Ode to Driving, the Letter Z and Post Offices?

Ode to Driving, the Letter Z and Post Offices?

Several of you have asked “How tough is it to drive on the wrong side of the road?” Well, a few comments. Its not as hard as it seems and not as easy as it looks. Its not as hard to get used to driving on the opposite side. You just have to keep making a mental note to be on the left side of the road, not the right side as you are used to. Its not as easy as it seems, because once you do get somewhat used to driving like this, you always have to do it right. Its easy to forget when you turn onto a road and you are by yourself and you sometimes tend over to the wrong side, unconsciously. You just need to focus on where you are, kind of like focusing on your breathing at first to breath differently, then internalizing it over time. At this point, given that I am in Fiji and then Japan, where they all drive this way, I wonder how it will be going back to the right side of the road?! Will I remember what to do instinctively, or will I need to relearn that as well? I will let you know – I still have a few more weeks on this side of the road…

The letter Z, you ask? Well, I think I will always pronounce it ‘Zed”, not “Zee” as I was taught in the US. Everything in New Zealand, NZ, uses zed. All the web addresses constantly intone www.whatever.co.nz, as in ‘en zed” at the end. SO you get so used to it that you forget what “zee” refers too! Also, they like to shorten everything here and in OZ (Australia). As an example, I started hearing people on the radio say “dub” a lot. At first I thought it was a way to refer to President Bush, but they don’t seem to hold him in such high regard here…I then realized that it was really “dub,dub,dub”, as in “dub,dub,dub.whatever.co.nz” - they shorten “w” to “dub” when giving web addresses. Not a bad idea, as these things go….

Post Offices – what could I possibly have to say nice about them? Well, what is nice is that they are private in OZ and NZ. Meaning that a bank can have one on its presence, as we saw in many places in NZ. That means its open later, sells other things like newspapers, magazines, candy, postcards, all the boxes and packaging items you might see in a good Staples, and that the tellers can then do your banking after you do your postal needs. Makes sense if you ask me. In fact, in the Sydney airport they had one open all day Sunday when we were on our way to NZ, which was very helpful cause it let me get stamps for my last postcards…The only thing that was a bit weird was that the stamps for some postcards had been bought from a competing post office in NZ. I didn’t know this until I tried to mail them with my other postcards, and I was told that they couldn’t accept this mail, because it was from a competitor. Who knew? Do they each have their own post people ( I suspect postmen is very ‘un-pc’ these days) who deliver the mail? I have no idea, all I know is I had to look around for a few blocks to find the competitor’s mail boxes. All in all, worth the confusion though…