Living in OC

So, today it has been a year since I hopped on to that flight to LAX, 34 weeks pregnant and all. What a year it has been.

A summary;

• We have seen a lot. Numerous visits to San Diego and LA. Long weekend in Palm Springs. Joshua Tree National park. All the beach cities in Orange county. This is one of the best things about living here. SO MUCH to see!

• The whole ob/gyn concept here was a shock.  It all turned out great in the end but geez, I had one culture shock after the other. I still prefer going to the doctor in Germany. All kind of doctors.

• First christmas in OC; Emily was 2 weeks old and we kind of skipped christmas. The weather didn´t help. Let´s face it. Christmas in hot weather sucks. Big time.

• We have never spent so much on food as we have here. Very very expensive. Nice supermarkets, great choice. But our monthly bill for food shopping is more than 3 times as high as in Germany. We do love all the organic choice there is, all the vegetables and fresh fruit. And Costo and Wholefoods, of course.

• Customer service. Where you are eating out, shopping or at the bank. Most times it is great. Constantly getting ask if you need help, if you have any questions..or act as a spoilt child asking for lots of substituitions when ordering food.

• Americans know small talk. Anytime any where, they can chit chat about anything. We are catching up.

• The earthquakes - we could have made without them.

• People are very friendly and polite. But we have learnt people can also be extremely rude and ignorant. And stuck up. It all depends where you are.

• You can survive without great Indian food. It is called Mexican. All those Mexican restaurants, fastfood or not, yum yum yum.

• I didn´t mind dark brown furniture until we moved here. Complete overkill. Give me white and bright.

• Irvine must be the cleanest city in the US. I do wonder, if I throw something on the ground, will an elf or a gnome jump out to pick it up?

• We miss news. News other than  just politics, hollywood and dui. I love politics but it is like listening to parrots sometimes. The same over and over again.

• Tell me again, why are towels and bed linen so expensive?

• Living here is like back in the future sometimes. Men and women are stereotyped from birth. I am shocked. Girls are dressed in pink or as princesses. Children´s clothing is VERY different compared to Sweden.

• Money is everything here. I have realised that if you don´t have it here this place sucks. And what sucks even more; pople who have it like to show off. The bigger the better, the more bling the better. There is a huge difference between wealthy people here and in Europe (I dare compare with Europe as a whole). They dress differently, they spend differently, they behave differently. Not all. But many. Stuck up people - you suck big time! 

• Plastic fantastic. Not much is real around here. Big boobs, botox, blond. 

• Hot hot hot. I miss rain. The good thing here about rain is that you know the sun is just around the corner. This week the sun is back. To hot again.

• Bad bad drivers. What is it with people, they always seem to chew on something, text or drink when driving. And if not that, they seem to be half asleep at the traffic lights. 

• Coupons coupons. I still feel ripped off every time I buy something without having a coupon with me, because if you do search long enough, you will find a coupon somewhere. 

All in all, a very good year, lots of culture clashes where we have been wondering why why why. But also many good good good. Right now we are looking forward to Halloween- my first active one, two pumkins are waiting to be carved!