Thoughts and memories of living abroad and improving myself while at it
Don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m talking about the City of Amsterdam Coat of Arms!
Apparently the three X’s on the shield in the city’s coat of arms are Saint Andrew’s crosses.
Still, as Amsterdam is very famous for things less than saintly, one cannot help but wonder if there is any connection whatsoever between the identifier for pornography and the coat of arms. Which came first? The souvenir shops seem to take a particular liking in the coincidence anyway! 
When I returned from my recent trip to Germany, I was brutally reminded of one of the things I really found hard to get used to in Ireland: separate taps for hot and cold water!
A minor thing you’d say, and the Irish don’t seem to mind it at all. However, for somebody used to fine adjust the warmth level of water when washing hands, it is very annoying to get burnt on the left hand and have the right hand turned into a popsicle every morning!
For some reason, even in the recently built apartments/houses, and definitely in the older ones, the hot/cold water taps are always separated in the bathroom. In my apartment, the kitchen sink tap is designed the good old “normal” way, i.e. having hot and cold water coming out the same tap. Same for the bathtub tap. The hotels and corporate offices have as well broken with the seemingly “traditional” Irish way, and provide the two knobs linking to the single tap, or even better the ultra-modern twist’n'turn single knob 
Nothing one can’t live with, still it’s one of the little details, country specific things - that I like to keep track of. Does anyone know of any other country in the world which has this?
