what i do differently now

since i’ve recently passed the year and a half abroad mark, i thought i’d share a collection of things i do differently now than back home in the states. some of it is completely out of necessity but some of them are things i might decide to adopt if and when i return. so let’s have a look….

FOOD/COOKING

• I used a counter-top “dorm” refrigerator for over six months until we upgraded to a medium-sized one last fall. there really wasn’t a freezer so anything frozen had to be consumed immediately. it has been nice for reducing waste- you have to really look at your food more!
• generally, i have to buy soup in packets, if i don’t make it myself. cans are expensive, heavier, and take up more room! curiously, spices are generally sold in packets as well.
• i go shopping almost exclusively at discount grocery stores! this is quite different, as i did quite the opposite in seattle, shopping at the stores that had all the local and organic products i like. i just find it easier, more stream-lined, and cheaper to do it this way now.

• i buy dried beans and have to soak them overnight and cook them for at least an hour before use! canned beans aren’t as common and are much more expensive. i often forget to soak them though, so to me this one would be a downgrade.
• i reheat all food on the stove-top or in the oven. before this adventure i thought that having a microwave was one of those can’t live without appliances, but now i feel otherwise.
• i make special bus trips to the fancy grocery stores to buy hard to find things like tofu, peanut butter, and anything name brand.
• i buy tea that costs $1 for 25 bags! the low cost of tea here isn’t doing anything to curb my tea addiction.

• generally, i cook A LOT more. i only used to cook for myself back home, but now i cook for both of us… usually about 4 nights a week. surprisingly, alex has really gotten used to my vegan stir-fries and tofu curries!
• if i can’t find it in stores, i make it from scratch, which has been a huge boost to my cooking knowledge! kim chi, pancake batter, hollandaise sauce, gravy, oatmeal NOT from a packet, almond milk, granola, birthday cakes… just a handful of things i would always buy in the U.S. but here have had to figure out how to make. i like this change, but i really miss mac n’ cheese from a box!
• i drink turkish brewed coffee at home– no need for filters or fancy brewing equipment and the results are good! a huge step up from the nescafe instant i was drinking for my first nine months here! i like brewing turkish (below), but i do miss making pour-over coffee sometimes.

AROUND THE HOUSE…

• i dry my clothes on a rack, not in a dryer, like most expats living in europe do. i actually like this better as i feel better about it environmentally, but i do miss dryers for washing sheets!
• haven’t used a hair-dryer in over nine months! realized i totally could live without it after i didn’t bring it camping last summer.
• i color/cut my own hair now. sure i gave one czech salon a try, but then realized i could do it cheaply myself and actually get (close to) the haircut i want. i do miss the salon, but i’m happy with this option for the time being.
• two words: GERMAN COMFORTERS. (at least that’s what i call ‘em: separate comforters per person rather than two people sharing one large comforter) no more fighting over the blanket.
• i throw aluminum cans away. I KNOW, i feel so awful about it. but there is no aluminum recycling here that i have found yet in CZ.

DAILY LIFE

• i write dates “backwards”- today is 7.4.14. honestly, i prefer the american system on this one!
• i have to go to the post office to pick up parcels, after getting a little slip in the mail alerting me of their arrival. not the biggest fan, but i think security is really valued in CZ.
• still in the process of transitioning to celcius instead of farenheit, cm instead of inches, grams and liters instead of oz, cups, and pints, km instead of miles.
• write the time as 20:00 instead of 8pm, or “military time” as we’d say. i actually have always preferred this system, so i haven’t even really had to adapt to this at all.
• i british-ize my vocabulary by accident. (please tell me i’m not the only one!) it must be all the hours i spend with students, as i generally teach british english over the american variety for obvious geographical reasons. i’ve said flat (instead of apartment… much to the chagrin of my friends back home), queue (instead of line), lift (instead of elevator), bin (instead of can), and many more on the regular. one time i even said “to-mah­-toes” instead of “to-may-toes”, something i swore would never happen! i have not yet transitioned to mobile (instead of cell phone)… some things will never change!

on the flip-side, sometimes i worry that i will forget simple things i used to do all the time, like write a check or pump my own gas. can you relate with any of these? what are some things you’ve found yourself doing differently over the past year?