Thursday, September 13, 2012

Cultural Differences.

It "asked" for a chalkboard

Trying to draw Africa. Latest Rosary aquisition
Mexican tin cup
Me:  Don't you think this wall is just crying out for a blackboard?
Raz Man: It is. I can hear it.

Being without a vehicle here has left us a little bored between walks and bike rides. Thankfully there's a Sherwin Williams Paint store within walking distance, so when the urge struck we could take immediate action. Finding chalk was a little harder. At Publix, us foreigners (Canadians) sometimes have to repeat ourselves. The clerk made us repeat the request several times. For some reason he thought we said Chock, and was even further confused by the term BLACKBOARD. Here in the South it's a CHALKBOARD. That straight, we encountered a further "cultural" difference. I rode for ages looking for a mailbox yesterday. Frustrated and drenched with sweat, finally I asked a neighbor. "put it in your own mailbox and put the flag up". REALLY? I thought the flag was to inform you "you've got mail". And I thought we just had a lazy postman. And here in Florida...Hydro is water, not electricity..... 

11 comments:

  1. oh gosh - I used to run into all kinds of cultural differences in Ireland! Here in Dubai it's not as bad - mostly language differences. We discovered the mailbox trick when we moved to the country outside of Kingston Ontario - so handy! Love your blackboard :)

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  2. lol, even in English, you don't know the word for ...
    I go through this every day but it is to be expected. "what is the word for ... " is my constant phrase.

    The chalkboard ( I grew up in the US South) is Brilliant ( I especially love the Time zones) ... this is something I plan on having in our new home, back up there in the Northern Hemisphere :)

    besitos from a fine spring day in Argentina

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  3. Perseverance paid off - I love the blackboard wall. I also love that clock - are the digits made of ceramic?

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  4. The blackboard is so fun as is that clock.

    The Raz man in a good side kick.

    xo Jane

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  5. The chalkboard is wonderful. I am awful happy the wall talked to you. My phone does not understand my southern accent at all. Last time I was in Florida I never met a person from the south.

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  6. Haha! This made me smile and laugh. I remember when I first moved from Canada to FL all the strange looks I got because I pronounced things differently and called things by other names. Imagine the laughter when I asked someone if they had a rubber (which is what we called erasers) at my new school. Love the blackboard (had forgotten that term) and it looks like you found a good pizza joint that delivers! Ann

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  7. I want a Chalkboard in my next kitchen !! Love it, as will your Grand when a bit older I am sure. We put mail to be posted in our mailbox & the flag up for the mail person to take, but I always forget and end up driving into the post office. I do like the gals at the post office, so not a wasted drive into town.

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  8. That sounds familiar. When we lived in the U.S. I came across many cultural differences that you might not imagine. Icing sugar caused issues like your chalk one. A purse is something different in each region so it's hard to keep up if you move a lot.
    One thing I really loved about the U.S. mail was how your mailbox was like a mini post office - you could purchase stamps, send packages, letters and at Christmas time that mailman always got a box of chocolates for which I would receive the next day in my mailbox (without a stamp) a very lovely thank you note.

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  9. ahaha. how funny. you wouldn't think there would be that many differences between canada and the usa. i LOVE the chalkboard wall and totally agree that it needed painting. xo

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  10. Love the blackboard/chalkboard . . . looking forward to YOUR chalk art work?

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  11. Love the blackboard/chalkboard wall. The beach sand just went out to sea I suppose? What does the Weather Channel call it, the force of nature or something like that. Too funny about the cultural differences (and those in the comments too.) I'm used to the mailbox flag up rurally here but very used to a box on the corner, or now superboxes. We used to follow the mailman on his morning route on our walk to school, just so we could pick up the extra thick rubber bands he dropped.

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I love to read each and every comment and are thrilled that you take the time to send one. Thank you so much. Chania