When I went in high school 20 years ago with a group from Washington, DC, to Athens and Rome, this happened to me. In the cab from the athens airport to the hotel, I looked at the speedometer and saw the needle over the 100 mark. For a second I thought it meant 100 MPH even though I know it was 100 KPH.
Then, when we got to the hotel, my room was on the 2nd floor. So I thought I'll just take the stairs, forgetting also that the European 2nd floor is the American 3rd floor.
Lol, over here in Austria, the 2nd floor can be anything from 3rd (American) in new buildings to 5th (American) if you're in an old house. Because those often have Mezzanin and Hochparterre besides Erdgeschoss (ground floor). So, even in the same city it can differ depending on the age of the house X-)
I work as an engineer in a design office, doing some calculations and preparing drawings mostly on polish, british and swedish projects. Once I got to work on some drawings for the US... Even though I do know imperial system, I felt almost like I lost all my mathemathical abilities :D When I ran onto the drawing scale system where instead of simple factors as 1:10, 1:50, 1:100 etc., I got 1in=30ft, that was too much for me...
OMG yes, this is so accurate. I gotta say, though, I love how dramatic sub-freezing temps sound in Celsius and how dramatic above-freezing temps sound in Fahrenheit.
As a member of the BJD (Asian ball-jointed doll) hobby, I am actually able to visualize some metric where before I really couldn't without a ruler. In fact I'm better at dollstuff in metric than inches, and if you asked me how tall any of my dolls are beyond about the 15cm range, I wouldn't be able to tell you how many inches/feet tall they are (but I can tell you in cm!). My biggest dolls are 72cm... which... is... *googles* ...about 2 feet 4 inches. Bigdollies. XD
Wow, I had no idea this was a thing, and now I've just been down a 30 minute rabbit hole learning all about Asian ball-jointed dolls. I love the internet sometimes, so many great niche communities
I've just given up on trying to convert, especially temperature from Celcius to Fahrenheit. I just go on warm/cold feel and know 0°C is cold and 30°C is hot, and last summer 40°C is unbearably hot. Also I estimate that a meter is 3 feet.
It’s not just if you travel. I’m in a lot of science classes where you have to use the metric system. In one of my classes we had to use feet, and I thought, “Wait, what?” I’d been using the metric system for so long it felt weird going back.
I find the metric systems(SI) easier to understand. It has whole numbers and easier to round up.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why those of us on this side of the pond need to stop resisting and switch to SI already!
ReplyDeleteWhen I went in high school 20 years ago with a group from Washington, DC, to Athens and Rome, this happened to me. In the cab from the athens airport to the hotel, I looked at the speedometer and saw the needle over the 100 mark. For a second I thought it meant 100 MPH even though I know it was 100 KPH.
ReplyDeleteThen, when we got to the hotel, my room was on the 2nd floor. So I thought I'll just take the stairs, forgetting also that the European 2nd floor is the American 3rd floor.
That thing with the floors depends on where in Europe you are, there's enough confusion already on this side of the pond.
DeleteSo you wouldn't have taken the stairs if you knew it was on the third floor?
DeleteLol, over here in Austria, the 2nd floor can be anything from 3rd (American) in new buildings to 5th (American) if you're in an old house. Because those often have Mezzanin and Hochparterre besides Erdgeschoss (ground floor). So, even in the same city it can differ depending on the age of the house X-)
DeleteI work as an engineer in a design office, doing some calculations and preparing drawings mostly on polish, british and swedish projects. Once I got to work on some drawings for the US... Even though I do know imperial system, I felt almost like I lost all my mathemathical abilities :D When I ran onto the drawing scale system where instead of simple factors as 1:10, 1:50, 1:100 etc., I got 1in=30ft, that was too much for me...
ReplyDelete50pounds wide, going at 40 celcius per hour, weighting three kilometer, being 6 fahrenheit tall,16 foot in temperature :)
ReplyDeletesounds accurate to me
DeleteOMG yes, this is so accurate. I gotta say, though, I love how dramatic sub-freezing temps sound in Celsius and how dramatic above-freezing temps sound in Fahrenheit.
ReplyDeleteAs a member of the BJD (Asian ball-jointed doll) hobby, I am actually able to visualize some metric where before I really couldn't without a ruler. In fact I'm better at dollstuff in metric than inches, and if you asked me how tall any of my dolls are beyond about the 15cm range, I wouldn't be able to tell you how many inches/feet tall they are (but I can tell you in cm!). My biggest dolls are 72cm... which... is... *googles* ...about 2 feet 4 inches. Bigdollies. XD
ReplyDeleteWow, I had no idea this was a thing, and now I've just been down a 30 minute rabbit hole learning all about Asian ball-jointed dolls. I love the internet sometimes, so many great niche communities
DeleteAgreed...and I am just now enjoying yourself, having discovered it some 10 minutes ago. Good fun!
DeleteWell I was trying to say, before auto-correct so autocraticly & automatically intervened, that I was enjoying your site...a rewarding rabbit hole!
DeleteI've just given up on trying to convert, especially temperature from Celcius to Fahrenheit. I just go on warm/cold feel and know 0°C is cold and 30°C is hot, and last summer 40°C is unbearably hot. Also I estimate that a meter is 3 feet.
ReplyDeleteHah yeah that's pretty much where I'm at too! Pounds and kilos, forget it.
DeleteIt’s not just if you travel. I’m in a lot of science classes where you have to use the metric system. In one of my classes we had to use feet, and I thought, “Wait, what?” I’d been using the metric system for so long it felt weird going back.
ReplyDelete