- 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?
