Adapting to new environment. The trickiness of everyday life

Posted On November 24, 2018

Visiting or moving to a new country comes together with some everyday struggles or improvements coming from the differences between the place you’re visiting and your home that you would not have anticipated. It can be an interesting, funny or even frustrating experience. Enjoy and take a lesson from my mistakes 😉

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Disclaimer: This article is biased and subjective and is told from a perspective of someone who grew up in Central Europe in a post-communist country, which is a category in itself. So if you happen to be from somewhere else you might find these comparisons irrelevant.

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Navigating through intersections

This was one of the things I noticed right on day 1 when I was trying to navigate myself to my first accommodation. Above every (major) intersection there is a sign hanging above telling you what street it is crossed by. Let’s say you are on Main Street and there comes an intersection with Hastings Street. From your point of view there would be a sign saying “Hastings St” hanging above the intersection. If you are coming from Hastings Street the sign would say “Main St”.

Of course, you might ask, what is so special about this? Well, honestly this was the first time I saw this kind of road signs and I find it super practical for helping to navigate your way. You do not have to constantly check the map to know when you finally reached the intersection you need to take the turn at!

I must confess though that on my first day I got it totally wrong and thought the signs show the name of the street you are currently on. I know it does not make much sense to be reminded of what street you are on (unless you have really bad memory and get lost easily…or actually, it might be useful when I think about it!) but to my defence I was very tired and haven’t encountered this marking system before. (OK, it happened to me one or two more times again, my excuse – adaptation takes some time!)

(Un)locking the mystery of doorknobs

This caused a lot of frustration for me at the beginning. The locking of these handles just does not make sense at all. What I am used to is a classical door handle with a separate key lock under it. You put the key in and turn the key towards the door frame and the key takes the whole circle and – TADAAA – the door is locked.

Here the most common mechanism is a door knob or a handle with a key lock right in it. You twist the knob to open the door, that part is easy. But the locking system is a nightmare! I never get it right the first time I get to lock/unlock a new door here. It can take whatever side to turn the key to and usually it is only a quarter of a circle. Then you have to turn it back again in order to be able to get the key out.

The following situation happened to me with several doors here: I wanted to lock and nothing happened, tried again, opened the door, locked it, then I wanted to check if I can unlock and I could not. Then the door unlocked and I did not know how I did it and this process continued for about 5 minutes. Then I started to feel stupid, checked if the door was locked and went away and hoped for the best to be able to get back inside again.

And I am still struggling every time I get a key to another door. One more thing! I still haven’t quite figured out how to use the button on privacy lock knobs, which allows to lock to the door only from one side (e.g. to lock the bathroom or bedroom door from the inside). I pushed and/or twisted the button and wanted to check if it is locked so I twisted the knob and the door opened. And the main question in my head still stays – does it unlock from the inside automatically when I twist the knob or it wasn’t locked at all? I gave up on this and decided to be loud in the bathroom to prevent people to jump accidentally in while I’m in there (yes, the joys of shared living).

TT – Tricky (water) Taps

What could be tricky about water taps you ask? Oh, you have no idea about all the possible ways of how to make the water flow from it. In a month I stayed in 3 different homes in the same city and in each of them I have found something tricky! I already was looking forward to another riddle as I was moving to a new place.

Yes even back home there could be different water tap designs but usually it is either a single lever that you pull up to make the water flow and you turn it from right to left to control the temperature. Or there are two taps you need to twist.

So what are the tricky designs here?

Situation 1: The Shower Tap

Standing in a shower after a long journey from Europe to Canadian West Coast staring at the wall where the tap is fixed. The tap looks ordinary. I grab the handle and try to pull it away from the wall. Nothing happens. Hmmm….

I twist the handle. The water starts to flow! Yey!!! Not only does it flow but the stream is super strong right from the start. And more importantly it is COLD as hell! I turn the tap off in panic. Thinking and shivering I twist the handle again. The water blows with all its force from the tap. I am not giving up yet and keep twisting the handle further. By now the amount of water that flowed out could have made half of Sahara to bloom but I keep going! Suddenly I start to feel my feet again, the water got warmer, yey! I turn on the shower mode, the water falls on my head from the shower head. Ouch, ouch, ouch! Hot, hot, hot! Yeah, I should have anticipated that, I know, my fault!

As I have moved around I came to conclusion that this is a standard shower tap arrangement here.

Situation 2: The Sink Tap 

I just moved to a new Airbnb, said a quick “hi” to my host, changed the clothes quickly and rushed to the city for a meeting. Fast forward a few ciders later, the early evening turned into a late night and I step into the apartment trying to be as quiet as possible. I should probably mention that the apartment was shared with my host who was already sleeping. I get to the bathroom for the first time in this place. Ha, I am already knowledgeable about shower tap so I manage this without any burns or frostbites. But there is another trap waiting for me as I want to brush my teeth. The bathroom sink tap.

There is just one tap but no lever attached to it. I try to twist it. Nothing. I try to push it. Nothing. I try every possible movement and start to think about how to brush the teeth in the shower (with all the trickiness mentioned above!). But I am also thirsty and the kitchen and living room where the host sleeps is basically a one big common space and I do not want to make noise and wake her up.

As I became more desperate, in a sudden moment of illumination, I put my hand on the tap and pulled it towards me. And the water started to flow to the sink. Another little victory in a brave new world. I could go to sleep and not die from dehydration and enjoy the little hangover the next day.

This is not the end

Dear reader, this list of every day differences is not exhaustive but since this post is already long I will present you some more in another one. For now, please have a laugh on my silliness and ignorance and learn from my mistakes.

P.S.: This article broadened my knowledge and vocabulary on the topic of door locks and water taps. It is highly probable that while looking up the words in dictionary and checking the online shops selling doors and bathroom accessories I chose the incorrect expression. Thus it is possible you have no idea what I was talking about. In that case I do apologize. In case you have an idea and know a better way to describe this highly important and sensitive topic, please leave a comment and I will be more than happy to update the post 😉

P.P.S: And of course, if you have similar stories from your travels please share them in comments!