When one visits another country for the
first time, there will always be some things that strike you. That
you find strange, awkward, silly or simply that you don't understand.
It's all a matter of culture of course and to be taken relatively,
but in my case, some things stick in my mind.
The first thing that I noticed during
the first days of my Australian life was... the toilet paper. Not a
minor thing, though it may seem so. We use it every day and we like
it to serve its purpose without complications. Well, during the first
weeks here we were confronted on each toilet with toilet paper that was
so thin that just touching it was complicated, it would tear to
pieces immediately. It was so thin that it was hardly possible to get
a complete piece from the roll or container. You need to use the
whole hand and very gently pull the paper out and if you were lucky
you would have an unshredded piece of paper in the hand. So very
carefully pull out a long stretch fold it many times and then use it for its purpose without risking nasty consequences.
I could not stop of thinking of all
those tough sugar cane workers and those Landcruisers and pick-up
drivers with their big and calloused workmens' hands carefully fumbling in
the toilet.
How would they do that. Fortunately, I
still wonder why, since Atherton it is better.
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