So, in my three months of Californian Residency, I have a few things to note.
(1.) When I was a kid, I loved the show 'Full House'. I remember that San Franciscan houses were stuck together - but I was under the impression that the Painted Ladies were the only ones of these types of houses. OK, fast forward to March 14, 2010... I arrived at SFO at about 10pm and driving back through San Bruno to San Francisco, entering the city limits I start noticing the houses all stuck together. And... more... and more. Then I realized. The whole freaking city's houses are stuck together. Its called 'Zero Lot Land Lining'.
(2.) Australians don't know what Mexican food is. And, I don't know many OzMericans (thats an Australian who now calls America home) who actually really, honestly like Mexican food. I have tried - God knows, I've tried. I've tried to eat it to be polite. I've tried to eat it to be cool. I've tried to eat it to look Californian. But I eat, like, a bite and wonder how I'm going to finish it without a struggle. Maybe I'm lost in menu translation. Or theres a chance I actually just don't love it.
(3.) You can cross the street anywhere here and you've got right of way - technically. BUT! You're probably going to get fined for jaywalking. You can just walk on across the street at cross walks without the little white man or red hand. But, for those who haven't thought of it yet... in Australia, you look the opposite way for oncoming traffic. Crossing the street in America, at first, was one of the most confusing things I've ever done.
(4.) The Tenderloin isn't just a part of a chicken. Its a scary part of San Francisco, too. You know you're in the Tenderloin when you were just downtown, then almost instantly you got lost and walked somewhere that smells completely like wee and everyone you see is homeless and/or crazy. I met a man in the street with a perfectly manicured moustache and he told me he wanted to know where the Tenderloin was. I told him he probably didn't want to go there. And then he said, "I am from Afghanistan - nothing scares with me." I am sure nothing does actually scare with him. So I told him the Tenderloin was the opposite direction to where I was walking. For the record, it wasn't. He just scared with me.
(5.) You can post letters by just putting a stamp on them and putting them in your mailbox. Genius. None of this 'walking to the post box' business. Something I quickly noticed about America is that everything is marginally easier here. You can make a cheesecake by buying cheescake filling from the yogurt section at Safeway. Just put it in a pie tin and you're done. You can go to a drive thru ATM. Of course, the first time I did it I didn't know it was a drive thru - I just thought they put an ATM in an obscure spot in the parking lot. So I parked the Audi, walked up to the ATM and this car pulls up behind me, and a man gets out and says, "Why, thats a funny car you have there...". I was mortified, because I get embarrassed when I look foreign. He laughed with (and at) me. The next time I went to the ATM, I drove thru it like a pro, swiping my ATM card that is branded with the logo of the San Francisco Giants Baseball team.
(6.) Even if the drink you're buying at McDonalds costs $1, don't for a minute think it will be small. It will be bigger than your entire stomach. You'll need to stop mid-drink to pee, just to make room for more of the beverage.
Enough said.
(7.) The North Face. Anyone who lives in NorCal will know what I am talking about.
(8.) I like it when tourists ride the Cable Cars and try and act cool. They have this bored face on like they've rode those cars their whole lives, and really, inside they're screaming 'WOOOO!!!' just like the rest of the dags on board with their cameras dangling around their necks and windsheeters with 'San (*stitched Golden Gate Bridge*) Francisco' embroidered on them - clearly purchased from Fishermans Wharf.
(9.) You're likely to have about 5/10 friends who are not American - about about 1/10 friends who are actually a native San Franciscan. I know about 3 people who were born & raised here. Of them; one is American, one Russian and one Chinese.
(10.) I will leave you with a quote from Rudyard Kipling (British Author & Poet)
"San Francisco has only one drawback. ''Tis hard to leave"
