culture shock

Finally settling in 'back home' in Guelph. Home is a word I use rather liberally. now that I'm back in Canada I use it to describe Zambia. When I was in Italy I used it when talking about our hotel room. Anyhow, I'm back at my Grandmother's house in Guelph and should be here until about 1/2 way through December. It's been an interesting last few weeks, always have some culture shock to deal with when returning. This time, as I was travelling first, I had the deal with culture shock in Italy as well. Even after driving in Zambia for 5 years, I was totally unprepared for the maniac drivers in Italy. I'm so glad I didn't rent a car although riding in a bus and taking a cab wasn't much better! The other thing I was unprepared for was the amount of smokers. They were everywhere and as I was already dealing with a cold, the smoke did not help my allergies and asthma. Thank you Canada for having smoking laws and Zambia for not having many smokers! It was weird coming back to my parent's place as seeing it as a working farm. they have had other animals (goats & fowl) before but now they actually have a tractor! I got to drive the tractor a few times, which was kinda fun, but I am still no farm girl! Guelph has changed so much, even since last summer (although I wasn't here enough to notice too much before). There's so many new building and some of the stores/restaurants etc have changed but I think I can find my way around ok as long as I don't have to go into any of the new subdivisions. The biggest change though for me is the technology. I know that sounds funny as I've only been gone a few years but man did I feel like an old lady the other day when I was trying to buy a phone! I haven't had a new phone in probably 8 years but as my phone has disappeared (with my luggage in Europe) I had to get a replacement. I pretty much knew nothing about smart phones and tablets, except that they existed. The guy at Staples was very helpful and didn't laugh at me once despite my stupid questions. I am now the proud confused owner of a smart phone. I'm slowly figuring out how to use it, but if you get a strange txt or call from me, I appoligize, the phone has a mind of it's own!