Now THAT'S going to take some getting used to! Part 3

Out and about:

You have to go to the tabbaccheria (tobacco shop) to get a stamp to mail a letter.  You then drop it in the red mailbox located just outside the shop.  So what do you do at the post office?  You pay your bills.  For anything from apartment rent to a parking ticket to a hospital stay, you get a “ticket” to take to the post office to pay.

The dates are reversed.  Today is 24/2/2012.

Keyboards have extra letters.  The regular 26 are the same, but Italians need extra keys for accented letters like è í ò, and other symbols like the Euro €.

Commas and decimal points are reversed.  Working in estimating, this really gets me.  Three and a half is 3,5  and ten thousand Euro is 10.000,00 €.  Either way would have been fine, but whoever decided that Europe the US should be opposite is an idiot.

Paper size is slightly different.  Instead of 8.5x11, they have A4, which is 8,27x11,69.  No real problem, just strange to look at.

The metric system.  Yes, the metric system far superior to the crazy units we use in the States, but I’m just not used to thinking in kilos.  And for baking, they measure flour etc in grams.

Shops close for lunch from 12:30 until 3:30, and close for the evening at 7:30.  And they are closed on Sundays.

You can only go to a restaurant for lunch between 12:30 and 2, and for dinner after 8:00.

Most intersections are roundabouts.  This basically eliminates left turns.  Genius.

The majority of the household goods we buy, especially food and clothing, are produced in Italy.  Very impressive.

Curious about anything else?  Leave a comment or Facebook me.  Or call, but if you call me, you won’t hear a ring, you’ll hear a tone.  If I don’t answer, it will go to voicemail.  You’ll hear Italian at first, then my recording, more Italian, and finally a beep.  I don’t have caller ID, so if you don’t leave a message, I won’t know who the missed call was from.