Yeah we were surprised by a lot of things over there. I suppose it's impossible not to have certain expectations with all the media we import from them.
The food was a bit shit. We ate well in San Francisco and Vegas but just trying to get a simple, decent meal was tricky. And the cheese. In France they eat a lot of cheese but the supermarkets have an entire aisle dedicated to the various types. In America they seem to have cheese on everything but it's all processed crap.
The yanks were great. Quick to help if you looked like you needed a hand and everyone was really polite. It seemed honest and genuine too, not the false front we were expecting. We were decent tippers though so that may have helped
The amount of homeless people was a shock although perhaps they're drawn to the tourist areas so it may not be representative. Mind you, when we arrived we decided to use public transport in LA and when we were buying a ticket a bloke walked up behind us asking for a dollar. When I politely declined he said, "whatever man. Some tourists are cool, some tourists are whack." and stumbled off. I've never been called "whack" before. I felt quite proud
Not quite as many monster-fatties as I expected too, although when we went to an ice hockey game I watched a man eat what must have been a six litre bag of popcorn.
There were a few places I felt uncomfortable though. Even in Hollywood, I decided to take a shortcut and it only takes a few steps from the tourist road it suddenly feels quite intimidating. The contrast between wealth and poverty is incredibly stark, particularly in LA. You walk round the corner from a $billion restaurant franchise and suddenly feel like you're in the third world. San Francisco was probably the only place we never felt uncomfortable despite walking across the entire city. Great place.
The TV was bloody awful. The news was tabloid level at best and I know there was an election on but aside from Sandy hitting the east coast, there wasn't a single story given any coverage. I wish I was exaggerating but there really wasn't. The God TV stuff was terrifying too and the shamelessness of these preachers was amazing; "send me $$$ and I'll have a word with God. Within six months you'll... oh I dunno... experience a miracle," or one of my favourites, "send me exactly $273 and I guarantee your business will start making money." Do they have no regulation for this kind of thing?
Thankfully we spent more time in the car than in front of the TV and the radio was really good.
I'd definitely like to see more of America. The southern states would be interesting and we might do a weekend in New York next year if we can save up enough before our visa runs out.
Speed wrote:Emjay just pointed out that my post was a little ambiguous (which is pretty common with my posts).....Vegas was awesome.....not having more than expected beggars.
