How Boston differs to South Africa... part 3

Food
- Americans call Orange Sweet Melon, Canteloupe
- Popular foods here in Boston include Clam Cowder, Bagels and Lobster
- Authentic foods: most restaurants are run by that nationality i.e. Indian food is sold by Indians. Even when you order online, your food is delivered by an Indian person!

Shops
- We have noticed that a lot of lower end, factory/discount/liquidation shops have closed (since Athol was last here). Strange since with the tough recession times, one would think that the cheaper shops would flourish, need to figure this out
- When you order house items e.g. chairs, tables, couches, etc.  the norm is that most come unassembled. Then you need to pay extra for assembly.  Do-it-yourself (DIY) furniture is not very big in SA and most furniture arrives assembled unless otherwise stated
- Most services like telephone, cable TV, electricity, cellphones are not state owned or run by one/two sole providers (like Telkom/Eskom, Vodacom in SA) but privately run by many companies allowing for competitiveness amongst service providers for customers

Housing
- Rent is fairly high, in Cambridge you will pay nothing less than $1500 p.m for an unfurnished studio apartment (i.e. R12,500) excluding utilities. For this rental you could rent a house in CT/JHB (obviously dependent on location and quality, note however rentals are cheaper further out of Cambridge)
- Internet is common, fast and fairly cheap
- There are 'Buyer' real estate brokers where the buyer will pay a commission to the broker (whereas in SA the seller pays the commission). Commission is similar to SA about 7%-10% commission

Other interesting things
- Laundry rooms in apartment blocks are internet connected so you can check online to see if there are washing/drying machines available, or how long longer your load of washing will take so you don't have to sit in the laundry room waiting for your washing - such a great idea
- Americans call a base for mattress a 'box-spring'. In SA we call it a 'base'