not all light switches switch the other way. they vary from switch to switch.
eastern Europe has its own smell. western Europe has its own smell. within eastern Europe, Slovakia’s smell varies slightly from Bosnia’s. within western Europe, Germany’s varies slightly from the UK’s. I think the water must play a large part in this. I’m surprised I never noticed it before.
Best response to the stories so far:
Jeff wrote: “…i hope everything’s going well in the old country… just make sure when you rub the paint off the walls that you’re not eating it afterwards!!!!”
…Which is funny, because there is this Yugoslavian (can I use that word?) director who did all these famous movies, all very dark, and in the one the main character, a boy, eats the walls.
People don’t honk their car horn when someone else gets in their way, they honk when they are getting in someone else’s way. Not Hey asshole don’t pull out in front of me! rather Hey asshole I’m pulling out in front of you.
While Europe wins in aesthetic design, functional design definitely goes to the States. Things here are designed in ways that they either do not work intuitively at all (no matter your cultural background), or have certain elements of their design that work against their main function.
…Toilets are a perfect example. Now, there has already been much discussion about Eastern European toilets ref.
…Another winner is our clothes dryer. Now, most of you should be thinking, Eastern Europe, you should be happy to even have a dryer. True, but this is discussion about bad design nothing else. The lint catcher in this dryer is a circular filter that does not come out and sits around the opening. This means that not only can you not properly clean the lint from the thing, but even if you spend an hour cleaning it, when you remove your clothes, lint still gets all over them.
Workers also do not seem to take as much pride in their work. Not sure if it a holdover from the communist days or what, but, just for example, we live in a brand new building and there are permanent marks all over from installations and interior construction. Even as simple as grout that was left on the floor or tile; or some very black, very permanent trail on the stairs that goes from one floor to another…or those random light switches…