- Californians call interstates/highways, freeways and reference them using “the”. In NC, interstates are called interstates and referenced with “I”. In NC it would be “I-40” and here it would be “the 40”.
- The water. I pretty much kicked the bottle water habit this past year but I’m afraid I might have to go back. The water tastes terrible. This is going to sound really weird but I feel like the texture is off, it seems heavier. I’ve even resorted to pouring the filtered water that comes from the refrigerator system into a Brita pitcher…still tastes weird. I’m hoping I will get use to it.
- A red-eye or after burner is referred to as a hammerhead in CA. What are these things, you ask? It’s a coffee with a shot of espresso. The below is not a red-eye, just iced coffee but I love the stickers…so I’m sharing again!
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- The drivers seem less idiotic here than in NC and are less aggressive. I hadn’t pulled the f-word almost all week! My biggest complaint is that people don’t understand you need to speed up and merge onto the freeway, not slow down. I also don’t care for the lane-splitting by motorcycles, it makes me SO nervous when changing lanes.
- While the drivers seem better, the DMV in CA is a level of hell. The whole process was crazy, crowded, and chaotic. You would think that DMV employees would know that speaking English louder does not make it understandable in another language, but clearly that wasn’t covered in employee training. Oh and because we have a new car (less than a year old) we got hit with a huge bill to register it. Basically, we are paying the sales tax on the car, again. To be fair the DMV in NC is not the greatest experience ever, but they also normally don’t have a line out the door at all hours of the day either.
- The Whole Foods here has way better meat choices! Hello, Sculpin IPA Habanero Bacon. Sadly, though the produce section has less variety, which is weird since tons of produce is grown in California. There seems to be less organic produce selections at both Trader Joe’s and Whole Food too. What’s up with that CA?
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Another Joy the Baker recipe, cheddar cheese waffle bat (we did avocado instead of lettuce). Used sculpin habanero bacon. #eatlocal View on Instagram
- People often ask “What are your plans today? or What have you been doing today?” as casual conversation/interaction (like cashiers, bartenders, etc). In NC you get “How is your day going?” or “How are you?”. P pointed out that maybe we are taking the question too seriously in CA and should just say “nothing”, like we would answer “fine” in NC. Maybe this is why I find people so friendly is because I’m breaking a social norm by giving an answer…hmmm. I prefer the ignorance is bliss route for this one 🙂 It doesn’t feel awkward so I’m going to keep doing it.
What are some causal differences you have noticed when traveling or when you moved to a new city/state/country?
Funny stuff. You’ll get used to it all and it becomes life! I still call the freeways in NC or the US “the xxxxx,” and always would…except we don’t have them on my Greek isle, thank goodness. Gotta buy a used scooter here…soon…for my little roads! 😉 Do you like the Mexican food? And the other foods there? Hit up Trader Joe’s as usual in NC! Get out of Whole Foods and buy in the smaller markets…
Andnot once in 11 years in Southern CA was I asked “What have you done today”? Buy bottled water and get a container for your home and get the big bottles delivered…
California drivers, regardless of contrary beliefs, are far more nice than in NC and the South…always have been. The California road rage stories are myths…NC drivers are so impolite and hateful!
It’s so funny you mention the highway thing: In AZ, we say “the 60.” In TX, we say “I-35.” Is it a West/Southwest versus South thing?
Thesis papers will be written about this conversation.
I don’t mind drinking tap water here in Boston but down in Florida I wasn’t a big fan. I definitely know the feeling!
That’s really interesting about how people ask “What have you done today” instead of “How are you today”? It opens the door of conversation SO much wider haha. Any situation where road rage is diminished is a good one. I have so much road rage and it just gets worse and worse every day. I really need to work on that too haha
it’s like they respect the freeways bc they will totally kick your ass everyday.. esp living in LA 🙂 AND i thought the LA drivers are actually worse… but there aren’t many natives anymore..
That’s so interesting! I didn’t think there were such differences between states. Some Canadians ask that question too, “What are you up to today?”, and it used to induce a slight panic if I had no interesting plans. But now I have no problem telling them “nothing”, I figure since they are stuck at work, they can sympathize 😉
i notice a lot of things when i travel outside of canada. i just came back from orlando and some kid actually asked my friend if she and her son were from china and if they knew any ninjas. really? it’s 2014 and this shit still goes on?
lol I love that you answer people who ask your plans, if they asked me what I had planned, I’d answer as well! that sucks about the water, i would be so depressed – its all i drink, i’d go broke if i had to buy bottle water!
I’ve lived in the Northeast my whole life and plan on never leaving it…when you do, EVERYTHING is SO SLOW.
I think we just call it a coffee with an espresso shot here.
When I did teller training we went over what introduction to say to people and all the native Californians agreed that “what are you doing” varities are fine except if it could be construed as seeming like an opening for a date. I always just answer with basic things like getting chores done or planning for a party and then the cashier/teller/waiter will respond in kind like o chores are the worst or have a fun time. It took Fredrik a bit to get used to it but we always say that when we go back to California we feel special and then in Sweden you feel like you are taking up the persons time.
LOL that first one about the freeways and interstates. I think its actually just a socal thing to say “the” highway__. My bf and my friends bf are both from SD and they both do it and we laugh at them 🙂
In Florida we use the I- for interstates, for example every Orlando resident hates I-4. Here in the DC metro area they just say 395 or 495 for the interstates. Weird.
I moved to Nevada from Michigan, and as much as my Nevada-raised boyfriend protests, I will not stop calling it the “expressway” and start calling it the “freeway”. Also, ask someone to say “Don” and “dawn” out here…it sounds identical
I love hearing about differences in places! Although, SoCal is like a completely different state than NorCal. For instance, we don’t say “the 40″… or… I guess, we would just say “40.” or “580.” Hahaha. No the. And no I. And then… the water tastes pretty good in the Bay Area! I’ve only been to NC a few times, but compared to that, I thought our California water was pretty good… but that can be a more local thing than a state thing?
Anyway, looking forward to hearing about more of your observations as time goes on! 🙂
You’re not the first to mention the interstate system names… And now that I think about it, I can’t say here in IL we say anything more than the number. One of the NC sayings that I always heard was “Cut the lights on.” The Midwesterner in me says “Cut the lights on? How about off?!”
Everything is “I” in Texas too. The “what are your plans” is bizarre and get it together, CA, with your produce. Also sucks about the car fee! People in Texas apparently make more eye contact with strangers, so when I travel, I look down at my feet a lot!
Funny about the interstate. In AZ we also refer to it as “the” so the I-17 we call “the 17”. It is interesting to hear the different terms used for things from state to state, even city to city.
I like all those names: red eye, after burner and hammerhead. They all sound equally potent!