Coming at you from SeattleDate: 07/05/2006 Mood: Sore  Listening to: Watching TV I have survived a week in the US now (and survived is a good way of putting it!). I have had one bout of food poisoning (damn egg and ham muffins) and a bad back from the combination of a bad bed and carrying the laptop on one shoulder.
Apart from that it has been fun trying to learn how to use my new camera (I'm still really shit with it  Most shots are blurred), learning what is in the area and enjoying the little cultural differences.
These differences include:
The TV ads - They don't hold back here, they name the competitors and why they are better (or how much better they are).
The food - It is a lot more sugary. The Coke in the USA tastes more like Pepsi in Australia (yes, I have been drinking Coke again but if Microsoft is giving them away for free, who am I to say no ) The food is also a lot blander than it is in Australia, we went to a Thai restaurant for dinner and one of the dishes we had was a Mussamun curry which would make me cry in Australia (like the the girly-man I so am) but this one didn't even register.
They drive on the wrong side of the road! - OK, this might be more my problem but when has personal responsability been my strong suit I nearly got run over a few times on the first few days I was over here because I would look to the left instead of the right before walking across an intersection.
Religion/Democracy - It is scary watching TV sometimes as they will have people on the news/talk shows using religion or democracy as a reason to do something, regardless of if there is any real facts to their arguement.
Apart from that, Seattle is a really nice area. It is very green and the area where we are staying is very quiet while only being about 8 miles from the city centre. There are snow covered mountains on the outskirts of the city to give it that added contrast.
Playing with Microsoft is a lot of fun too. They have a a huge campus that looks like it has everything I could ever need to be happy (internet, coke and a basketball ring - I am a simple person ) I haven't managed to get a photo with Bill Gates and myself yet though Mind you we have been spending a lot of time there so I haven't had any real time to spend doing stuff for me (that is my excuse for no Mardi Gras pics Steve!)
Anyway, that has been my time away so far 
Later,
Steve
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