Things That are Backwards Here

• Driving on the “wrong” side of the road
• Light switches: down is on, up is off
• Traffic lights: they go yellow before they go green
• Calendars: weeks start on Monday, not Sunday

They also have no “mixer” taps on their faucets. So when you go to wash your hands, you have to turn on the hot water with the left-hand tap, and then turn on the cold water with the right-hand tap. You wash your hands in hot for about five seconds until it becomes too hot to bear, then you switch to the cold tap until that is too cold, then you shift your hands back and forth – hot, cold, hot, cold, hot, cold – until your hands are clean, scalded and frostbitten.