Shortly after I first arrived I went to a house party with some friends. It was the middle of winter. As usual guests contribute with drinks and/or snacks. We took beer. Unfortunately we had just bought it so it wasn’t cold. When I said this to the people in the party instead of the normal ‘put it in the freezer to cool faster’ that I would hear in Portugal they said ‘just put it outside in the garden, it will cool in no time’(!!!!) That’s something I wasn’t expecting! I supposed that thinking of it it makes perfect sense as it is very cold in the winter but it was weird to me anyway.

Later I was told that students who share accommodation, and therefore have limited space’ often put their stuff in a bag outside the window instead of the fridge. They only have to be careful so it doesn’t freeze in case it’s milk and yogurts and stuff