Words, Words, Words

As my friend Genevieve commented on my last post, there are many cultural differences between Australia and North America. But I also discovered instances where the culture is the same... but the vocabulary is different.

Most of these came up in everyday conversation with my cousins. Putting things in the back of the car, they were surprised to hear that I refer to the 'trunk' as the 'boot'. They had never heard 'bonnet' for the 'hood' either.

Lemon bar, photo by Artizone, CC by 2.0

We spent a lot of time just sitting at home catching up on each other's news.
"I found a great recipe for lemon bars the other day," my aunt tells me.
"Um, that's great," I reply. "What's a lemon bar?"
Everyone looks at me.
"It's... like..."
The urge to use Google overpowers the search for words, and someone shows me a photo of a lemon bar on their mobile phone.
"We call that a slice," I explained. "Australians have caramel slice in every cafe, ever."

Caramel slice, photo by rore, CC by 2.0

My cousin Francis couldn't get his head around it. ("A slice of what?" "No, it's called a slice." "But a slice of what? Pizza?" "No, it's just called a slice.")

The funniest incident, though was when I mentioned that I had eaten the grape PBJ on bananas that morning in my rental room as I had run out of bread. I would have added sultanas, too, if I had any.
"What are sultanas?" one cousin asked.
I looked around the room. No one had heard of sultanas -- not my Hong Kong family. Not my East or West USA coast relatives. Not my Canadian-Chinese cousin or my Anglophile uncle.
"Are they... something Turkish?"
When I explained that they were dried grapes, my cousin spotted a bucket of raisins on the counter and handed it to me.

Tomayto, tomahto, raisin, sultana

I ate one and confirmed, yup, they taste just like the sultanas in Sultana Bran cereal.
"Sulta- wait, you mean Raisin Bran?" everyone asked.
It appears so!

Sure enough, I saw loads of Raisin Bran in Costco in Sacramento

Why in Australia we have sultanas in snack boxes and sultanas in cereal but then raisin toast in cafes and in loaves, though, I have no idea.

All these inconsistencies is enough to give one a headache, isn't it? Better take some paracetamol... wait, they don't have that here. Or so I thought.

North Americans are particularly fond of using genericised trademarks, like Kleenex (tissue) and Hoover (vacuum). Not that we don't do that, just not as much.

But we do say "Pop a Panadol". Similarly, North Americans say "Take a Tylenol". They're just brand names, of course. So when I wanted to grab a painkiller I checked the labels... no paracetamol. Just ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

It turns out acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol, is also known as... paracetamol. Why we even use different names for the active ingredient, I have no idea. Anyone able to enlighten me on this?

Edited: A friend answered this for me! "Paracetamol and acetaminophen are both derivatives of one of the old chemical names for the substance (n-para-acetylaminophenol). It's just that no one could agree on which letters to keep." Thank you Norman!

The food post: California edition

As much eating as I do when I travel, it would be remiss of me not to talk about the food.
Again -- this leg of the trip is for visiting family, not for sightseeing or pleasure, so my cultural experience is rather limited. But here goes.

Breakfast at Vic’s Café (next to Vic’s Ice Cream) proved pretty good.

Breakfast at Vic's Cafe

The waffle may draw eyes, but the bagel in the background is the real star. It’s an everything bagel with egg, bacon and cheese.

Everything bagel with egg, bacon & cheese, 2018

(For the uninitiated, an ‘everything’ bagel has poppy, sesame and caraway seeds on it, and often salt, garlic and onion. Yum.)

Everything bagel with cream cheese, 2016

For coffee, I ordered an ‘Americano without room’, which is Americanese for a long black without milk. Huh.

Note the writing on my cup: nothing like an A- first thing in the morning

My American cousins arrived to join the reunion the next day, and I swear their eyes bugged out of their heads when I said that I’ve never eaten grape jelly. So after a rather good yum cha with family, it was off to Target we went.

Note: ‘Jelly’ is American English for ‘jam’. They call the wobbly stuff 'jell-o'.

I eat PBJ (peanut butter and jam sandwiches) at home all the time, but usually with apricot conserve, because that’s how I ate it growing up. My cousins explained to me that there are two camps: the PBJ with strawberry jelly camp, and the PBJ with grape jelly camp. They are both in the strawberry jelly camp, but grape jelly is still a quintessential American food, so I had to try it. You can buy it in jars on its own, but I opted for the 2-in-1 for travel convenience.

Peanut butter and grape jelly spread on toast

Grape jelly turns out to be quite nice, milder than I expected. Strawberry jam is sweeter, so I can understand why it is preferred by my cousins on bread/toast, to balance out the richness of peanut butter.

Now, I know long-time readers are waiting for the junk food update. Honestly, the must-eat list is getting shorter after a few trips to the States. But there's always room for a few more...

All purchased at Target

Special mention goes to the Hawaiian kettle sweet maui onion chips and the Tate's choc chip cookies. Yum.

Next post should be on differences in language and conventions in the USA compared to Australia. I've collected a fair few so far, but if you have any questions, just comment below and I'll see if I can answer or investigate for you!

5 things I've learned about Sacramento

Honestly, this week has been family time, and I've been to Sacramento a couple of times before and done my sightseeing. So this time I don't have any history or museum stories to share, nor any entertaining exploits painting the town red. But I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for interesting things to share...

Mural showing Sacramento's highlights (click to enlarge)

Sacramento is the City of Trees. This one was obvious as soon as I arrived. Of course, it's a big city so I'm sure that not every neighbourhood looks the same, but I'm staying in a very nice one and its tree-lined streets are lovely.

The tree-lined streets are lovely.

Sacramento is the spiritual home of tribbles. I was puzzled when I found a tribble in the park, until I learned that Sacramento is the home of three different Star Trek bands (No Kill I, Warp 11 and No Kill I: The Next Generation). No wonder tribbles roam free in the parks...

Living among squirrels is no tribble at all

'Undulations' is not just a fancy word for speed bumps. Sacramento has speed humps, speed lumps, speed tables, and yes, undulations.

Hmm.

Central Public Radio has an article and awesome infographic explaining the difference between the different traffic calming devices.

The suburbs are great for dogspotting. I've seen soo many dogs out for walks -- a Boston terrier, a husky, a German shepherd, three basset hounds, a Cavalier, many small fluffies. A Frenchie out training with its human. A Golden sticking its head out of the the window of the car in front. A Weimaraner and its hound friend waiting outside the farmers' market because 'NO DOGS ALLOWED'.

Even Bullseye the Target dog

Sacramento is not just the state capital of California -- it's an agricultural region too. I haven't eaten out a lot, so I couldn't tell you how many of the restaurants are supplied with local food, but I have been to two of their many farmers' markets and seen the vegetables, fruit and bread.

America's Farm-to-Fork Capital

Sacramento is for quiet time

These few days have been relatively quiet ones for me, which is great. I get to settle in before the hordes of family arrive (only for a day or two), so it'll just be a whirlwind and then quiet again. I like busy, generally, but while the primary purpose of these trips is to accompany my mother, they are also a much-needed break from reality. So a few quiet days isn't bad.

Click any picture to embiggen it

And what a place to do it -- every time I visit I am struck by the beauty in my Californian uncle's neighbourhood. Sure, the weather's beautiful right now -- sunny, warm but not hot -- but that's not why I enjoy the walk to his house each morning. The thing is, in this area, every house looks very different from its neighbour. (Well, neighbor, I suppose!)

I wrote about American flags on my first trip to the States.
I marvelled at the American patriotism;
my Ohioan friend suggested it's simply jingoism.

Some houses have red brick, some blue panels, some white slates. Some have roses out front, some have conifers, some maples, tulips, bluebells and so on. I have to say that most of them are well-maintained with flowers pruned and lawn neatly mowed. And all the lawns are so incredibly green!

I count the political signs as I walk to uncle's: 'Make American Great Again', 'Love Wins',
'Stop the Tunnels'. Are all residents this political?

As I walked over yesterday morning, I mused that it was because people in this area pay gardeners to mow their lawn. But as I walked past, a worker carrying rolls of turf nodded to me, and I nodded back.

I know the secret to the green lawns now -- they must get the turf replaced weekly! I was so impressed last time I visited in autu- uh, fall -- that alongside the council rubbish/recycling/green waste collection, the council also provides collection for the fallen leaves. Just sweep them into a pile and leave by the kerbside and the truck will come and collect it. So why not weekly turf replacement, huh?

Chapter 2018 begins

Well, hello there.

It looks like I left off in Boston in 2016. Well, after Boston I went to Sacramento, California, to visit my uncle before heading back home to Australia.

It's two years later, but I'm once again in Sacramento, CA. I flew in yesterday, but had family obligations after the long trip, so I've just sat down to open this new chapter of the blog.

This trip will consist of a 10-day stop in Sacramento for a birthday celebration and family visit, then -- guess what? A week in Vancouver, BC, Canada! Yes, Donzerly Light now includes bonus Canada! 2 for the price of one! Get yours now at...

The 13-hour flight was smooth. Ordinarily I would read a book, or get out my laptop and write, but owing to some significant sleep deprivation I mainly watched movies.

The recommended list:

Frozen (five years late to the party; I'm sure you've all seen this one)

Murder on the Orient Express

Year Million (Nat Geo documentary series on the future of the world thanks to science/tech)

The not-recommended list:

StarTalk (hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson)

Puppy Dog Pals from Disney Jr. 

I got stopped by security at SFO and had to have a quick pat-down and the 10-sec explosive-testing because I left my Opal transport smartcard in my back pocket, oops!

Sniffer beagles are just as cute as normal beagles but probably just as evil inside. 

The animal relief area at the domestic terminal looked tiny to me, but it's good they've got one. I notice these things now that I'm in the dog training field.

When we reach the US the major cities will be labelled and I will wish I could visit all of them

Whenever I see the flight map over the US, I wish I actually planned for my trips and not just tagged-along or jabbed a finger at a random city that I've heard of. Don't get me wrong, I love every place I've been to so far in the US, but I could probably make better use of my time by choosing carefully.

An already long (planned) stopover at SFO turned into a 10-hour one thanks to delays (the captain was AWOL, apparently... Dammit, Jim!). Ordinarily not an issue, but I was unable to contact my uncle, who had offered to pick us up. It was a comedy of errors -- my SIM card hadn't activated as requested, so I didn't have mobile service, only airport WiFi. For a lot of people data is enough to get in touch... but my uncle doesn't have a mobile phone. Never mind, that's what the courtesy phone at the airport is for, right? ... Except when you get a disconnected tone on dialing his landline!

10 hrs at SFO: Desperate times call for desperate measures

I later found out that the night before, his landline and internet (which are connected) had suddenly stopped working. They did, of course, resume normal service once we contacted a bunch of other family members who finally got a message across so we were eventually picked us up from the airport. Hah!

Anyway, with that all done -- time to get onto the visiting and seeing part!

The universities of Boston

So, about the universities in Boston's northern region -- Cambridge.

Harvard's buildings are not particularly impressive from the exterior. I only saw the inside of the Memorial Hall, built to honour the Harvard students who fought in the American Civil War, and it was nice, but not particularly large.

Glimpse of the Memorial Hall interior

So the site itself isn't particularly worth visiting, to be honest, BUT I joined an official historical tour of Harvard Yard, led by an inexplicably endearing recent graduate (he graduated last week) who told the folklore of Harvard in a simultaneously dramatic and deadpan manner. He was from the Boston area, and unmistakably had its ubiquitous accent, and yet the only adjective I can think of to describe him is "droll" (a word which most Americans are unlikely to know the meaning of, I'll bet)!

This is the nicest photo I have of Harvard Yard. Seriously.

The Harvard museums, though, which are on the campus as well, are well-worth the visit. The Harvard Museum of Natural History was particularly impressive, with its Glass Flowers collection -- and I personally enjoy evolution exhibits every time I see them, even if they are often pretty similar.

Not only scientifically accurate but incredibly realistic glass models of flowers

My look at MIT was even briefer, actually, but I had a fun moment when a distinctive-looking building caught my eye. It was designed by architect Frank Gehry. who recently designed one for my little university back home, too. Had I time I would have definitely visited MIT's Science Museum for its AI displays. Maybe not its sole campus tour though, which is aimed at prospective students. I think that ship has sailed...

On Privilege: There But for the Grace...

Amongst all this frivolity I have to mention that I haven't forgotten how lucky I am to have the freedom to walk down the street, to travel, to study and to basically do as I please, free from oppression, prejudice and violence.

I am having a wonderful time travelling the world, with the money, privilege and opportunity to do so, and be cared for by family and friends, judged neither for my choices nor who I am. Not everyone does.

Makes me sad to think this mode of expression isn't just art, but necessary

I am not religious but I think I will be forgiven for borrowing an expression I really believe in -- there but for the grace of God, go I. And whatever you believe or don't believe in, whoever you are, whatever you have or don't have, it is up to all of us to recognise our own privilege and stand up for those who don't have that privilege.

Gadsden flag at the USS Constitution at half-mast

Orlando, FL, and everyone with less privilege than I, I'm thinking of you.

There's a chair in there

So, Boston is significant among American cities due to its role in establishing the nation.

But slightly more recently, Boston is famous for being home to two prestigious universities: Harvard and MIT.

Both of these famous universities are in the suburb of Cambridge, just north of the city proper, which happens to be where my mother and I are staying. We've rented an airBnB apartment there, in fact, and I'm really enjoying it because it's given me an idea of what home life is like in the area. The house, with its wooden facade, molding and bay windows, from what I hear, seems to be typical of New England/East Coast architecture, but is certainly a novelty to me.

settee sofa in the apartment

One funny thing is that everywhere we've been - Boston Public Library, the universities - has what I think of as 'fancy chairs' -- carved wooden chairs with fabric upholstery -- often with teens sprawled on them using their mobile devices (playing Angry Birds, no doubt), or in the case of our own building's foyer, left unceremoniously in a corner. And in the apartment living room, under the bay window, stands a settee sofa with floral upholstery. I've been drawn to it every time I enter the room, but on closer inspection the wood is cracked in a few places and who knows, maybe it was just picked up from a kerbside or something by the homeowners as an extra furnishing. My point is that this kind of decor is clearly a dime a dozen here so we must look so silly exclaiming over "pretty chairs"!

Oh look - I meant to talk about the universities and I've spent the time talking about pretty chairs. (See what I mean?) Oops.

Bah - I mean, Boston

So it has come to my attention that I am forgetting to explain the places I'm going, especially to my friends back home in the land down under. So, let me do my best to explain the places I'm visiting - American folks, laugh as much as you like at my mistakes, but do correct me afterwards, please!

So my first major stop on this trip (after just a couple days in Virginia) is Boston, Massachusetts. I haven't been here before, but my cousin from Virginia happened to be working there this week, so I thought, hey, there's an American city I've actually heard of, why not check it out? So I did.

Now, I don't know why, but the name 'Boston' has always conjured up vaguely cosmopolitan images for some reason. Probably I've assumed any city I've heard of would be a large cosmopolitan city. Now, that is NOT Boston's claim to fame. What Boston is, though, I really like.

I discovered that Boston's main significance is historical. The colony of Massachusetts was established after the Mayflower landed in Plymouth in 1620, and the Puritans, fleeing religious persecution in England, settled there. Ten years later, though they formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony in Boston. Its architecture and food today has its own New England flavour, I think. It's easy for us as Australians to think things might be kinda similar across the USA, since our country isn't much smaller, but again the population thing - each region of the United States is pretty different.

Paul Revere, revolutionary

Boston played a pretty big role in the American Revolution, ie. the political and military lead up to America's independence from Britain. (It has been suggested that Aussies are not so patriotic because we didn't fight for independence - in fact, the way some people tell it, a bunch of our governors just got on a boat, took a bit of a cruise, drank a lot and agreed to unite as a federation. Doesn't exactly light a fire of passionate nationalism in their descendants, but certainly seems to have shaped the general Australian culture.)

The Freedom Trail: follow the red brick road

How do I know this? Well, a must-do when visiting Boston is the Freedom Trail. It is a trail of historical sites across the city, such as the Old North Church, USS Constitution ship, Boston Common park and site of the nation's First Public School. My personal favourite was the house of Paul Revere, a local revolutionary figure (made famous in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Paul Revere's Ride" in 1861) because I could go in and see a display showing how people lived back when the house was built, and later during the time of the revolutionaries like Revere as well. It is always much easier to imagine how people from another time lived while standing in one of their buildings compared to viewing a museum display.

Old State House and tourists on the site of the Boston Massacre

The other thing of note, for me, was the museum of the Old State House, outside which the Boston Massacre occurred. The Boston Massacre was when frustrated American revolutionaries harassed British soldiers and in return the frustrated soldiers (without orders) opened fire on the people of the colony. All the events are written there for all tourists to read, and even the children's exhibits and fun activities ask, "What do you think? Were the Patriots traitors or were the soldiers taking away their freedom?"

I admire this effort to encourage visitors to think for themselves and make up their own minds, but it's still kind of amazing to see. From what I know there are countries that will always stick to their historical thinking and present the facts in a certain way to justify past actions. It's interesting to think about how different places present their history, as well as the 'facts' themselves.

Loin d'ici

I get the feeling plane trips are going to be blog updating time on this trip!

I'm on the plane IAD -> BOS, which is Washington DC to Boston for those who haven't been to this corner of the world.

I spent the past few days after arriving in the US in northern Virginia. I was just a hop away from DC but I was never tempted to head down there (I was there in 2012). Instead, I stayed in the lovely local area where my uncle lives. It's suburban, incredibly green (especially to those of us from a sunburnt country...) with large houses on large lots. I am lucky to have family living in such nice areas and it makes visiting them that bit nicer. (Note to self: clean up my space at home so it's a sanctuary rather than a sacrifice for people to visit me!)

Great Falls, VA

It was also gorgeous sunny weather, so a trip to the "local" national park, Great Falls, was a delight. Naturally, in the two years my family have lived in the area none of them have actually made the trip. It really was a lovely space that I would LOVE to have local - I'd grab a dog and head there at the first sign of good weather! (Kirsten, you'd lend me Fozzie, right?)

View from my window seat

I love flying over land because there's something so much to see. Or along the coast in this case -- best of both worlds. God, everything is so beautiful from up here. (Zoë's Loin d'ici is also a great flying song.)

Omg captain just announced we begin our descent in 12 minutes. This is the shortest flight ever!* Talk to ya later!


* As an Aussie any flight shorter than 4 hours seems short to me!

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.

We meet again!

Uh, hi guys!

I’m writing to you from somewhere in the Pacific. Or, more accurately, 37 000 ft* above the Pacific Ocean. I don’t think there’s many recognisable landmarks here, or at least they’re not shown on this flight map.

Since I’m here – yes, I am on my way to the USA again. I don’t really ever plan trips, but when my mother decides to visit her family, I tend to go along. I mean, why not?

I started this blog in 2012 when I visited the East Coast and in fact the USA for the very first time and people really seemed to enjoy my naïve observations of the US, so I thought I’d continue it. Only thing is, I visited in 2014 too – and spent that trip on the West Coast. I guess I must’ve assumed that since it wasn’t my first trip to the country, I wouldn’t have anything interesting to add. Or perhaps I just plain forgot about this blog… my point is, I didn’t blog at all that trip. (You must have been simply desolate without my blathering.) But actually, every time I’ve come to the US I’ve been somewhere new, and of course discovered something new. Thus, the chronicle continues. So hello again, from 2016, where I visit both East and West! Whoo!

The next post will be a quick catch-up on the highlights of 2014’s West Coast trip, so no one will be left wondering what they missed. (I know you won’t sleep until you find out.) Then it’ll be straight on to real-time updates from USA 2016!

* Don’t ask me how much that is in metres. They’ve only given me feet and I haven’t paid for WiFi…

I'm home.

What can I say? I had a good trip. I saw a lot of things, most of them touristy, but a few of them not. I met relatives, and made observations on strangers. 

(Conclusion on that, by the way, if you insist, is that all the people I met on the street were very helpful and friendly. With storepersons and securitypersons, it varied. Yes, America does seem to have some issues with safety and security, both in inadequacy and overcompensation. But I never felt unwelcome, and I certainly discovered some very human, compassionate things.)

Goodbye, 'Murrica! 'Bye, all! Thankyou for coming on this journey with me. Let's do it again sometime!

Melon

This morning my cousin took us to a great place to have Southern BBQ. Well, we went to the new restaurant that had opened as part of the chain which had started in his college town and spread. I loved it!

Then began the approximately 24-hour plane journey back to Australia. So I’m almost notoriously bad at doing real-world things like handling airports, banking and the like. This time I left my laptop in my luggage when I checked it in. I checked at every stop if TSA had let it go through (lithium-ion batteries are not supposed to go in luggage, and my laptop was ON, I might add), because it would be a major pain if it doesn’t get on a flight, because if it got stuck in, say, Atlanta, I have pretty much no way of getting it back.

Other than that, it was a pretty smooth journey. At one point mid-journey I noticed this. Guess who?

(L-R) My mother, myself, and my older brother.

 Interesting to see how we’re passing the time on the flight in the same way – or are we?

Took a tour of the UN headquarters in NYC this morning. I saw that it really is an amazing organisation – it’s really inspiring to see the displays they have, including depictions of the Declaration of Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals, and to be in the rooms where big decisions are made – the chambers of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

Also confirmed the things that will have to be on to-do list the next time I come – among them Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, the Lower East Side and The Strand bookstore.

P.S. Edited the junk food image from a few entries ago because I realised I’d forgotten some. :P

It’s my last couple of days “in” NYC (still commuting of course) so I’m doing all the quintessential New York things I still haven’t done – Broadway, Central Park, The Met, Macy’s.

Central Park was beautiful. I loved seeing people sleeping and reading there – probably locals. I saw many people doing different forms of exercise there too.

I saw a matinee on Broadway, but found it wasn’t really any different from seeing a show in any other theatre. Maybe I would find it different if I was watching an evening show? I bet it’s great to live where you could see a show whenever, though.

I’m liking New York more now that I can ignore some of the huge expectations built up by friends.