Last Weeks in the USA

I've tried to avoid, for the most part, turning this blog into having a "check out how awesome stuff is in America" theme, but this may be the last couple of weeks that I live in the US for a long time, and there has been a long list of little observations piling up. After Denise writes the USMLE (it approaches rapidly), we'll be back in Canada, likely permanently for me. And for those fans of ours who are wondering: at some point Denise will write a blog post, but if she writes one before her test, it will probably just be gibberish mixed with screaming.

So here goes:

1. Americans really do make a good burger.

When Denise and I were (not so) secretely in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago, I had a burger at Earls. It tasted like cardboard. Americans take burgers seriously, and I've been enjoying the forbidden fruit that is not fully-cooked meat (for my American friends: in Canada you can only eat burgers well-done. Medium is not an option). A friend of mine is moving to Saginaw soon, and he asked me to show him the town. There's really only one place worth noting that can't be found with a quick google search, and that is the restaurant Savoy.

I'm relatively new to the meat-eating scene, but the burgers here aren't just good: they're a giant leap better than the second best burger I've ever had (that would be a delightful burger from Buffalo Wild Wings: two patties with cheese, and wedged in between are strips of sirloin. So delicious, and high in fiber). I don't know what these guys at Savoy are doing, but I'm going to miss it when I go back to Canada. I guess I'll just have to make up for it with top-of-the-line, cheap-as-hell sushi.

2. These movie theaters are wiggedy-wack.

One of the things we were looking forward to most, coming from Dominica, was going to actual movies - and it hasn't disappointed. There are some strange things going on, though. A few days ago we went to go see 21 Jump Street, with about five minutes before showtime, and they informed us that they weren't showing it that night - despite advertising it online and in the building - because another movie had more demand. So they just changed what that room was showing. So we just went home. What is this? We weren't so much angry as baffled. Didn't know you could do that.

Also, the theater sells chocolate covered bits of cookie dough. Think about that.

Yeah.

3. You can't drink in strip-clubs.

Not going to go any deeper into this one. Just consider how awkward that would be.

4. Swearing Cussing

I have to watch my mouth here - partly because people are far more sensitive to swear words, and also because I assume everyone has a gun, so let's not offend. The word that Americans use which I'd like to see in Canada (besides y'all): cuss. Don't be cussin'. What a lovely word.

5. The "Oh Shit" lane

This took us a while to get used to, and at first I hated it, but now I appreciate it: Michigan roads have five lanes: two one way, two another way, and one that can go either way. They call it the "Oh Shit" lane.

Here's how it works: if you're driving and you need to turn left, or if you're turning left onto the major road, you scoot over into the "Oh Shit" lane to get out of the way of traffic. The advantage is that it keeps traffic going at a good pace, the disadvantage is that anyone can get into the "Oh Shit" lane from either side at any time, and we have seen a few close calls where two cars tried to get in the middle lane from opposite sides at the same time. Now that I've got the hang of it, I appreciate it, though it's still terrifying.

6. Grocery stores

Our food bills are laughable. Absolutely everything is super cheap, so a 200$ shop for groceries really costs about 120$, and then the tax is only about half. It's easy to see how appealing that is (though I'd gladly trade a higher tax rate for guaranteed health care any time). That will be a shock when we moved back to Canada.

See y'all soon: wish Denise enough luck and maybe she'll show her pretty face on the blog.