Lessons I've learned....

Here are a few of the lessons I've learned in my first month living down unda....

1. Sunglasses are to be worn at all times.
It doesn't matter if you are indoors, outdoors, cloudy or sunny and even sometimes at night. You should always wear your sunglasses.

2. Flaunt what you got, no matter your age.
It doesn't matter how old you are, you can always look young, or at least try to....when it's obvious to me (who isn't even from here) and everyone else on the street that you should have given up 10 years ago when you were 45 (no offense to anyone 55+ plus intended because you don't dress as though you were 16).

3. Be prepared to sweat
It seems like it's always hot here. Even when the locals say it is "cooling" off, it still gets to around 25 at least during the day, and I still sweat. Sure, at night you may require jeans, but not during the day....which brings me to:

4. The weather is insane
Other than always being hot, I have seen it rain on perfectly sunny days with only a few clouds. I've seen an absolute down-pour 5 minutes after it was sunny. AND the down-pour continued for around 2 hours. Ridiculous!!

5. I have an accent
No matter how many times I try to pronounce something, it's always wrong, thanks to my accent. I have struggled with simple things, like a student's name, to more complicated words (Indooroopily-a city, is pronounce "IN-drew-pilly" not Indoor-opoly as I thought-foolish yank).

6. Some words are only used locally
I don't know who the genious was that decided to call swimming trunks togs, but it confused me beyond belief the first time I was told to bring them to school. I just looked at my teacher with a funny face.

7. Everyone is Nice
Everyone that I have spoken with has been so nice to me. I hope it's this way when I travel to other parts of the country!

More rules will follow later, but my time is up!

God bless,

Bill