Idiosyncrasies #3

• Everyone speaks at least 3 languages
• Apartment leases have no end dates, just 3-month termination notices
• Speaking of apartment rentals, tenants typically (i.e. around 90% of the time) provide the appliances for the apartment (as in refrigerator, overn/range, etc.)
• In order for the lights in your hotel to work, you have to insert your key card into a key card slot by the door
• You don’t have to pay for baggage carts at the airport
• When you get your check at a restaurant, they only give you change if you ask. In other words, if you leave more money (20 euro) than the meal costs (12 euro), they'll think its a tip unless you tell them how much you want back.
• Traffic lights are positioned right at the line where cars are supposed to stop, so if you pull all the way up to the line, you can’t see when the light turns green.
• If there are homeless people in Amsterdam, they don’t ask for money on the street
• “F**k” means the same thing in all languages and is the preferred version of the word even though each language has their own translation of the word
• You can crack (as in open) windows on the subway trains
• Everyone AROUND THE WORLD has their eyes on the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election
• Beggars have no problem pimping animals for your spare change

• They don’t “text” in Europe…they “SMS”
• Dogs don’t need leashes
• All streets have signs, regardless if they're pedestrian-only

Cheers.