Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Orlando and Boston

Its been cold
That's the story of the last couple of weeks.
I've also been really busy and had little time to take any pictures or look around.
Dinners, meetings and a conference.
That's been it.
Being in the States has brought back a flood of things that I'd pretty much forgotten and some stuff that I hadn't experienced but were very Yankee and made me smile.
  • Walking down the street the babble of voices around me isn't the usual white noise. I can understand what people are saying.
  • Flicking on the hotel TV, I realised that ALL the channels are in English. No more endless loops of CNN.
  • Watching ice hockey and NFL games in the same time zone as they're being played rather than at 2 am with the sound turned down because of the Cantonese commentary is more fun.
  • I cannot begin to describe the depths to which Reality TV has desended here.
  • FOX TV . Kind of like the point above.
  • People here bitch about $3/ a gallon. How would they handle the $10/gallon in the UK?
  • Cars here are big and rely on the point above.
  • The Super size me culture is part of the fabric of US life.
  • Portions of food are gigantic.
  • There's all manner of sugared junk food for sale everywhere.
  • This is the land of mandatory tipping and valet parking
  • The curbside check in guy at Orlando Airport called me "Bro". I had to pay $25 to check a bag and tipped the guy. I wonder what happens to your bag if you don't tip?
  • Service with a smile rather than a sneer.
  • People actually drink bourbon here.
  • The breakfast meeting is alive and well .
  • Yanks are a perky bunch.
  • People drink coke at breakfast.
  • If you smoke prepare to be treated like a heroin addict.
  • Domestic air travel is a misery.
That's it for today.
I fly to the UK on Friday and have an afternoon in NYC before hand so maybe I'll take some pics then.
Stay well
T

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Domestic air travel in the US is grim; if you're going Boston to NY (or DC) recommend Amtrak, then bus or cab to airport.

Good thing you don't smoke anymore, eh?

Happy trails
TR-HW

Anonymous said...

I work with people in Canada who drink coke for breakfast. Must be a North American thing. Perhaps Canadians are pretty much like Americans.

David

DopamineJunkie said...

Vous fumez encore?

Terry said...

Canadians are Americans who believe in socialised medicine and gun control

Anonymous said...

Peut-etre, peut-etre pas, mais il n'a pas repondu.

TR-HW

Anonymous said...

Good point Terry on gun control and socialized (and quite frankly less expensive per capita) medicine. Besides, we have a longer average life expectancy than the average American. Interesting and reassuring.

David

Anonymous said...

Syllogism?

Canadians are Americans who believe in socialised medicine and gun control.

British people believe in socialised medicine and gun control

All British people are Canadian.

This is making my synapses hurt. Thought I'd share the pain.

TR-HW