Culture Shock

His expression changed completely when I told him about the pool.   The toys, friends and comfort of the house which had satisfied him just seconds ago were quickly forgotten when prompted to search for a container of liquid refreshment. As we began, he led himself - despite the fact that the path was new.   The first obstacle was a steep incline. It proved difficult, but his anticipation pulled him up and the stronger hand behind him pushed when he needed it.   There was no time to look behind him once he accomplished the climb, though he was proud.   “I did it daddy!” he said with his eyes fully focused ahead and his legs renewed with a simpler plane to walk on.   He did not seem surprised that he didn’t need a leader, despite the fact he had never walked the path before.   His feet automatically followed the shape of the way and though there were rough spots and rocks his forward gaze smoothed over the effect they had on his stride. He walked confiden...

This is one of those obvious ones.  The sort of thing that would lead one to start a Culture Shock weblog in the first place.  I'm surprised it's taken me this long to bring it up. Lines in Croatia are like government; you know they were designed to make life more orderly for the average citizen, but when all is said and done you often feel like you've been put through the wringer. To begin with, you rarely hear the phrase "excuse me" here in Croatia.  The Croatian phrasebook I learned from inexplicably left out all forms of "excuse me" . If an American wants to learn the correct way to say "excuse me" in Croatian they won't find it in the introduction, the "practical" section, or the dictionary.  In this case, the omission will teach you step 1 of how to pass someone who is in your way: Don't say anything at all. Just move the limb that's obstructing your path.  Or simply squeeze around them.  If worse comes to w...

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