Back home and happy

After 12 hours on a plane from Frankfurt and a couple more stamps in my passport, I finally made it back to San Francisco where my parents and my boyfriend were waiting for me.

It was sad to say goodbye to all the people I met there, but I think we will see each other again. Now all that is left is getting over jet lag and the reverse culture shock to come.

California was much like I remembered it, but some things still surprised me. Here's some of the more entertaining observations:

-In Millbrae, where our hotel was near the aiport in SF, we were driving around and I look out the window astonished. "All the buildings are so short!"

-Not having language as a barrier means you can hear everyone's asinine conversations in restaurants because people here are loud.

-Free water and refillable soda in restaurants! Yay! Although now I don't drink nearly as much soda with dinner ... where's my cheap Czech beer? :(

-Wal-Mart. Maybe you hate it, but I missed it. Sure, it's like Tesco in Prague, but here I can read all the labels and I actually recognize some of the products.

-Grocery stores where I can find the ingredients I need without consulting a dictionary!

-Lack of transportation: I was thinking this morning about taking a bus to see my brother. I don't think there is a bus that goes to Anderson. With gas at $4 a gallon I'll wait until he comes to Chico soon, but I will definitely miss the thorough public transportation system of Europe.

-Along the same line, I miss the trams. How am I supposed to get around? DRIVE? No wonder we produce so much pollution and use up so many resources. It's hard to not drive places.