> I promise -- cross my heart -- never to do this again, Ah yes. Please complain to me freely if I start writing about something uninteresting or otherwise unsuitable. I am, according to my friends, clueless <g>. In fact, I could just send this whole email privately to Tamara, but since I already put this disclaimer on top and I want people to tell me what I should avoid writing, I might as well send it - don't read on if you're not interested in small things foreigners can find annoying/surprising in the US.
> >I wonder whether they'll ever evolve Polish versions, or just stay > >like this. > > I wonder myself... We now have a "mikrofalowka" (microwave) but, can we > "zap" or "nuke" our food in it? Not as far as I've been able to > determine... :) I've never had one in Poland - I suspect not. Verbs are harder to assimilate. > >which is a pity - you can do amazing things with the Polish language > >if you > >try. > > That you can... But, usually, it takes up much more space; just look at > the number of pages in any Dickens volume, in the original and then in > Polish :) Yep. Another amusing difference - we have much longer sentences. Many of my professors complain about the length of my sentences (once the question said: answer in three sentences or less, and I wrote about half a page...). > Tee hee... So, on my 2nd day in Lexington, I go to a Hallmark store, to > buy a box of stationery, to write my parents more than I could put in > the telegram (anyone remember *those*? <g>)... I pick a cheap-o box for > $2, go to the cashier and she says: "that'll be $2.08" (our tax was 4% > then; it's 4.5 now)... Say *what*??? Some very small things can be confusing too - American cashiers always say how much money you just gave them, which is a good idea, but I often think they're trying to tell me I didn't give them enough money or something... > >in the US there aren't any small grocery stores > > There *are*, in some towns; as a matter of fact my son lives within a 5 > minute walk of one (Palo Alto, CA) and uses it all the time. But it's still not like in Poland - in Poland I could find a grocery store pretty much anywhere if I walked around a bit, which was good if I wanted some cookies or whatever. Doesn't work like this here. > But they > *are* more expensive than the stores which shift merchandise in great > bulk, so you have to be willing to "put your money where your mouth is" > to shop there on a regular basis. They're mostly more expensive in Poland too, but a lot easier to use as far as I'm concerned. Although Polish farmer's markets are still cheaper than anything else. > *And* you have to be willing to walk > -- there and back (loaded with the groceries). Which, not all Americans > are (including some who run, daily, for exercise <g>). Go to a mall > parking lot, and observe: some people will spend more time circling > around, looking for a near spot, than it would take them to park far > away and walk. Oh yes. I always wonder whether all those people I see running in the morning (quite a lot of them, which is good) drive everywhere during the day... > Don't know what's wrong with *yours*, but... To me, windows ought to > have two -- large and unbroken (to allow for maximum light and for a > "dead air" cushion, both in summer and in winter) -- glass panes. And > they should open *out*, on hinges, like doors (so-called "casement" > windows). Or, if you go for a more modern version, on a swivel, which > allows you to open the top in, and the bottom out, and vice-versa. The > Danish windows are a miracle and a delight, in that, you can open them > *either* on the mid-swivel, *or* at the side... <g> > > All the windows, around where I'm at, are *sash* windows (you move half > of it up or down, and it -- *always* -- gets stuck). And each half of > the window is divided into 8 cutsey little panes... A practice which > made a lot of sense 600 yrs ago, when glassmaking wasn't all that well > developed and big sheets of it were an impossibility but, *now*??? The ones here are "sash" windows too, which is mildly annoying, or very annoying if they get stuck, which mine definitely do. Also, they have only one sheet of glass and no rubber stuff on the sides, so they're nowhere nearly as soundproof as the ones we had in Poland, which is very annoying here. Also, the ants can get through, and it's really easy to open the windows from the outside without breaking anything. Ah, and they all have those insect nets, which isn't a bad idea, but the nets don't open or come out! I like to be able to lean out my windows... At least they aren't divided into small pieces. But then windows in California generally aren't very big to start with, it seems. I was really hoping I could get "real" windows when I bought an apartment/house... > DH says that, should a neighbour's kid lob a ball into one's window, > it's easier to replace a small pane than a large one. True. But, in my > 31 years here, we had *one* case of a kid (with a BB gun) break a > windowpane, while it ain't DH who tries to wash 32 corners for every > *half* window... Bah, humbug.... :) Washing windows - now there's an idea... I think I vacuumed my apartment twice since I moved in about 8 months ago. And I washed the kitchen a few times, mostly to get rid of the ant invasions <g>. I sure never thought of washing windows... > >I get the time confused as well - in Poland we sometimes say 4 > >when we mean 16 or 4pm, but we pretty much always write 16, so when I > >see pm hours in emails, I often miss the pm and show up 12 hours > >early... > > Your satisfaction -- if you happen to have a mean streak, which I do -- > will come from watching Americans at European airports and train > stations, trying to figure out the time tables/schedules :) 17:05? > What's that? Only the army uses the 24hr clock. Hi hi. That shouls be lots of fun. By the way, why in the world does the army read their 24h clock in hundreds? Weronika (confused in Caltech, Pasadena, California) To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
