It's good to see some others adding their own examples of the reality of llving in another country and the differences you encounter. Some of the smallest things can become real irritants.
Frufrau, your examples are good ones. Try this on for size. The first trip I had to make to a hardware store in Greece was for a lightbulb for my bebside lamp. No big deal, I didn't have your problem of distance to contend wtih. I could walk to a hardware store. So I bought a 60 watt lightbulb went home and .... it was the wrong kind. In N. America we are used to normal screw in bulbs but in Europe they also have bayonet types which you push in and turn to lock in. So I had bought a screw type and the lamp took bayonet type. Back to the hardware store.
Now comes the fun. In N. America, we are used to returning a product if it is not suitable. Often you can get a refund or exchange it but pretty always you can at least exchanage it. Not in Greece. You bought it, you own it. When I explained it was the wrong type, the hardware merchant just shrugged his shoulders and said, 'son now you need to buy the right one'. No exchange, you keep the one that is useless to you and you buy a new one.
Bluehouse, people in all countries no doubt complain about bureaucracy and the hoops they make you jump through to get anything done. I certainly did, growing up in Canada. But I had no idea of just how far it could be taken until I lived in Greece. Bureaucrats in Greece practice it as an art form. There is nothing you can do in 1 visit to a government office of any kind that they cannot make a 10 visit job.
Eventually when dealing with them I adopted the expectation of never getting anything resolved in any visit. That way when after 7 or 8 visits they finally told me, 'ok, that's it done', I got a pleasant surprise.
MMMaybe, I knew an English guy who wanted to open a bar on Rhodes. During my own 2-4th years there, I owned a bar along with a Greek partner. This guy was trying to get his bar up and running at the same time as we were. My partner told me, here's how it works. We pay a guy $1000 and he arranges(read spreads the money around) for us to get a license, etc. and open in 8 weeks. Or we try to do it ourselves and it takes maybe 6-9 months. We paid and opened for the beginning of the tourist season, no problem.
Well, the English guy decided he could do it himself. So he started making the rounds of the appropriate city offices to get his license, fire department clearance, etc. He missed the beginning of the season and of course while all this is going on, he is paying rent for the building. By mid-season (about 6 months since he started the process) he was going crazy and one day, he blew his top. He made a scene (putting it mildly) in City Hall, demanded to see the Mayor, started quoting European Union law and how Greece must comply, etc. etc.
Here's what then happened. His car was impounded for driving over 6 months on foreign registration. He never saw that car again. He refused to give up on 'principle' and they took him around and around in circles for 2 YEARS. He left to visit the UK about a year in to it and on his return he was refused entry at the island airport and sent back to the UK. He had to go to the Greek Embassy in London, plead his case and get permission to return to Greece. He returned and carried on trying to get his license. He was afraid to leave again in case they denied him on return again. Finally after 2 years he got the license and opened the bar. On his first night at 12.01am the police came in the door and fined him for playing music after midnight (you can be open but music must be turned off).
Finally, he realized that he was not going to be allowed to do anything on the island, ever. He left, left the bar sitting all done up, got on a plane and went back to England. Lesson finally learned. Two weeks later, the owner of the building opened the bar.
Another guy I knew got offered a job on a dive boat as the 'engineer'. Commercial vessels of a certain size and carrying a certain number of paying passengers must have an 'engineer' as well as a skipper. So an English guy who owned the dive company offered this guy a job as he had the necessary qualifications. ie. paper certifications.
The harbourmaster has to approve the qualifications however and when he took his papers to the Harbourmaster and asked to be approved, he was refused. First story, 'they're in English, they must be in Greek or accompanied by a certified Greek translation.' Sounds reasonable. But that was just the start. Round and round he went, first he needs to have this and then he needs to have that. This went on for a couple of months.
One day he was telling me about it and I said to him, 'It sounds to me like they don't want you to have the job. I don't know but my guess is they have somebody else in mind for the job regardless of who the business owner wants to offer the job to. I don't think you're ever going to get approval. You're wasting your time. Find something else.' Eventually, he gave up and did find something else as a welder. No problem getting his papers approved. The 'engineer' job? That went to the Harbourmaster's nephew.
Sometimes though, the differences can work for you. For example, if I got a parking ticket I took it to a Greek friend of mine who owned an Italian Restaurant. Huh? His Brother-in-law was the police sargeant at our local village police station. The ticket disappeared.
You can only drive a foreign registered car for 6 months and then you must register it in Greece and put Greek plates on it. If not, the car can be impounded (as per bar guy above). I drove a 1983 red MGB convertible for 4 years with UK registration plates on it. It's pretty hard to not notice a car like that on a little island. Never got stopped once. Why? Because I was known and had 'face' on the island.
I got stopped on my Vespa scooter one day at a spot check and when asked to produce my insurance papers, I did, only to discover the insurance had expired. Unlike elsewhere, they don't send you out a notice that renewal time is approaching. You're expected to pay attention and go to them if you want to renew. So the cop says to me, 'your insurance is expired'. I thought, 'oh shit, now I'm in trouble.' He said, 'I know you, you have been here several years, you are from Canada. What would the police do in Canada?' I said, 'They would fine me and not let me drive till I had insurance.' He smiled and then said, 'See how much better it is that you live on Rodos. Ride right now to the insurance office and pay your insurance.'
Not all differences are bad ones.
