August 27, 2013

Wasps and Failure to be on Time

Hey Øll,
I realized today that I've only shared my big, important events. Life is also very different here, so I will take a little bit of my time to share with you some of the quirks of the Faroes -


  • People are always late. Maybe it's the relaxed part of the culture, but I have discovered that you should never show up on time. To anything. You'll always be early.
  • Almost everyone drives a stick-shift. Almost everyone is bad at driving a stick-shift. Almost every time I see a car stop at an intersection in town, the car will roll backwards before it moves forward. 
  • Decimals are written with a comma instead of a period. This is too confusing, and I refuse to adapt to this small part of the culture. I will read them like that, but I can't write them like that. 
  • Recently, the Faroe Islands have attracted wasps. Three wasps in particular seem to hang out at the bus stop in the center of Tórshavn - one that I go to almost every day. Sometimes I'll see people abruptly get up from the bench and run to the other bench, and then back again. I have been one of these people, but I still have to laugh.
  • Speaking of the bus systems, I have had a difficult time figuring out how it works. There have been many times where I've sat on the bus almost the entire hour and a half route around Tórshavn before realizing I'm on the wrong bus and that I should probably get off and switch. 
  • Teenagers here stay out until 7am on the weekends, just walking around town. I personally can't be awake as the sun is coming up or I will lose my head, so I am always leaving earlier than everyone else - maybe this ties in with everyone always being late. 
  • Everyone peels their own potatoes at dinner. I can officially say I know how to peel a potato with a fork and a knife.
  • The Faroese eat a LOT of potatoes. I have learned to like them, but I'm slowly getting sick of them... 
  • I tried whale. It wasn't good, but I tried it.
Among many other quirks, life is very different! But in a good way. This country has a lot of character, and I am just loving it. That's all for now!


Enjoying a beautiful evening in Tórshavn!

Hav ein gódan dag! 
Katie 

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