FYI #2

The Bus

Note to self: when attempting to catch a bus in another country, make sure you are standing on the correct side of the street.

When we were catching the bus yesterday, we thought we were so smart, having been on a bus numerous times at home. So we walk right up to the bus stop, smiling to ourselves, confident that we knew what we were doing and stood there for awhile. Now, the bus stops in Hamilton, New Zealand have the schedule information posted in the bus stop pole. It so happened that ours was rubbed off, so we thought we should check the stop across the street. Before we crossed, we noticed a car coming from the direction that we were expecting our bus to come from. The only thing is, it was on the other side of the road. You know, in New Zealand, everything is switched. Cars drive on the left side of the road instead of on the right like in America. We were on the wrong side! Boy, did we feel dumb! So we hurry across the street and just as we get to that bus stop, here comes good ole mister "Go" bus, speeding towards the stop. Had we not crossed the street in time, we would have missed our bus!! Fun times. Nevermind that we pushed the "stop" button when the bus was at the bus station in the city center, only to find that everyone gets off at that point. Brilliant.