Be surprised. Be very surprised.
They are BIG!
And they are UPSIDE DOWN!
We have these little things in Australia. The switch is a rocker type switch (at least modern ones are) that is about the size of a thumbnail and is pretty flat. It has a curve that is about the same curve as a finger pad (oddly, since fingers are used to turn them on and off). Down is ON and up is OFF.
US switches are sorta pointy and stick out a lot further than Aussie ones. UP is ON and down is OFF. That will take some getting used to when I am frantically slapping at the switch in the middle of the night, cursing it for not turning on cos I am turning it off!
Plus there are no switches on the power points. We have switches in Australia. You can turn something off at the power point and it is off. Here you have to unplug stuff. And we have 240V not 110V.
Now all I need to do is move to England or Europe, to a place where they have European style light switches, which are a pair of big square pads on the wall. I won't know whether to push up, down or slap the wall then!
8-)
6 comments:
woot! you are finally there safe and sound. good luck! (im delurking hi)
I lived in the US waaaay back in '89 and I've never forgotten the light switches....and dare I say it....all the water in the toilet bowl!
Glad that you guys have arrived safely and are beginning a new adventure :-)
When I travelled in the US a few months ago we joked that everything really was upside down or backwards over there. Can't remember much else aside from the light switches (and zippers), except that once or twice we encountered toilets that had the flush water coming from the front!
(hallo, also delurking from lurking over at Yarnivorous)
Oh how very weird: still I have an old house and I have 2 switches for some lights, and a pull cord over the bed, so sometimes I just whack the brass light switch and hope for the best!!!
welcome :-)just to help you along:
boot of a car = the trunk
jumper = sweater or puller (knitted kind)
lift = elevator
sweater = sweat shirt
sandwhich fixings = cold cuts in the deli
the lou = toilet lol
well these are things that stumped me when i was living down under for 3 years so i am honestly trying to be helpful :-) (seriously) oh and every where i went in NZ every single kind of sandwhich had a layer of cold butter no matter the type (happened in Australia as well) sandwhiches don't come with butter automatically lol :-)
seriously i hope you are enjoying your first few days here. :-)
Hee hee - and just wait until you encounter switches that can go either way, depending on what the switch at the other side of the room/staircase is set to.
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