two and a half weeks on the west coast, twenty fourteen

For the sake of continuity, here’s the highlights of the 2014 West Coast trip:

·       Mom and I spent a week in San Francisco, just exploring and having fun. I was thrilled at the romanticism of the business/tourist parts of the city, horrified at the grittier parts -- and left very much in love with SF.

·       Where I live in Australia the sky is very, very blue. Most days the sky isn’t only clear and cloudless but really, truly azure. It’s been fun for me to see how the sky looks different in different parts of the world. SF’s sky was the most interesting I’ve seen so far: often cloudy, sometimes grey, sometimes blue, spectacular sunsets in pastel pinks and oranges over the city.

·       I stayed with my Californian uncle in Sacramento for a week and a half. I say Californian but that’s only in name – he’s lived there for many years now, but living with him for a week I’ve gathered that his lifestyle is mostly British, a couple parts East Coast with a splash of Chinese thrown in. Which matches his background. (Those of you who have read my East Coast adventures will have realised along with me that my family’s becoming a melting pot of its own, dontcha think?)

·       It was during this trip that I realised that I’m a bit in love with the USA. I didn’t watch much TV or movies growing up, but I read a lot of novels and these days, my main source of reading is blogs. Almost every book I read as a child – if it wasn’t Australian– was American. As a child I loved The Baby-Sitters Club. As a tween I loved Roswell High, as a teen I read Twilight (so sue me), The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, some old books of my mother’s like The Yes Girl and My Wolf, My Friend and I was a massive RENThead. 90% of my blogfriends now and over the years have been American as well. So it gives me a sense of wonder – almost nostalgia – to discover names of places I’ve read about, or imagine my blogfriends living in.

(Side note: don’t get me wrong, I read plenty of good Australian fiction, but they rarely made it as big and once I started joining fandoms, there wasn’t much choice. Let’s not underestimate the corrupting power of influence of fandom.)

Asian grocery in a small town in Virginia

·       Also, America is huge. Sure, Australia isn’t much smaller geographically. But boy does the massive population difference matter. Sacramento has a large, established Chinese population, and my relatives, being part of it, frequent the Asian groceries and stores. Boy, every single Asian grocery in Sacramento was the biggest one I’d ever seen! Australia's Chinese population isn't small, but the Asian supermarkets are definitely 'specialty stores', to cater for what’s seen as a niche market.

3 aisles of frozen dumplings? This lazy cook's idea of heaven!

I have NEVER bought fresh bamboo shoots before, only out of a can

The topic came up when I met a lovely volunteer at the California State Railway Museum who asked me where I was from (the accent throws some people – I love it, it’s a great conversation starter). He then asked me what the hardest part of living in Australia is. Having been in Sacramento for about a week already, my reply came quickly: “Big country, small population.” The size and sheer number of Asian groceries available in the quiet residential area my uncle lives in was proof that having a big population means there are more facilities and services available to minority groups.
“In Australia, you consider yourself a minority?” he asked me in surprise. “Oh, not at all,” I replied. “But the sheer number of members in every population and interest group means there's just more of everything -- in number and in variety.”
Perhaps this is where the stereotype of Americans being materialistic mass consumers comes from.

Well, it's a very different environment, for sure -- but I'm not at all convinced that's a bad thing.