Cultural Differences....Round 1

 Now that I've been here for almost 2 months, I can speak to some of the cultural difference I have discovered. I am sure there will be many installments of this post title :)

#1 - Free refills are a big deal. A really big deal. Free refills don't exist here...except at Ikea. Which makes Ikea a pretty popular place to eat.
#2 - Don't order tap water. The waiter/waitress will think you are weird and might get mad. My friend ordered tap water in Budapest last weekend and the waiter was clearly irritated and pretty much refused to serve us. Water comes in little bottles of still or sparkling and if you want more, you have to pay for it (see #1).
#3 - People are crazy drivers. I'm not sure what the passing laws are, but I am sure people don't follow them. I have seem more almost-head-on-collisions since I have been here then in the last 30 years of my life. After being in Europe, driving in Chicago will be a cake-walk.
#4 - Time is a relative concept. If someone says "be there at 4" you can usually count on a 4:30 or later arrival. And people are not concerned with lateness - I don't think I have been to anything that has started close to on time. My very prompt "if you are early you are on time, if you are on time you are late" American side is struggling with this concept, but I am trying to embrace it. Now you know in advance why I will always be late when I come back to the USA next summer.
#5 - Milk is not necessarily refrigerated. Yep...you read that right. Apparently there are two kinds of milk - the kind that needs to be refrigerated and the kind that doesn't. And it comes in boxes just for extra weirdness.
#6 - Eggs aren't refrigerated either. I have picked up a carton of eggs off the shelf next to the bread.
#7 - Palinka cures everything. If you drink a shot or two of Palinka, whatever is ailing you will apparently magically disappear and you will feel better. I don't know if this works the same way for foreigners. Palinka usually makes me feel sick, even if I was feeling good to begin with.
#8 - European women wear heels - all the time. I do not. I am going to accept the fact right now that I will never be as fashionable as European women.
#9 - Weather under 75 degrees requires a jacket and scarf. In Michigan we call that summer weather still, so I'm the weirdo still wearing short sleeves.
#10 - Mozzarella cheese sticks can be ordered as an entire dinner. Of course it isn't called mozzarella cheese sticks and isn't really in stick form, but it is the same concept.  Breaded and fried cheese for dinner. As you can imagine it is delicious.