As an A-type personality I was quite set in my ways so I knew this move would be a little more challenging due to my nature. I can see now that in some ways I'm starting to slide down the spectrum to the B-side. Am I completely there? No. But there are definite changes happening as life continues on here for me.
Some examples are:
1. I used to only wear clothes (pants, tops, dresses) ONCE and then I'd wash them. However, when doing laundry is significantly more difficult (machines are smaller, loads take longer to get done) AND there are no dryers just clothes lines then this changes. It is now a process of thinking each day: How many times have I worn this? How dirty is it? Still not to the point of drying my clothes on the line outside (thank goodness for the drying rack I have) but who knows what will happen to that line of thinking.
2. When I'd buy clothes, the rule of thumb was always to wash them first then wear them. Well, with the exception of undergarments, due to the reasons listed in point #1 above, this changes. It's now a buy, wear, and wash later kind of world for me.
3. Walking. I walk and walk and walk and walk. This is great for my body, and keeps the carbs from all the pasta I eat in check, but now I'm starting to get leg cramps and waking up in the middle of the night with them. Not complaining here, just something new I'm dealing with (which I did not expect). Tired legs yes - that I knew was coming. This? Nope. But now I know what my mom meant when she would talk about hers.
4. Pasta. I loved pasta when I was back home. I still love pasta being here. And who wouldn't considering Italy and pasta go together like birds of a feather. But........ I'm going to have to start finding some more variations and places to buy other foods as I'm sure I'll soon get sick of pasta after awhile. Sick of pasta? That wasn't something I was worried about before. But now I am. lol
5. Shaving. Perhaps it's a little personal here but I'm going with it anyways, In Saskatchewan it gets cool many times throughout the year (downright cold in the winter) so wearing long pants to hide the hairy leg stage was not uncommon. Well..... If I wore long pants here, in this weather, during the summer/spring/early fall, I'm pretty sure I would melt into a large puddle. Therefore, I shaving has become a task of life that has become much more frequent. However, I also find that the leg hairs don't grow as quickly. Hmmm..... That I knew was coming. I did not think though that I'd find the perfect shaving my legs place in my apt.
Yep! My bidet! It is now the foot washing / leg shaving area. Otherwise, it was not getting used. ;)
6. The use of dish clothes was almost like a favourite past time for me back at my place in Canada. I would use a new, clean dish towel each day - even if the previous one wasn't dirty. My mother loved this aspect about me! ;) It was just an unnecessary habit I'd gotten in to, Well, as mentioned in point #1 above this has also stopped. I'm much more "frugal" now about how I use a dish towel and the length of time it is kept in the kitchen to be used. Oh the changes we make.
7. Grocery shopping used to be a pretty easy feat. Get in your vehicle, go to the store, buy lots of things using a cart, put them in your vehicle, take them home, unpack. Sounds fairly simple. The "hardest" part of all that was getting them the few steps from the car to the house. If only that was now the hardest part, I'd be smiling. Grocery shopping trips have definitely had a change of perspective for me. Now it's walk to the store (or many stories depending on what area you are in, what you need, what you want), get groceries while keeping in mind how much you can carry and how far you need to walk, pack the groceries while paying at lest 10 cent euros per bag (sacchatto), then walking home with them and, depending where you were, perhaps also cradling them while on the bus. These trips are now more frequent (due to limited carrying ability), eating out is definitely more of an option - mainly aperitivo, and one definitely does not pick up what one does not need. Snacks have gone down the wayside. :s
That's it for now. I'm sure other musings will arise so there will likely be a sequel to this post in the future.
Ciao!
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