I'm a stranger here myself

Hello from Scottsdale, Arizona. I've been in the U.S. now for two weeks. In some ways it's like I never left. But then there are moments when I know I've been away a long time.

At the grocery store, for instance, it feels so weird to toss produce into my shopping basket without weighing it. On my first trip down the produce aisle here I kept looking for the scales. It feels like something's missing. It's too easy.

There are other things too. Sundays here seem so busy. The shops should be closed and the city should be quiet on Sunday. But, no, all the malls and stores are bustling with Christmas shoppers. I always complained about Sundays in Europe, but I guess I'm used to it now. It seems right that there's a day of downtime. Take a breather, people!

It's also taken me a while to speak English guilt-free with strangers and not instantly try to formulate what I need to say in German when I walk into a store. But I fear my German is in rapid decline. I schleped by German workbooks over here and haven't so much as glanced at them.

I also fear I've become a public transportation snob. I got around San Francisco pretty well on MUNI and BART but they aren't nearly as user-friendly as the trams in Zurich. My biggest beef is that they don't post route maps in the buses and at many stops. And there are no schedules or maps you can pick up and take with you. Hello! This is pretty basic stuff. But I will give MUNI this - the fares are simple. Pay $1.50 and you can ride MUNI non-stop for a few hours - not that I'd reccommend that.