What I miss ....

And what I will miss when I leave NZ ! Kia Ora everyone, and welcome to this special article I decided to write just for fun. I was thinking of all the little things that make life great, and tried to make a mental list of all these things I liked in Sweden, and those I like here and will miss when I return home. So here they are - but, be aware of one thing : I speak of the very little things, the ones you don't even notice in your everyday life, but that you'll miss afterwards ;)

Sweden

Some would say I could write "everything", and they would be right, it wouldn't be such a lie. I'm not gonna write another paragraph on how wonderful the people I met were nor on the beauty of Uppsala, these things are obvious and do not fit into my definition of "little". But this does :

1- Fil. Or sour milk/liquid yoghurt. I don't exactly remember the explanations a friend gave me about its production, but I know it's different from regular yoghurt. And it's soooooo good ! I've been having it with cereal E-V-E-R-Y single morning since the end of September till the end of January, and I miss it really bad. I tried to find substitutes in France and NZ, but none can match its uniqueness. Beware, trying it is adopting it :-)

2- The green "biogas" busses ! Yes, I miss these big green machines :( It was actually the first time for me I wasn't living on the Uni campus nor in the center of the city, so I had to use community transports nearly every day when I wasn't biking. And Uppsala's bus system proved to be the most perfect thing you could imagine. Every 5 min, every 500m, every day, it stops. It's always on time (even arriving 30sec early quite often), it's comfortable, it's nice and reliable, and bus stops are very convenient (I mean there's a screen with the timetable, not like NZ where there's hardly a paper for the main line). In short, a must have, despite the price.

3- Pedestrian crossings. I know it might seem strange, but in NZ, pedestrians must cross the streets at their own risks, putting their lives at stake every time they wish to buy food or go to the public toilets across the road. There are but few safe crossing, except for the very centre of the cities. Cars always have the priority, even when crossings are made for pedestrians ! You can only cross the street with your eyes closed when you see these white lines on the road, and in my whole suburb there is but just one !! I miss Uppsala's pedestrian areas and the kindness of the drivers, who would always let bikes and walkers go first.

New Zealand

1- Cookietime cookies !! Have you ever seen that big red furry monster ? If not, here he is : the cookie monster ! He is the big boss of an NZ company manufacturing big and delicious cookies you can find in every shop. They are soooo good ! I'm even eating one right now :) Next time I go to the warehouse, I'll buy the 10pack - enough to feed your tummy for a whole week ^^

2- Public toilets. I know it can seem strange, but if NZ could be world champion for something, it would be for public toilets! They are EVERYWHERE ! Each natural reserve, park, picnic area  and even the smallest towns have free public toilets. You never need to pay, you never need to pretend having a drink in a pub, etc It's very convenient. I guess it's also because people here respect the facilities quite a lot. Adventure has never been that easy ;)

3- The warehouse. Aaaaah, the warehouse, how to explain to those who've never seen it ? It's a chain store, big and red, called "The Warehouse, where everyone gets a bargain" XD And indeed, it's quite cheap ;) They have everything : books, CDs, food, shampoo, plants, perfume, pyjamas, milk, cookies ;) When you need something, even if you don't remember what, just go to the warehouse and you'll find it, alongside many other things you don't need but will buy anyway because of the quite cheap prices. When I'm bored at home, I just go to the warehouse and leave it with a cheap book or CD, and then I have something to do ;)

4- NZ pies. Yes, NZ is famous for its meat pies, that you can find in every bakery or food store. They're really good and I'll miss them a lot, even though baking some won't be really hard I think. A not-so-well known recipe that needs to be revealed to the world, unlike vegemite, the most disgusting thing on earth.

That's it for this rather unusual article. I know, it's a lot about food, but, you know, I'm French ;)

See you

Mig