America the Great

So I've been back for more than a week now and since I was away for so long, I am experiencing a reverse culture shock. Here's a short list of things I find good and bad:

Good: the big-assed SUV Washington Flyer taxi that swallowed up our two suitcases without a blink

Bad: Pre-Christmas shopping madness with full parking lots and long lines at the checkout

Good: Post-Christmas sales at discounts you won't believe

Bad: Having the hardest time finding things in your size, when wasitlines are too big even on some size 0, but pant legs are too long because at 5'5" you are a dwarf

Good: Self-esteem is up when you compare yourself to the overweight American mass and think that maybe you can slack off on gym

Bad: Checkout clerks are so slow it's like watching them in slow-motion (I miss Japanese cashier's efficiencies)

Good: The self checkout at the supermarket that lets you scan and pay without the help of a cashier

Bad: Sales people who greet you and expect to be greeted back. Why am I obligated to answer the question, "How you're doing?" every time I step inside a store. Why can't they just be like the Japanese sales people, and simply bow and say welcome?

Good: Fountain sodas tastes much better than the ones you get in Asian countries

Bad: Portions are so big in restaurants that you share an appetizer and a main with your girlfriend and still have to remind yourself not to gorge

Good: Being able to buy produce at 1/6 the Tokyo price

Bad: Twenty-four isles of floor to ceiling grocery shelves, not one bottle of clam juice

Good: Wide roads, cheap gasoline, and cops ticket idiots who park on the road and block traffic

Bad: Having to drive extra carefully because without congestion, you might actually go over the speed limit and get ticketed

Good: Carrying only $50 in my wallet because everything can be paid in visa

Bad: Make it almost everything, because Neiman Marcus only takes AMEX and their own charge card. Whatever happened to "Visa: All it takes" or "'There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there is MasterCard"???

Great: Getting free wireless connection in the kitchen!