On Americans

Everytime I come down here I forget how different it is from Canada...

Everywhere you drive, there's fast food places. They are all labelled on signs along the highway and have huge signs outside the restaurant. Being on a healthier eating kick, I asked the hotel lady where a healthy restaurant was. She said, "what? Like Taco time?!?" TACO TIME? That's their impression of healthy food? I just laughed.

People are just ruder. Any indecision on the road gets a finger. It's kinda like honking a horn in Vancouver. Honking a horn in Duncan is considered really offensive and rude. But in Vancouver, it's just part of driving anywhere. No big deal. The finger is that here. No big deal - just letting people know that you are there. Or maybe they were just telling me what they think of my BC license plate.

Try asking for directions or getting service at a restaurant. It's brutal. People are just really quick and rude. Now I know why Canadians are known for being too kind - or why Americans wear Canadian flags when they travel.

I was at a Christian conference here and was walking through the exhibit hall where people set up their missions booths etc. (I hate walking through places like this cause they are like the carnies baiting you over to their booth - vultures....). Anyhow, I look up and caught a guy's eye and before I could walk away, I was listening to his speel. Then out of the blue, he goes, "are you Chinese?" I say, "yeah" and then it's this uncomfortable second where no one says anything. I'm thinking that he's just weird because it came out of the blue and had no real purpose. And then he says, "well I don't hold that against you. My wife's sister married a Chinese." I'm not sure how to take that ignorance and stupidity.

Finally, people are fat here. Not everyone obviously but a LOT of people. It's no wonder with all the fast food restaurants. But also, the sizes of everything is halarious. I ordered a large coke last night at the mall and I swear it was bigger than super big gulp size. There are seats every two steps in the mall and everywhere. (even in the church) It's probably because people are so out of shape that they need to sit! Crazy.