The differences are in the little things. Like taps. Hot and cold taps to be exact. En route to Cornwall for our summer holiday we stayed overnight in a hotel in Swindon. The first thing my three year old son said noticing the sink taps when he walked into the hotel bathroom was,
“Why are there two taps?”
After laughing a little I explained,
“One is hot and one is cold.”
When he asked why, I had no answer.
If you want to know the reason, head here. I’ll wait.
It struck me then just how British two separate taps over the sink is, and how highly impractical it is. Really, really unhandy. I mean really, who needs just scalding hot water to wash their hands and face? Alternatively freezing cold water is no fun either. And running both with the plug in and mixing it all up is just tedious. Especially if you’re three.
Until my son raised this question it hadn’t sunk in that you don’t, in general, see anything but mixer taps in the Netherlands. I saw the two separate taps in the grotty hotel room and thought nothing of it.
Only through the eyes of a three year old Dutch boy did I see how it’s the little things that will always remain different between my birth country and the country I currently call home.
Over to You
What little differences have your children pointed out in your birth country that you didn’t notice?
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