That's what I'd said at the time, that I'd heard of something like them in hurricane-prone regions, but I'd never seen them.

And those windows. At first I just thought them unusually cleaver (nifty Euro design an all) and only later did I realized that everyone has them, which was the bigger surprise. If I went someplace where absolutely every window everywhere (very nearly) was exactly the same kind I have in my flat here that would be a surprise, too.

I did see the English power strips, too. To me they look less-odd, since they follow the US pattern of flat surface, holes in it, just different size and shape. The German big-recessed-socket is more eye-catching to me.