I’m back from New York where I spent the New Year’s weekend and as always, after a long drive back, it was nice to see the Five Roses sign signalling that home was soon approaching. Getting to the States was insane. Our bus left at 6:30 in the morning on Saturday December 30th, the day after Saddam Hussein’s hanging. The combination of holiday travel and a U.S. border on red alert was not good, to say the least. Our bus was one of many in a long line of buses stopped at the border. It took us an incredible 6 freaking hours to get through customs! Many trips were made to the Duty Free for bathroom breaks and snacks and fresh air. Luckily the trip back through customs tonight was super quick.

That said, I always like to recap some differences that I notice between ‘us’ and the Americans while the comparisons are still fresh in my mind. New Yorkers are sure in a hurry. For instance, there’s the “hot dog nazi” outside of the Met who won’t let you stand in front of her counter while you put your change away. Both my friend and I got yelled at by her after paying for our dogs because we took too long to step away. Food portions are HUGE. *burp* (excuse me). I think I would be super-sized if I ate like that everyday. Americans eat “biscuits” with their breakfasts. A lot of people speak Spanish. *mental note: must take Spanish lessons as a New Year’s goal*. Store hours are longer and it’s not strange to have people saying “Rolex” to you on every street corner of Canal street. America is definitely full of possibilities. “You want Prada? No problem, $3 more and I change the label for you!”. Security is a major concern. To get to the Rockefeller observatory, you need to go through a security checkpoint similar to the one at the airport except they don’t make you take off your shoes. You often see signs at toll stations and bus panels saying “If you see something, say something”. (Ok, I will) Their border guards have guns. And they’re a little bit scary. Their money is all the same color so you always feel like you have a lot of cash even if a lot of it is one dollar bills.

All in all, I love visiting NYC and I think it’s awesome but it’s also nice to be home sweet home…