Or: the Trials and Tribulations of an Uptown Girl with a Boyfriend from Old Europe

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Location: Basel, Switzerland

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Toto, I don't think we're in Switzerland anymore...

I spent nearly all of June in the United States. The trip was wonderful, of course. I got to visit friends and family, drive everywhere, indulge in proper barbecues, bask in air-conditioned homes, and of course stock up at the local Target and Wal-mart! Still, I could tell that my time abroad has changed me. Top ten moments from the trip:
  1. "Wow, these [clothes/shoes/food] are such a good deal!"
    ~ on multiple occasions while shopping with a friend in the West Village
  2. "Have American beds always been so short?"
    ~ on seeing Swissy Pie's feet sticking out over the queen-sized mattress (they don't in our bed)
  3. "What's this Top Chef show everyone is talking about?"
    ~ at Perilla, a restaurant in New York recently opened by 2006 season winner Harold Dieterle
  4. "What's wrong with you guys?"
    ~ on being told there's no recycling in my Kentucky hometown - because the city thinks it's too expensive
  5. "These yolks look weird."
    ~ while cracking some nominally organic free-range eggs from the supermarket, which nevertheless have much paler yolks than European eggs
  6. "This is NOT cheese!"
    ~ tasting some locally made product from Kentucky
  7. "What kind of crap farmer's market is this?"
    ~ on seeing signs for produce from California, Georgia, and the Carolias being sold in Kentucky
  8. "Oh my God, I can understand everything on TV!"
    ~ flipping through the 999 cable channels at my sister's apartment
  9. "Where did all these friggin' cars come from?"
    ~ on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway at 3 pm, headed to Manhattan from JFK - this was NOT rush hour
  10. "Grüezi... uh, I mean, hello!"
    ~ to the immigration officer upon arrival at JFK

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