18 November 2009

Metrically handicapped

The more I try to become adept at the metric system, the more I realize this may never happen. The US system (whatever it's called - imperial, maybe) is so ingrained that I simply can't get past it.

I mean I do know that celsius is temperature, but that's about as far as it goes. And even then, all I know is Baby, it's really cold outside, or Baby, it's just plain cold outside, or Baby, it's colder than it was yesterday outside. It could be 2C or 20C so I always have to look it up on the handy Google conversion gadget if I really want to know.

When I go to the slagerij (which is really a butcher shop, but they sell all sorts of prepared foods) and they ask me how much soup I want, in my mind I'm like - uh, a meter, a liter, a kilo? I take on this confused look and they start holding up various-sized containers and let me pick one. It always works.

Oh, and thanks slagerij employees (and pretty much the rest of the world) for speaking English.


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