Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Likes & Dislikes


What I liked about my stay State Side:

Meeting a wide variety of people from different countries (26 to be precise), backgrounds, cultures and religions all brought together by yoga.

The food. I don’t think I had a bad meal out. I did eat a lot of the same food because it was so good. Most meals I took home left overs, bonus, in a proper box that doesn’t say ‘not for human consumption’ on it like in Australia when you ask for a doggy bag. Red velvet cupcakes, cheesecake & Cold Stone Creamery mmmmm. The best meal was our Team Australia meal. My organic Wagu burger was divine.

Trader Joes and Whole Foods. Kitsch graphics, organic fresh produce and interesting pre packed snacks. A good range of fare trade clothes and Toms shoes too. I will miss the hot food buffet and cakes at Whole Foods.

The OTT festive spirit. The decorations for Halloween were on par with Christmas, awesome! As soon as Halloween was done, Christmas trimmings went up.

Of course the shopping. I didn’t do much but what I did I liked a lot. Big stores, friendly staff and lots of choice. Some bargains to be had but it wasn’t as cheap as I thought it would be.

Las Vegas. Nuff said!

What I won’t miss about the States:

The money. Yuck so dirty and smelly. I miss my Aussie waterproof dollars, gawd knows what germs are festering on those green backs. The coins were tricky to understand too.

Calling the god damn toilet a ‘potty’. WTF how old are you 2?! I know there is that whole embarrassment thing going on but I was more embarrassed when a 30 something said they ‘needed to use the potty’. Anything…loo, bog, shitter, restroom, toilet but not a freaking potty unless you are currently a three year old being toilet trained.

Taxes. Why not just had it on from the start? I’d pick something up and then when it came to check out it costs more! Don’t get me started on tax in nicer restaurants, add $10+ to your meal.

I’ll get booed for this but tipping. I know, I know, minimum wage is rubbish so service people rely on tips. I tipped everyone without hesitation but some days I felt I was dolling out dollars like lollies. Having to make sure I had small bills on me at all times gave me extra to think about. It took me a good few weeks to figure out the etiquette surrounding tipping. I faux pared at the day spa, I didn’t give the therapist the money directly. It was a fancy place so I thought they’d add it to the bill or have envelopes at the desk like the hair salons do. My hotel maid was awesome, so cheery. I tipped her every weekend and left her a big tip at the end. She never minded if I needed her to come back to clean and always gave us eight fresh towels twice a week. 

Driving on the right. I never drove, I didn’t need to but I was also to scared too. LA roads are mental, never mind being on the wrong side. It would have been nice to have hired a car and got out but it was way too complicated.

I won’t miss getting to bed after midnight. I have a feeling that it will take me a long while to readjust back to WA time zone and my usual 8:30pm bedtime! Even on Friday I couldn’t get to sleep till nearly 1am & I we have the night off.

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