Water Dispensers

Settling in

We're nearing the two-week point, and there are a few things that I now realize I took for granted in Canada.

Cold water. Since I have been here, the only place I have found cold water is in refrigerated water dispensers. The hot water gets very hot, and the cold water is warm. I think it has something to do with the water being stored on the building roofs! :) It's not necessarily a negative thing, but it takes some getting used to. I have to remember not to turn the hot water on when I'm washing my hands, or it will turn into a hand burning session.

Quiet mornings. As I've mentioned earlier, the city is in a constant state of construction - deconstruction - reconstruction. As I've also mentioned earlier, it's really hot in the daytime here. These two facts combined mean that we awake at 5am to the sound of jackhammers and backhoes hard at work breaking down what once was a four storey building. when the machines move, it sounds like a train squealing its breaks on a track - not the most pleasant sound in the world. But it will be interesting to see what gets built next door to the south and next door to the east. Oh, and next door to the north! :)

Recycling bins. We drink a lot of bottled water here, and each of those bottles (except the few we keep to reuse) are thrown in the garbage. The same goes for pop cans, styrofoam containers, cardboard boxes, you name it. The college started a paper recycling program last year (I think it might have been students in the environmental health department, but I'll have to verify that). There are green bins...

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