island living

             Before I went to Bermuda, I did my fair share of research on how it’s way of life, people, culture, and all the other basic things a new entrant should at least have a background on before migrating to a new country.  Honestly, before I got my job offer, I know nothing about Bermuda except that it’s a small island in the middle of the Atlantic.  How small it is?  I never knew the answer to it until I got here…it is VERY SMALL!!!  It’s smaller than Singapore, which I already found to be a bit asphyxiating so just imagine how shocked I was when I found out that I could actually go from one end of the island to the other in roughly 45 minutes! 

Here is a map of bermuda and where it is in the world. As you can see, it is really very tiny that in most world maps, it is barely even a dot.

Apparently, due to lack of online information about Bermuda, the size of the island is not the only surprise in store for me.  Here are some facts as well as my own island discoveries/observations so far:

• Bermuda is an English (UK) territory but since it is very close to the US (it belongs to the continent of North America), it has a very strong American influence.  Add that to the fact that since the plunge in the value of the dollar, most Brits went back to the UK while most Americans flock the island to get shelter from tax and their declining economy.  Their music is more American than European.  They have more American food than English food.  Though they have a lot of Italian restaurants, they are actually more American Italian than Italian Italian. 

• Though Bermuda imports majority of its products, they still love their own and by their “own” I mean not only their products but their race and their country as well.  For instance, Coke bottles here say ”Bottled in Bermuda by Bermudians”.  Isn’t that one of a kind?  I don’t remember seeing Coke bottles in the Philippines that say “Bottled in the Philippines by Filipinos”.  In fact, in the Philippines, Filipinos would more often than not, prefer buying stuff made elsewhere in the world except in the Philippines.  Also, Bermudians are always get priority wherever, whenever.  In the airport, there’s a line exclusively for Bermudians with 2 immigration officers attending to them.  Note that the ratio of Bermudians traveling to non-Bermudians (meaning residents and tourists) is really low so it’s not uncommon to see tourists and residents get out of the airport last and finding no taxis out.

• All houses here have names. I found that cute really because I feel like I’m playing Sim City.  Actually, there are a lot of manors here similarly named in the game.  My house is called “Paddington”.  We include that in our address because they say it makes it easy for the mailmen and/or taxi drivers to know where you live so I’m assuming the house names are unique.  I wonder if they apply for it like trademarks?

• Bermuda is an expensive place to live in.  I already expected that before I got here because it’s what most of the websites I visited say.  But really, I was still shocked when I first came.  Imagine paying $4.75 for a loaf of bread.  That would have cost me just a dollar or less in the Philippines!  I’m not exactly sure how much is it in the US but I’m pretty sure it’s cheaper.  I used to convert a lot back then but now, I just don’t notice anymore.  I can’t live here if I continue converting and comparing.  I only buy the basic stuff here like food and detergent that’s pretty much it.  All the others, I buy in the US.  When I’m in the US, I shop like crazy!  I make sure that when I have a big bag with almost nothing in it when I leave Bermuda for all my shopping stuff.  I remember buying hangers in the US!! Haha!

• The beaches here are absolutely gorgeous!  The sand is pink, not dark pink but more like a pig’s skin pink.  The water is clean and clear with the nicest blue, green, turquoise hue.  I just love it!

These are just a few things about Bermuda that I remember at the top of my head.  Just like any country probably, there is more to Bermuda than those published in websites, books or magazines and the best way to learn about it is to actually live there.  I live here now and I am still discovering a lot of things about the island, both good and bad.  I’ve only been here six months and I’ve already learned a lot about it but I’m pretty sure I have a lot more to learn including the answer to the big question “Am I befitting for this island?”…We’ll see…

  Isn’t that lovely?