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[iago]

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately.. my hotel's router got mad at me (probably because I was nmap'ing it.. old habits die hard). 

Anyway, the only thing remotely exciting I did was go to the Mall of America. which was pretty boring. 

Other than that, I have discovered what a sore back is like.  IT SUCKS.  I've had a sore back before, but never for more than a day.  It's been 4 days of horrible pain, and I haven't enjoyed it at all.  Any time I've ever made fun of somebody for having a sore back, I take it back -- it's HORRIBLE.  I've been taking pain-killers all weekend, and most of you know how I feel about pain-killers.  But it SUCKS. 

Anyway, observations about the USA compared to Canada:
- Highways are a lot faster (both speed limits and traffic and the way they're set up)
- Drivers are maniacs, but in a good way -- Canadians tend to drive slower and, somehow, less safely
- Street signs are a lot more explicit -- we have signs that have a P with a line through, and the US has signs that say "No Parking".  Intersections here don't typically have signs at them (unless there's something special about them), whereas American intersections pretty much all say "Left turns yield to oncoming traffic" -- which is an implied rule here.
- There are a lot more left-turn priority lights, there aren't many at all here
- People are ugly (seriously!  Attractive people (female and male) were few and far between... maybe it was just the area I was in?)
- People are rude -- anybody I tried to strike up conversation with wouldn't return it, I was left with awkward silence so many times.  I don't think I had a single conversation with an American. 
- Some stuff is way cheaper (gasoline, alcohol, and tobacco), and other stuff is the same price or more expensive (food, electronics)

Some stuff that is different:
- We don't have "Mountain Dew Baja" -- it sucks anyways
- We don't have KFC Buffets here, but we didn't go there anyways
- We don't have Outback Steakhouse -- I wasn't impressed with it
- We don't have "Big 'n Tasty Burgers" at McDonalds.  Actually, we do, but they're called "Big Xtra", and they're identical
- We don't have Hardees -- their food is ok

I wouldn't consider the trip either good or bad overall, but it's the first time since i've been grown up that I've been to the US and was a neat experience. 

[trust]

I love Hardee's Thick Burgers..until I have a stomach ache after eating them.


Why would people want to talk to you? I hate when people I don't know try to have a conversation with me, of course I endure it to be polite but it's annoying.

[Sidoh]

Not all of the USA is like that.

Come to a town with a university in it and you'll see a lot more attractive people (lots of young people)!

[Joe]

For instance, Madison Wisconsin.

Seriously, it seems like you're all over the place (you found a Hardess for God's sake!), so if you do get a chance, stop by. I think you have my cell number but even if you don't I'm sure you could get a hold of me.

[trust]

What's so special about Hardee's?

[Hitmen]

- Drivers are maniacs, but in a good way -- Canadians tend to drive slower and, somehow, less safely

:|
If you ever come to massachusetts you will see what maniac drivers are really like. People here are impatient, drive faster, and way way less safe then anywhere else.

What's so special about Hardee's?

Very few of them exist in the part of the country he visited.

[Blaze]

- We don't have "Big 'n Tasty Burgers" at McDonalds.  Actually, we do, but they're called "Big Xtra", and they're identical

That's one thing I picked up fast after being embarrassed by some young yankee doodles.

[Quik]

The place where you were at is generally ugly. Come to California if you're looking to pick up hot chicks.

[trust]

The place where you were at is generally ugly. Come to California if you're looking to pick up hot chicks.

Or the South.

[iago]

Re: appearances: you're probably all right, it's an ugly town.  I couldn't believe it, though!  I mean, I consider my city to be pretty average, and in St Paul the average was wayyy below here.  It was disappointing. 

Why would people want to talk to you? I hate when people I don't know try to have a conversation with me, of course I endure it to be polite but it's annoying.

Where I live, it's generally customary to make some kind of small talk while you're waiting for something.  Either while gas is pumping, or a credit card is being verified, or somebody else is running back to the car.  I tried all the common starters ('*weather*', 'busy day?', 'How's the *', etc), (not at the same time), and none of them provoked much.  Where I come from, people generally make small talk.  It's really annoying standing in silence while we're both waiting for something. 

Seriously, it seems like you're all over the place (you found a Hardess for God's sake!), so if you do get a chance, stop by. I think you have my cell number but even if you don't I'm sure you could get a hold of me.

I wasn't really "all over".  We took the following route:
- Highway 75, south, out of Winnipeg and to the US border
- I29 (which is the same as highway 75, except the American part) south, stopping at Pembina for bathroom, Fargo for food/gas
- I94 east, to St Paul

And on the way back:
- I94 west
- I29 north, stopping in grand forks
- Highway 75 north

It wasn't a very exciting trip for driving.

[trust]

How was your experience at the border? When my grandparents went to Canada they got in there so easily.

[rabbit]

- Drivers are maniacs, but in a good way -- Canadians tend to drive slower and, somehow, less safely

:|
If you ever come to massachusetts you will see what maniac drivers are really like. People here are impatient, drive faster, and way way less safe then anywhere else.

You've clearly never been to New Jersey...

Anyway, The Mall of America sucks, it's only a tourist attraction.  If you want pretty people, University cities are definitely the place to go.

@Trust: It's Canada...

[iago]

How was your experience at the border? When my grandparents went to Canada they got in there so easily.

Ah, good question, I forgot to mention that! 

Coming into the US, the border guard wasn't bad.  He asked for our IDs, asked us where we all work, and gave us the "orange sticker" ("multiple people search" or something).  We pulled in, and got out.  We stood beside each other, and each talked to a separate guard, who asked all of us the same questions ('where do you work?', 'how do you know each other?', 'where are you going?', 'why are you coming here?' and 'have you ever been fingerprinted?'), got us to empty our pockets, take off hats, etc.  Then they sent us to a little room with a 1-way mirror (so that we could see out, but they couldn't see us.... wtf?).  They opened our trunk, searched two bags (totally missing the bag that had my friend's 20 bottles of pills...), then let us go.  Maybe 15 minutes total, including waiting for the person ahead of us to get finished.  Easy enough. 

Going back to Canada, we had to pay some tax on stuff we bought.  All I bought was books and some little souvenir things, and you're allowed $200, so that was ok.  One of my friend's paid $10, and the other paid $70.  So not a whole lot, considering the amount of crap they bought (girl stuff -- clothes and makeup and stuff).  They also made my friend throw out the Aleve she bought, because it's illegal in Canada.  She was pretty upset about that, but she'll get over it. 

Anyway, The Mall of America sucks, it's only a tourist attraction.  If you want pretty people, University cities are definitely the place to go.

Yeah, and we were tourists, so that worked out .  And yeah, I wasn't looking for pretty people, I was just shocked at the lack of 'em.  We did drive through Grand Forks' university area, with all the fraternity houses, which was cool because we don't have frats here.  But there weren't many people around, or I wasn't really paying attention to them. 

[trust]

Why is aleve illegal? Why don't you have fraternities?

[iago]

Aleve contains a drug that is only allowed for prescriptions in Canada (and most of the rest of the world, according to the Wikipedia page -- it doesn't say why).  I'm not sure what.  It's very, very common for people to bring it back, and is one of the #1 things checked for by border guards (at the border, they have two display cases of illegal stuff, one was endangered animal products, and another was Aleve).

I don't know why we don't have fraternities.  I mean, we have a couple, but it's a very minor thing.  I think it might be because most people here live at home or on their own at University, not on campus.  Any frats we do have are fairly quiet, and don't have the letters on front and stuff, they're just houses.