Crash Course in Etiquette for Cooper

Man, I feel like since we arrived here Cooper has a crash course in etiquette! There are so many little things that happen in our daily lives that didn't happen back in Tacoma. Luckily, he is a quick learner!

I think the two biggest lessons have to do with elevators and public transportation.  Since arriving, we have only lived in buildings with elevators.  Coop has learned or, shall I say, is learning how to let others "alight" first and then get on. He has become quite adept at holding elevator doors open for others using either his hands/body or the newly discovered "door open" button.  Those of you who know Cooper well can imagine how he hams it up!  The same holds for getting on and off trains. For those of you wondering what the heck "alight" means and why am I using it, well, that is the word they use here!  Seems a bit fancy of a word to me, but it works. :)

Coop has learned a lot about when to cross the street and when to wait. Thankfully people here (or almost all) wait for the walk signal and the grating noise that goes with it before crossing.  At certain corners in the city, you can cross in ANY direction including diagonally to the opposite corner. That was a bit confusing for him and, to be honest, for me too. :)

We have had to have many conversations about not pointing and staring at people who may look or smell different- yes, Coop is super sensitive to smells.  And whispering!  That is a lesson in itself.

The other lesson- not quite mastered is that you do not pee in the bushes or alleyways in AU. Maybe you aren't supposed to do it in the US either, but we did. He is a boy and it is so much easier. So needless to say, he wants to pee everywhere and anywhere. I am working on getting this through to him because the last thing we need is a huge fine for indecent exposure or something like that.

The last big lesson is why it is not okay to "sound" the "Octonaut Alarm" on trains, elevators or in taxis.  For those of you who do not know what the "Octonaut Alarm" is see the video below....

So, I tried several times to upload a video of Cooper sounding the alarm, but it wouldn't load- you are just going to have to imagine how loud it can be and not something you really want to hear in a small and enclosed space....