things you should know

There are some things that no one ever thinks to tell you before you travel abroad. I wanted to take a moment to share some of them with you.
In regards to bathrooms:
1) Practice holding it. Free public restrooms are few and far between. Some don't have toilets, but are little holes in the ground. Others let the sink water go right out onto the floor to "mop" it. They don't have soap. Frequently, they are out of towels.
2) Practice squating. Less than half of the public restrooms have toilet seats. You need some good leg muscle before you get here.
3) Practice going quietly. There is little to no water in the toilet, so you always sound like a kitchen sink. This is even worse when you're squating.

General Remarks:
1) Get over gender/privacy issues. Many bathrooms are for both sexes. Some hostels have old-school pubic showers for the entire girls' floor, while others just don't have doors or curtains.
2) Don't feel the need to shower every day. It's a hastle when you're running between trains and you have to push the water button every 30 seconds.
3) Remember that your B.O. can not possibly be as bad as theirs is most of the time, unless you also choose not to wear any deoderant. I can understand it, though. That stuff is expensive. Buy more than you think you'll need, just in case.
4) Be ready for your gums to toughen up. The bread here is great, but a far cry from the soft Wonder Bread that Americans have gotten used to. They've perfectly mastered the really crunchy outside and soft, soft inside.
5) Carry a dictionary. Some words on menus will NOT mean what you think it does. Who would have thought one of Lyon's biggest specialties is head cheese? (We learned this in advance, not from personal experience.)
6) Buy wine by the bottle or liter. It goes a lot farther than you think, and is WAAAY less expensive.
7) Like most things, laundry is hell-a expensive to do. Bring a little box and do it in the sink. You'll get a few blisters, but you'll be five euros better off. Throw them in the sunny spot of the room and they'll dry just fine.

Oh my gosh, I could go on forever. There's so much that you never think about! I started a mental list last night when I was laying in bed. The position of my room in the building is so funny; I'm below everyone, so their voices all come down to me, and the voices on the street drift up. I feel like Alice at the beginning of the Brady Bunch, when she's in the middle square. I sit and turn my head to different conversations, picking out different languages and trying to find one I can understand. I guess that's what happens when your eyes glaze over from staring at verb charts and you don't have a television or a radio.