Thursday, April 9, 2009

Pros and cons

San Francisco, the 9th of April 2009

People have much more tattoos in the States than in Finland. Statistics say that one person out of five has a tattoo. I have considered getting one, especially last summer, but now I'm not sure anymore. Here they don't seem to be a unique thing; it's really common to have one. Though I still do like them. Well not all of them but some.

People are more polite here. When entering doors, people are used to holding them for other people. I'm used to walking quite fast and passing people on the streets. So every time I pass somebody in a crowd and someone happens to be in front of me, the other person apologizes to me as if it was his or her fault; even though it is all for me to blame.

There's a lot more sugar and fat in everything. Milk has more fat, chocolate milk has more sugar. People add more sugar and grease in almost everything they make. So even though you were eating perfectly normal food, it probably has a lot more unhealthy things in it. Maybe it's just because everything is so much bigger in America. Everything has to taste bigger also. Well I use water to make the taste a little smaller.

Everything is much faster here. I've been baking cakes a lot this week for Friday's Love feast but I wouldn't exactly call it baking. People in America are used to have all the dry ingredients in a package. You only have to add water, oil and eggs in it and the dough is ready. It's fast but it's not the same kind of baking that I'm used to. This is a culture of fast food, so maybe that includes baking as well.

Small talk. Some may consider it as a negative thing but to me it's fine. Even though it's just a habit, I think it's good to have people at least talking to each other; they're not sitting still and staring out of the bus window without even looking at anybody like Finns do. People chat to strangers in parks, in restaurant lines and pretty much everywhere. It makes atmosphere a lot more relaxed.

This is the first time that I've really had to pay attention to the way I dress myself. And that is all because of my own safety. Here in the area of Tenderloin aka TL, I wouldn't go out wearing a tank top and a mini skirt. I always remember to have my shoulders covered. I can wear almost none of my shorts. This is a big city and a bad area so me and other girls have to be careful here. After exiting these two surrounding blocks things get a bit better and girls don't have to be as cautious there anymore.

Back home I'm used to smiling at people but in TL it's not wise cause they might take it in a wrong way and you might end up in trouble. So I usually just walk purposeful without minding people making comments of me. That is something that happens every day. But at least I'll come back with a good self esteem, hah. There's at least one guy in the midst of the homeless that wants me to be his girlfriend. You can guess what my answer in that is.

1 comment:

  1. heyy :) olipa kiva lukea sun ajatuksia kulttuurin suhteen, samanlaisia mietteita vaha taallaki pain. en tykanny aluks ollenkaa smalltalkist.. mut nyt se on hyva.. koska paljon mieluummin sanon vaik vaa, et hey how ar eyou doing, ku vaik ohittaisin ihmisen sanomatta mitaan :) ja ma oon tykanny, et on kiva ku ihmiset alkaa puhuu minne melkei meetki. ja varsinki sit ku vastaan jotain, nii ne heti bongaa mun aksentin ja siit tulee sit uus puheenaihe joka johtaa siihen et miks oon taalla. ne on helppoi ne valmisleivontapussit.. mut ymos hyvia!!! varsinki ghirardellin browniesit.. WOW :D haha. well anyways.. mukavaaa paasiaisviikonloppua sinne ylospain :)

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