America is strange

[triskellian]

So we're now safely installed in Racine, Wisconsin (21 hour trip. We were very tired when we arrived last night). We're here (Racine, that is, not the US in general) solely because it's where the Western Martial Arts Workshop 2005 is, and pretty much all we knew about the place before we got here is it's on the shores of Lake Michigan. So I was surprised and delighted to discover while driving around looking for a non-existent yarn store this morning, that not only does Lake Michigan count as the sea for all intents and purposes (all my intents and purposes, anyway), but Racine has a beautiful sandy beach! Sadly I wasn't prepared for this, so I arrived wearing jeans and boots, and without swimsuit or towel, but I'm forming plans.

The strangeness of the subject of this post is from another part of this morning's entertainments: shopping in the mall across the road from the hotel. For the most part, this was fun, and I'm amazed at how friendly and helpful all the shop assistants are - one of them, having told me he didn't have the thing I was after¹ checked with his manager after I'd wandered off, and then left the shop store to walk down the mall and find me to tell me he did have it after all. And almost every place I went into, people said hi, started a friendly conversation, and they all seemed unduly pleased to discover I'm English². But this actually confuses some of my normal shopping instincts. When someone working in a store says hi, I can't tell if they're just making small talk (which is welcome) or about to try and sell me something I don't need (which isn't). The first time I fell for this, it took a while to explain that no, I don't need a US cell phone³.

Actually, the roads are pretty strange, too. The speed limits are all really low, and the lane etiquette is bizarre. I mean, there doesn't seem to be any. Pick a lane at random, and pootle along in it. Overtake on either side if you fancy it. And there's hardly anything in the way of signage to confirm you're on the right road. Pick a road according to a destination mentioned on a signpost, and you'll get no further mention of that destination till it's time to leave the road, which worried us driving out of Chicago yesterday.

¹USB phone charger. smiorgan's charger isn't working, and there seems little point buying a US charger when a USB charger would continue to be useful at home.

²I don't usually think of myself as English, so much as British, but the first person we had this conversation with, on a bus at O'Hare airport yesterday, didn't understand "UK" or "Great Britain" and only worked out where we were from when we said "England".

³Oooh, get me with the lingo ;-)

Comments

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're so very British. I do admit that it is a problem with a lot of people in the U.S. Most of us can't tell accents apart, either, so someone from the Outer Hebrides would be as likely to be called "English" as someone from London.:-) I think most people understand that Ireland is not part of England, but Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, and Scotland are.

You're just lucky you were at the mall early, before they got their surliness engines worked up. Some people can be exceedingly helpful, like the guy you mentioned, but others . . . let's just say they don't understand that you are paying their salary.

Barbara's Yarn Garden, 1200 North Main Street? Is that the one you were looking for?

I knew I should have asked you if you realized you were going to a town with a beach.

Don't drive to Indianapolis or Atlanta. If you think this area is bad with signage, you don't want to try those two cities.

There is actual lane etiquette, it's just that no one pays any attention. On four-lane roads, slower traffic is supposed to stay to the right. In Illinois, in fact, you are not supposed to be in the left lane unless you are passing a slower vehicle, but that's a fairly new law.

Oh, yeah, and you might want to watch out for vindictive Wisconsin drivers who will think that you're from Illinois and assume that you don't know how to drive because of that. Damn cheeseheads.:-)

[triskellian]

Cornwall is in England, y'know ;-) Technically, anyway, and increasingly so in reality, too.

Ooh! No, it was a different non-existant yarn store. Although I think I did drive down Main Street and didn't see one. I'll have another go tomorrow. Think I'm going to knit "Revolution" if I can find the yarn.

And having had a go at finding the downtown in Racine today (there are signposts, but no actual city centre type thing visible at the end of them), I'm now more nervous about Lake Geneva tomorrow. But it's a smaller town than Racine, isn't it? And I can always stop and ask someone.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I'll have another go tomorrow

When you do, note (if you haven't already) that in America 1200 North Main Street is liable to be 24 blocks (3 miles or so?) from 1200 South Main Street, and that only one of them will be a yarn shop.

Don't drive to Indianapolis or Atlanta.

Especially Atlanta, it's feckin' miles away. By the time you get back, that'll be your holiday gone.

I can't help noticing that you're only 60 miles from Chicago. Go to the Art Institute. You can even be a student and get in for $7. Even if you're not planning to go to Chicago properly, I'd say it's worth the round trip.

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

She has mentioned that she doesn't want to go anywhere where it's difficult to park, and I think that's the definition of Chicago. "A large American city where it is difficult to park." Really, you could look it up somewhere. It is really a nice art museum, with the Chagall window, and that other thing, you know . . . the one that's all dots. I really like the section with the weaponry and armor. No, I mean it, it is an extremely nice museum, and if you have the time, and want to brave the parking, you should go.

Once upon a time, it didn't really cost anything to get in. They had a recommended donation, but you could get in for free if you wanted to.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I wasn't driving when I was there, so I didn't notice. But with a bit of local knowledge, there must be somewhere in the city you can park. And then you get to go on the El too.

with the Chagall window

I wasn't too fussed about the windows, to be honest. They're certainly very blue, though.

the one that's all dots

This one.

Also good are this one, this one, this one (which looks a lot more impressive in real life), this one (which I didn't see because it was down for cleaning or something), this one and the ones next to it, a bunch of stuff by Dali and Magritte that they don't seem to have on their website, about a tonne of Chinese jade, and all sorts, really.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Once upon a time, it didn't really cost anything to get in.

They still do that (well, they did a year ago, and their website still says that $7 is just the recommended amount for students). They were also completely free on (I think) Tuesdays.

[the-original1.livejournal.com]

Rules of the road:
Bigger cars have more right to the road.
Expensive cars have more right to the road.
If you're driving a Honda Civic and someone in a Lexus SUV runs a stop sign in front of you, for example, it's your fault.
Expensive car trumps big car.
Cars with Illinois plates don't have to signal.
Cars with New York plates are allowed to drive on the shoulder.
Cars with Iowa plates are allowed to drive in both lanes at the same time for up to five miles.
Pickup trucks must be driven like sports cars.
If you stop for a red light in Chicago you will be rear-ended.
If you are driving stick you must wait until at least 5000 RPM to shift.
Never use your parking brake.
Lines painted on parking lots must be crossed whenever possible, especially in the direction from which arrows point.

Got that?

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

He forgot:

Cars with Wisconsin plates are required (on four lane or larger roads) to drive in the blind spot of the car in front of them for at least two miles before suddenly racing off into the distance.

[dr-bob.livejournal.com]

Also, watch out for the fact that unless you're on a REALLY big road, destinations at any intersection (see: me do lingo too!) are irrelevant. All you get are the street names. Which is bastard hard to get used to.

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

So what do you call intersections? I'm compiling a list. Oh, and I've just remembered one that I forgot to put on there.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

Junctions

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Lake Michigan count as the sea for all intents and purposes

Lake Michigan is rather larger than the entirety of Wales, for example. It used to have pirates!

[secondhand-rick.livejournal.com]

Wisconsin

Cheesehead!

not only does Lake Michigan count as the sea for all intents and purposes

It is a sea. I once tipped the contents of one of those sachets of salt you get in fast food places into it. That makes it salt water, therefore sea.

the lane etiquette is bizarre

This is because so many Americans are driving automatics with cruise control on very straight roads. There's so little for them to do that they don't really pay attention. So they just - as you so perfectly put it - pootle along.

[onyxblue1.livejournal.com]

A-ha! Another piece of linguistic difference. Packet . . . sachet. American sachets are thingys you put in with your stored clothing so that they don't smell funny when you take them out.