2. You are surprised when water (and soft drinks) get free refills.

3. You think that restaurant servers in the US “hover” too much. It makes you a little uncomfortable. 

4. Sundays are sacred whether you are religious or not.

5. You always wait for the green light to cross at a crosswalk, even if there is no car in sight. Otherwise an old German lady will magically appear to yell at you.

6. The first word that comes to your mind when you get angry or disappointed is “Scheisse!”

7. You never, ever walk in the bike lane.

8. You have become more direct, maybe even aggressively so. (This is because your German neighbors will happily point out any wrongdoing of yours with the assumption that they are doing you a favor. Read more about huge lifestyle changes here at 43 Things to Know Before You Come to Germany.)

9. You never go out with your ID. What’s the point?

10. Instead of dreading the holidays because of gift buying and screaming children, you look forward to the Christmas seasons with all the Weihnachstmarkt magic and Gluhwein you can handle.

11. You always order beer with your meal – why not?! It’s cheaper than water.

12. You regularly bike or walk to your destinations. It’s healthier, and there’s no parking anyway.

13. When you visit home (mainly the US), you get stressed out while driving. No passing in the right lane! The left lane is for passing only! Why is everyone driving so terribly and so slow?!

14. You are accustomed to slow internet.

15. Busses and trains are always late, so you are sure to take an earlier one.

16. You shop at the grocery store almost daily.

17. You always buy enough food to last through Sunday, or else you accept the fact that you will just have to starve that day.

18. You fully expect to be able to bring your dog out to eat with you pretty much everywhere you go.

19. When you order ketchup, you are ready to pay an extra fee.

20. Where you used to happily yell at your neighbor for a normal conversation while eating out, now you think that American restaurants are crazy noise halls where both adults and children constantly scream at one another. You start to long for the peaceful meals out back “home” in Germany.

21. You read this list and don’t understand how any of these things could be considered weird. 

*

Savannah is an American expat in Germany blogging at SavviScouts.

>>> Read more expat stories or read more about Germany.

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1. You think it’s totally normal to put ice and lemonade in your red wine. 

2. It’s a sunny day in spring but you still wear a jacket because if it’s not summer then it’s not hot enough.

3. Ordering a beer before lunchtime is no big deal.

4. You don’t mind standing up to eat in a busy bar, you squeeze in, claim your spot and shout your order to the bartender.

5. You don’t go anywhere without your sunglasses and you even wear them in winter.

6. Waving and calling out to a waiter to get their attention is no longer embarrassing and you know they wont be offended.

7. When you meet someone, you kiss both cheeks instead of shaking hands.

8. You have no expectation of any buses or trains running to the timetable as advertised.

9. You expect free snacks with every drink you buy and if they don’t bring any, you ask for them.

10. You agree that talking loudly and being noisy is not disturbing anyone, it just shows you are having good time.

11. You watch football whether you like it or not. Might as well pick a local team as everywhere will show the games and everyone will talk about it.

12. Dog poop on the street doesn’t make you angry anymore, you just dodge round it.

13. You walk slower than you’ve ever walked before and you don’t do anything in a rush.

14. You’ve realised that having a big meal for lunch and small tapas for dinner is the right way to eat.

15. The bank, post office, supermarket etc all closing for 3-4 hours a day is no problem at all. You would never try to do anything important during siesta.

16. You would never dream of eating dinner before 9pm or going for a night out before midnight.

17. You like putting tomato puree and olive oil on your toast for breakfast instead of butter and jam.

18. You don’t expect a restaurant to serve paella unless you are in Valencia.

19. It’s no surprise when strangers approach you in the street to ask you a question, for directions or to just start a random conversation. 

20. You no longer fear for your life when you’re in a taxi or get concerned at the driver’s erratic lane changing and horn honking.

*

Perri Johnson is 34-year-old Brit living in Spain. She moved from London to Madrid in early 2017 and fell in love with the country. During her travels and exploration of Spain Perri shares everything she see’s and learns at Seeking the Spanish Sun. 

>>> Read more expat stories or read more about Spain.

The post 20 signs that you have lived in Spain for too long appeared first on 203Challenges.

#2 You’re used to receive “empty invitations” like “let’s meet soon”, “yes, sure next week or so”, but you never see that person again. You even start doing it yourself.

#3 Tourists are no longer foreigners, they are “gringos”.

#4 You’re used to eat the most traditional Brazilian dish every day, especially if you live in Sao Paulo: Rice, brown beans, beef, and a lettuce salad.

#5 Your bikinis are missing 90% of their fabric and they only cover the very essential parts of your body.

#6 Local expressions such as “vixe”, “aff”, and “eita” are part of your vocabulary now.

#7 You have accepted that appointments never happen at the right time. They actually happen at least 30 minutes later.

#8 Every Christmas you hear the same jokes about Pave, a local pudding. Pave has a similar pronunciation as “to see” in Portuguese, so people always ask in parties “to see or to eat?”.

#9 You have accepted that if you’re going somewhere using the public transport, you have to leave around 2 hours early because there is a (very high) chance that the bus is late.

#10 You have at least one pair of Havaianas and these are your favorite flipflops.

#11 You have two warm meals every day and there is meat in both of them.

#12 Barbecuing now has a whole new meaning for you. It has a lot of good sausages, red meat, seasoned crumbs, various salads, and music. Ops, and beer! A lot of cold beer!

#13 You have eaten “coxinha” and you can’t stop eating it. Coxinha is a savory dough shaped into a drumstick, around a creamy chicken salad filling then battered and fried.

#14 To you, 18 degrees Celsius is winter temperature and it’s too cold to go outside.

#15 You’re no longer impressed with naked women with painted bodies on television around Carnival.

#16 Waving and calling out to a waiter to get their attention is no longer embarrassing and you know they won’t be offended.

#17 Dog’s poop on the streets doesn’t make you angry anymore, you just dodge round them.

#18 You like to dip bread with butter into the coffee (with milk).

#19 Avocado is now a fruit that you eat with sugar.

#20 You learned to walk slower and that’s okay now. Why should you rush?

*

Bruna Venturinelli lived many years in Brazil, but she’s now based in the Netherlands. She still wears Havaianas and walks slowly. To read more about Bruna check out her blog, Maps ‘N Bags, where she shares her adventures and travel tips.

Photos: Maps ‘N Bags

The post 20 signs you have lived in Brazil far too long appeared first on 203Challenges.

2. The day isn’t complete without at least one bowl of rice and a full head of garlic. Seriously, not even the Italians eat this much garlic!

3. It no longer feels weird to wear the same clothes multiple days in a row.

4. Being a beer connoisseur means being able to taste the subtle differences between Tsingtao and its imitators.

5. It feels strange to travel to other countries and lose your celebrity status. The pointing, the random shouts of “Hello!”, the strangers thrusting babies into your arms for a picture, all gone.

6. Footprints on the rim of the toilet seat no longer seem out of place and you sometimes find yourself actually choosing the squatter in order to avoid them.

7. You’ve given up hunting for deodorant, floss, and mint flavored toothpaste.

8. You’ve been physically pushed out of the way when trying to buy something.

9. You’ve pushed someone else out of the way when trying to buy something.

10. You pity the hungry Western tourists at the table next to you, who are still too shy to yell at their waitress from across the room. Also, they didn’t wash their dishes with tea before eating off of them. Gross!

11. When the sales clerk insists that they don’t have anything big enough to fit you, you no longer feel self-conscience or insulted.

12. Pouring for others first is the new normal and now you get impatient when your friends don’t refill your tea fast enough.

13. You friend people on WeChat instead of Facebook, Bing is your search engine of choice, and you have given up on streaming video almost entirely.

14. The food has proven itself to be so good that you stop asking “what body part is this?”. Besides, at this point, you’ve unknowingly eaten them all anyway.

15. You’ve managed to convince yourself that every puddle on the street is actually just water, even though it’s totally not.

16. An AQI of around 200 is the perfect day for a run.

17. One does not simply wear nice clothes to a hot pot restaurant and expect them to stay nice.

18. Your purse contains an umbrella, two bags of tissues, and hand sanitizer AT ALL TIMES!

*

American blogger Jen Lowry was living in China as an expat back in 2006-2007, returned again briefly in 2010, then just recently wrapped up two months there earlier this year. “China is such a unique and interesting country and I love all of its little quirks,” she says. Jen is blogging at The Places We Live.

The post 18 signs you have been living in China for too long appeared first on 203Challenges.

Hi, my name is Simone! Let me introduce myself a little so you can understand better my point of view on what will follow.

I am a bartender who traveled the world since wearing diapers. I left Rome, lived and worked in places like Ibiza, New York, Belfast, Paris, and other short experiences around the world. I am also that kind of person that after a while says: “I’ve got to move away!”

But let’s get to the point, let’s talk about Paris.

Yes, you might think I am crazy but here are my 20 reasons why I think it’s time to leave la ville lumière!

1., 2. and 3. are pretty correlated:

As an expat, at the beginning you’ll find public transportation in Paris almost perfect. After a while, you begin to be like a Parisian, which gets me to:

1. Complain about 1 or 2 minutes metro delays.

2. In the metro you will never see people smiling. Well, I used to smile always… but now nope, zéro. It’s headphones on and a steady catwalk face!

3. Last but not least, the RATP (metro) security. Please guys, I understand that sometimes it’s hard to deal with people, but if you wanted to be tough you might have chosen the wrong job. Maybe being a legionnaire would fit you better?

4. The rain and the bad weather in general. Obviously I knew that I was not going to wear my flip flops when I got here but boy, now I just can’t stand it anymore. Too much, too much, too much!

5. is related to my job (I’m a bartender in a hotel in Paris). Dear customers, in the last couple of years I have worked in the best bars in Paris: I can make any cocktail you want. Any. But your choice is: fresh épicé gingembre and concombre (spicy ginger and cucumber)! What is this addiction to cucumber?!

6. Continuing the bartender saga… “Est-ce que vous avez des trucs à grignoter?” (“Do you have stuff to nibble on?”) I have not even asked what kind of drink you want and here you go, those hands up in the air picking invisible food from an invisible bowl, a sinuous hand gesture more Italian than Italians do! I have to admit this is a worldwide issue, but French makes it classier.

7. La Tour Eiffel, well yes it is the symbol of the industry revolution and chapeau to Mr. Eiffel but what is so charming about you? Paris has lots of better things than you!

8. PSG football team. I really can’t stand you, just like most of the Parisians.

9. Yes, my dear Paname, you are too expensive. I made it through but a 20€ pizza no, not possible!

10. La baguette. It’s a cliché the fact that Parisians carry their baguette under their armpits, and especially us Italians make a lot of jokes out of it, but hey wait a second! I do it too….

11. Walking fast. Everybody walks fast, just to get anywhere. You could see people jogging slower than the ones walking, I am not joking! I became just like this, if I see someone slower than me I start to say:

(which brings me to 12):

12. “Mais put@#n de m&#@e casse-toi” ([french cursing] of [french cursing] get the hell out!”)…. Etc etc… Exactly, I’ve started to complain exactly like them, and my Italian heritage does not like it.

13. Oh yes: try to go to a public pool. No matter how you swim, good or bad, slow or fast, they all swim in the same lane. It’s honestly kind of funny to watch but when you want to swim, forget about it!

14. Black is the new black. Well, it’s a thing all around the world but here everybody really dresses in black. Sometimes – especially when I work – it’s hard to understand who is the waiter or the customer.

15. The little Parisian gangsta wannabes… I feel like I am thrown back in times in a 90s French parody of what hip hop was. Again, very funny to watch, but after a bit my eyes and especially my ears can’t take them anymore. By the way, give me back the good old school hip hop not this crap called trap!

16. Wow this is getting hard! Don’t get me wrong, at the end I love(d) this city but thinking of all these little things at the same time actually makes me want to pack and leave right now!

17. The words “j’adore” (I love it), “bébé” (babe), “mon chat” (kitten), “chouchou” (darling), “ma poule” (chica)…. Oh my god, please stop, get out of my head!

18. “Cool”. Yes, the English – actually American – word “cool”. Everything is: “c’est trop cool” (that’s so cool), but in French “cool” sounds more like “cul”…. Do I have to say what does it mean? (it means “ass” – but pronunced by an Italian).

19. I almost made it so I really want to thank France for giving me the opportunity of eating its amazing cousins: burgers and fries. Everywhere it’s burgers and “frites maison” (homemade fries). When you ask not to have fries they stare at you like you are Donald Trump trying to talk at the United Nations.

20. It’s almost time to say goodbye. I won’t come back ’cause from you I got the best I could: my wife. She’s from Paris, I can leave you all the rest. Yes, I know, I used this for private business but I think it’s cute to end like this!

That’s all folks.

*

Simone Cardillo is an Italian who is about to leave Paris. You can find him blogging at Take Your Bag together with his wife Alice Cardillo. 

>>> Read more expat stories here.

The post 20 signs you’ve lived in Paris for too long appeared first on 203Challenges.

How can you tell you’ve lived in Brisbane for too long?

1. You complain when you don’t have sunshine for more than one day: why do you think I live in the Sunshine State?!

2. You only look for kangaroos to avoid hitting them when driving and you hate the possum you once found cute because they ruin your garden.

3. You don’t remember how to cook in a pan: it’s so much better on the barbie.

4. You wear thongs or sports shoes on your way to work: no one here judges your smart attire with your flashy sports shoes so why would you?

5. You find it normal to bring your car on the beach: what are 4WD for otherwise?

6. You don’t wear a swimming suit to the beach: you wear togs.

7. You’re obsessed with finding shade: the sun hits hard down here, and you don’t want to be the one in three people who get skin issues…

8. You treat cheese with more care than your most precious jewel: it can be a three-digit price per kilogram.

9. You never go out without your ID card: although you’re old enough to have a kid that would be allowed to enter bars, you still have to show it when you go out.

10. You have become very critical of most of the beaches outside Australia: too busy, not enough waves, no coral, cold water…

11. You wear a jumper when it’s under 20 degrees: it means it’s winter!

12. You change path to avoid getting attacked by a bird: magpies always win the fight.

13. You find it normal to go to the pharmacy to take ID photos or buy an umbrella.

14. You are not surprised when all your seafood platter is all fried, and you can hardly taste the difference between a scallop and a prawn.

15. You don’t have to lose a bet to eat Vegemite.

16. You put your alarm at 4.30 am in the morning because it’s the only time you can go for a run without melting with the heat.

17. You are not scared of spiders even if they’re almost as big as your hand palm.

18. You nearly drink beer like a soft drink, Shiraz has become your favourite wine, and you don’t find it shocking to add a few ice cubes in your wine anymore.

19. You always check the rain radar before finishing work on a summer afternoon and a storm coming is a good reason to leave early to find an undercover car park before your car gets ruined by the hail.

20. You cancel all your plans when there is a rain forecast: you know it’s likely to be a downpour and traffic will get crazy as no one knows how to drive in the rain.

21. You know how to cut a mango beautifully and how to eat it without making a mess: that’s the base of your alimentation during summer.

22. You’ve got mad at tourists on a CityCycle that drove on the right and almost knocked you over.

23. You’ve shouted at a crow or a kookaburra on a Sunday morning hoping it will stop making so much noise.

24. You know that when a Queenslander talks about football, it probably isn’t football. It can be soccer, footy (which can be Australian football or rugby league) or rugby (league or union).

25. You always check if there’s a snake, a spider or another lovely animal inside your shoes before putting them on.

26. You know that there is no such a thing as a dropbear, but that huge ants that jump more than 30 cm to bite you and give you an excruciating pain are real, and so are sharks in the river and the venomous toads that can be as big as a small dog.

27. You shorten as many words and names as you can, including your manager’s name. Because it’s easier to talk about Am and Em or K, Kel, Kels and Kace.

28. You never wear a blue accessory on a State of Origins night unless you want to be called a cockroach, and it totally makes sense to you.

29. You add beetroot and pineapple to your burgers.

30. You don’t look for “Pepper” at the machine checkout when you buy a pepper: you now call it capsicum.

*

Eloise is a French who lives in Brisbane (Australia), but you won’t find her often in the city. When she is not disconnected underwater or in a national park, she loves sharing her travel tips on her blog MyFavouriteEscapes.com and inspiring her readers to take care of our beautiful planet. She considers every weekend as a two-day holiday break. Her approach: you don’t always need to go far to travel. Still, she also enjoys exploring the world and discovering new cultures.

Featured image: courtesy of My Favourite Escapes

>>> Read more: 9 unusual things to do in Sydney

The post 30 signs you have lived in Brisbane for too long appeared first on 203Challenges.

2. You have accepted chocolate sprinkles as a regular, healthy breakfast, as long as they are on a slice of bread.

3. You have used your bicycle to transport one or more of the following: a case of beer, a human, a mattress, your weekly groceries, another bicycle, a suitcase – and other large, uncomfortable objects.

4. You are no longer impressed by seeing a man in a suit, carrying a briefcase and riding his bicycle to work.

5. You now know that only two seasons exist – heavy rain season and light rain season.

6. At more than one occasion, you have accidentally dismayed your non-European friends, by kissing them on the cheeks three times. At the same time, you have also bewildered your European but non-Dutch friends, by kissing them the wrong number of times.

7. You have muttered “Tourists…”, while taking a walk or riding your bicycle in Amsterdam.

8. You are no longer impressed by any windmills.

9. You no longer look left and right upon crossing the road, since as a pedestrian you always have priority over drivers, even if you don’t want it. However, when crossing the bike lane, you carefully observe both sides a few times, so as to avoid being hit by a speeding mother, with three children on her bicycle.

10. You can eat French fries with mayonnaise, served in a paper cone, any time of day.

11. You no longer ponder over the contents of a frikandel before eating it.

12. To you, 15 degrees Celsius is a wonderful summer temperature and you don’t hesitate to break out the barbeque.

13. You’ve eaten raw herring without having lost a bet.

14. You no longer remember what hills and mountains look like.

15. You are not surprised by the sight of deer and/or sheep in city parks.

16. You are very well aware of the difference between the Netherlands and Holland and are very pleased whenever you have the opportunity to point them out.

17. You have acquired an almost instinctive behavior of sitting in a circle at every family gathering.

18. You have dinner at 6 PM and cannot remember why in the hell you used to eat later than that.

19. Your bicycle has been stolen at least once.

20. You have stolen a bicycle at least once.

21. You own at least one of the following: a pair of orange plastic glasses, an orange hat, an orange inflatable crown, or any other orange item, with the help of which you can demonstrate your Dutch pride during a football game, the King’s Day (previously the Queen’s Day) or any other important event.

22. The King’s Day is the biggest event of the year and you have planned your itinerary months ahead.

23. You know that the “correct” Christmas is celebrated on December 6, Santa Claus’s real name is Sinterklaas, he is of Turkish descent and arrives on a boat from Spain, not a reindeer sleigh from the North Pole.

24. Every holiday season you get dragged into the same argument: “Are Sinterklaas helpers, covered in soot, an example of racism, or are they not?”

25. You have grown to accept red trousers as a good and fashionable choice for men.

26. You know that most waiters do not expect a tip.

27. You know that you should never wear your best clothes and shoes to a party because they will certainly get tarnished by spilled beer.

28. You are no longer surprised upon passing someone on the street/public transportation and feeling the fresh smell of marijuana they leave behind.

29. You know that the moment it starts to snow, even if it’s not a lot, all the trains and trams will be delayed by at least 3 hours.

30. You no longer get scared when someone mentions that the entire country is below sea level.

The piece was created by Petar Angelov, a Bulgarian expat living in the Hague, Netherlands.

The post 30 signs you have lived in the Netherlands far too long appeared first on 203Challenges.