discussion where neither understood what the other was saying, we both agreed that the battery was dead. He assured me all was okay because he had "jumping leads".
His jumping leads did the trick and the car was back in action.
I learnt something new today. It turns out car batteries last maybe 2 summers in this heat if you're lucky. We've just finished our second summer. Who knew?
Thank you Mr AAA for your jumping leads - maybe next time could bring along a large Hawaiian?
When he approached I wondered if he was the pizza delivery guy. He arrived in this:
After much discussion where neither understood what the other was saying, we both agreed that the battery was dead. He assured me all was okay because he had "jumping leads".
His jumping leads did the trick and the car was back in action.
I learnt something new today. It turns out car batteries last maybe 2 summers in this heat if you're lucky. We've just finished our second summer. Who knew?
Thank you Mr AAA for your jumping leads - maybe next time could bring along a large Hawaiian?
What have you learnt in your travels?
I have learned to throw my expectations out the window....but I tend to forget that and am either shocked, surprised, and/or disappointed. You'd think I'd learn...maybe one day, maybe one day. ;)
ReplyDeleteCar batteries in Arizona lasted about a year - learned that the hard way - but at least I could understand most of what was being said by the technician (lots of only-Spanish speakers in TX). Here in Korea, when you tell the person you're talking to that you do not speak or understand Korean, their response is, invariably, to continue speaking loudly and swiftly in Korean, like something is suddenly going to click in and you'll magically understand. Fortunately for us foreigners, there is a phone number you can call for free translation, but that's not always available. Would have been useful yesterday when 3 of us ladies got lost on the way to a ceramics outlet!
ReplyDeleteOf course! Arizona would be exactly the same. Same extreme heat. I had no idea and felt like such a Wally when I had to have it explained. Don't you just wish you could insert some sort of language chip in to your brain.
ReplyDeleteExactly - I know EXACTLY what you mean! :-)
ReplyDeleteIf you don't flick on the switch on the myserious second light switch outside the bathroom you will not get hot water. Who knew?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter which country you move to, seems like there's always something you end up learning the hard way !! Glad the "pizza guy" got it sorted :-)
ReplyDeleteIf you don't lift up the small lever at the pump (bowzer) at the Shell gas stations in California, you don't get gas (petrol). But if you DO lift up the same lever at the BP service stations, you DON'T get gas. If you ignore all levers at the gas station on the corner - whose name I cannot recall b/c it is small and independent but it has a colourful rainbow striped logo - you will ALWAYS get gas.
ReplyDeleteThis much I know!
Oh hang on. Sorry. At Shell, if you DO lift up the lever you DO get gas. It is hard to remember which rules apply to which servos! I just go to the little man on the corner and he sorts everything out.
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs a little man on the corner.
I once spent a very frustrating hour going from kitchen store to kitchen store in Nairobi, Kenya asking for cookie sheets. One after another the Indian owners would tell me they did not have cookie sheets. Until I happened to see them on a shelf.
ReplyDelete"Here they are!" I said, ecstatic.
"Oh, no Membsab," the owner said, "They are biscuit tins!"
To this day I wonder why these guys didn't ask me what a cookie sheet was, or what it was used for, so at least they wouldn't pass up a sale. Actually, I do know why they didn't ask: In some cultures you won't ever admit that you don't know or understand something ;)
Wow - all the things I have to look forward to... I'm assuming it will be the same with the heat in Cairo, but really have no idea.
ReplyDeleteWe have one of those! If you don't flick the mystery switch in the kitchen an air conditioner in a different room doesn't work. I read your comment out to some friends today, many giggles.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember the same problem in Libya so you might be okay. But then again...maybe not :-)
ReplyDeleteNod and smile, nod and smile. :-)
ReplyDeleteGod Bless the little man on the corner!
ReplyDeleteThis post made me laugh, today I was on the phone and was asked my number, it was an automated service and for some reason or another it just oculd not figure out my english accent, I was saying the number four, and for some reason it thought I was saying zero (go figure) I am living in the US so you would think that it would have understood my english accent, but alas it didn't and I eventually got put through to a real person!!!
ReplyDeleteYes! I remember having to bang on the fake American Accent every time I had to talk to an automated machine. "no" can quickly turn in to "noooooooooo, nooooooooo, noooooooooo"
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog by way of Life in the Expat Lane! Crazy that they would have triple A, which is how Americans refer to it ;-) the funny thing is in the US I would've been highly suspicious of the guy on the motorcycle, but when you're abroad your expectations totally shift.
ReplyDeleteAm reminded almost daily that this is not a me-centric world. That people move across cultures and then are surprised by differences is amazing...and yet we do, lol!
ReplyDeleteAweee....too funny!!!! Thanks for sharing, least it was not the lookof the vehicle that mattered most :-)
ReplyDeleteLol! Very interesting to see the differences sometimes!
ReplyDeleteWhen you move to Australia and your 3 year old son is taught a song about Santa wearing thongs in pre-school... Who knew undies and footwear had a common name?!
ReplyDeleteI remember being in Jakarta years ago and listening to a very straight Aussie woman explaining to her Brit friend that she couldn't wait to get down to the beach and get back in to her thongs. I could see the Brit thinking "wow, never would have picked it".
ReplyDeleteLove reading your blog! I've only ever lived in the US, but have had some of the same type of culture shocks. I grew up in the Midwest (with my paternal family) but now live in Hawaii (with my maternal family). Same country, but some huge cultural differences!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just trying to find out what "a large Hawaiian" means to an Aussie living in Qatar...