Living with the Metric System

One of the many adjustments we’ve had to make here is living with the metric system. Did you know that the US is one of only three countries that does not use the metric system? Yes, 1 of 3. The US is in the distinguished company of Liberia and Myanmar (aka Burma). One website referred to this triumvirate as “the Axis of Medieval.” Sounds about right to us. (The UK still uses many imperial measurements – pints of beer – but it is officially on the metric system.)

Overall, it’s not that hard of an adjustment. Certain aspects are easy. For example, miles to kilometers is easy because most US car speedometers show both MPH and KPH and it’s not hard to remember that 60 MPH = 100 KPH. Thus, there are about 1.6 km/mile. We’re also good with pounds and kilograms, which is simply 2.2 lbs/kilo. So, half a kilo of anything is about 1 pound. That’s doable when buying meat, fruit and veggies. And if you just cut the price in half you know the approximate price/pound, which helps us evaluate what we are spending by comparison to prices in the US, although this calculation has less and less importance to us as time goes on and we adjust to living our lives on the Euro. (No, there won’t be a separate post on that adjustment.)

Temperature raises the bar a bit higher. It is NOT easy to convert between Fahrenheit and Celsius. (They are not easy to spell either.) We’ve kept the weather app/widget on our phones in Fahrenheit and figure out if we need a jacket or not on that basis because it is simpler. The current temperature (with time and date) is displayed on various signs throughout the city, so we have gotten used to seeing the Celsius measurement and now have a working knowledge of various temperatures. For example, 10 C is 50 F, 20 C is 68 F, and 30 C is 86 F. (Note the lack of a proportionality.) During the winter, we became accustomed to, but not happy about, seeing 0 C (32 F) in the early morning hours.

Where it gets tough is in the kitchen. Our oven is obviously set at Celsius. We had to create a handy reference table for oven temperatures. For your edification, 375 F is 190 C. We still haven’t committed that one to memory. Of course, recipes are given in grams instead of ounces or table/teaspoons, and milliliters or deciliters instead of cups. This means that I am constantly using Google to convert kitchen-related measurements. I have not even tried baking anything – there are more than enough lovely pastelarias if we want cakes or cookies.

Reading food labels can also be a fun experience because both kilocalories and kilojoules are listed and serving sizes are in grams.

I remember during the 70’s the United States considered converting to the metric system and it seemed intimidating as an elementary school age child. But the change never came. Now we can attest that it just takes time to adjust, and while you are adjusting your math skills may even improve as a bonus.

Think of us the next time you pick up a 2-liter bottle of soda,

Shana & Jeff