It's been quite a while and so much has happened since I left. I won't try to tell you everything. Instead, I'll just opt for writing anything that pops up in my mind.
First off, everything here in the US is big. And I mean really big. And I mean everything. For instance, the shampoo bottles are at least twice as big as those in Europe. I'm not going to say anything about the boxes of cereal. When I got an icecream yesterday I asked for one scoop: 1 American scoop corresponds to roughly 6-7 Dutch scoops. It's not so much overwhelming but I can't help being surprised at the sizes here.
Which neatly brings me to the subject of New York City. Actually, I didn't like it at all! It was so crowded! I liked the financial district, though. Times Square also was worth a visit, despite the incredibly number of people trying to prevent you from reaching it. The best of my stay was my cousing's company, though! I even learned quite some things about the US system and NYC in particular.
To be fair, maybe NY isn't so bad when the tourists are gone and the temperature drops, but I wasn't convinced by it!
The temperature.. not only is it hot & humid here (30-40C), which causes you to sweat like crazy all the time, but they use Fahrenheit, which is just a ridiculous scale. Also, they mostly use the British system, which means I'm stuck with ounces, feet, inches and I don't know what else. Some things are based on steps of 12 (i.e. instead of 1 unit corresponding to 10, 2 units to 20 3 units to 30, etc. things are different: 1 unit corresponds to 12, 2 unit correspond to 24, and 3 units to 36, etc.) but some other things (don't ask me which ones) have a 16-base scale (i.e. 1 item equals 16, 2 items equal 32, etc)!
Finally, I'm going to leave you with an interesting bag that I got in the airplane:
They don't look so special, these pretzels from Snyder's of Hanover, but they have some interesting information on the back:
Not only are they explicitly "not connected with Snyder of Berlin" but they also list a lot of things this package does not contain, such as fat, vitamin A, C and Calcium (these thus also form 0% of your Daily Values).
It was by far not the only weird thing in the plane: we arrived at JFK (airport) around 7.30pm local time but at 7pm (evening yes) we got served breakfast -- trust me, that really confuses your system when you soon afterwards land and you interpret the dusk as dawn! However, I met a nice Italian on the plane, which made the trip a lot of fun! Oh, and I found Gran Torino quite a good movie, definitely worth watching!
Now, I'll leave you with this update -- next time I'll tell you about the campus and the introduction days!
Take care,
Beata
10 comments:
Fahrenheit is weird! Wikipedia says it is only in use for non-scientific purposes in the US, and some other countries. Boohoo, Celcius rules!
units of 12 make sense, that's a dozen ("cheaper by the dozen").
16 is just weird...
It's an absurd country, isn't it?
Also, most anywhere in Midtown (save for the extreme east/west) is indeed ridiculously crowded, but there are plenty of peaceful enclaves in Manhattan (and in other parts of NYC!). You'll see. :)
coolish beata!! keep on writing!! :D
@ Corianne: I just heard from my new flatmate (who is really cool btw) that Fahrenheit used his own body temperature for 100 Fahrenheit, because this would be a good reference point. Unfortunately, he was running a fever though..
@ Tessa: Oh, yes, very weird. But there’s a lot of weird things going on here. My landlady for one.
@ Kristen: It is! A lot of good things and a lot of weird things :). I’m really looking forward to exploring those quiet enclaves you’re talking about -- when will you be in NY? I suppose for Christmas but at that time I’ll be back in the Netherlands :(. Let me know, though!! It’d be so cool to meet up here!
@ Anna: Thanks!
Hey B,
Great! A new blog! Keep up the good work. I want to know everything!
Bye Marianne
Ik had echt helemaal gemist dat je een blog had! Woei! Gaat de volgende post over je gekke landlady?
cheers vanuit Edinburgh!
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