Friday, December 25, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Ho Ho Ho!
Holiday Season Recap, Episode II
The first weekend of December, we rented a car with some other European friends and drove to New Jersey. Back in summer (when temperatures rose through the roof), we decided that it would be an excellent idea to witness a real American college football game in New Jersey... in December. Unfortunately, we didn’t put much thought into the fact that football games take place in open air (no roof!) and that December in NJ tends to be rather cold… We drove down to the Rutgers football stadium and I started to worry when I saw everyone dressed in about 10 layers of sweaters, coats and rainproof plastic. The game started out great – until it started raining and then even snowing very badly. The Americans kept cheering but for me and my Euro friends, wet and cold, one quarter was more than enough. After hiding in the warm restrooms, we decided to abandon the game early.
Plan B: drive to Atlantic City. Atlantic City is the Las Vegas of the East Coast – not as spectacular – but still a gambling paradise. We arrived around 6 pm at the Borgata Casino and split up – some of us trying their luck at Blackjack or Roulette, others at Poker and me… at the casino stores. I’m not the gambling type and never will be, it just doesn’t make sense to throw away your money on luck games while instead you can throw it away on shoes and clothes. After gambling, we met up to have a cocktail before dinner. Unfortunately, one of us didn’t bring his passport and was denied service. You probably know that in the US you need to be 21 to be able to drink in public. Normally, a regular ID will do the trick but casinos tend to be a bit stricter, I guess their policy is to only rip off adults. Fake ID’s are very common in the US; I’ve only been here a year and I already saw a lot of American kids trying to get into a club with a fake ID - and in about 80% of the cases they get away with it.
Since Americans are not familiar with our Euro IDs, it is harder to check for fake ones. So, no passport means no gambling and no booze for foreigners… unless you pass the casino’s local security test: they will compare your national ID to examples in their database (well, just a book with pictures) – if it matches, you get a stamp on your hand reading “21 – legal”. You got to love American practicality (although, I’m not sure what is easier to fake, an ID or a stamp). With a “21” stamp, they allow you to keep gambling and drinking and throwing away your money – wouldn't it be easier to put the stamps directly on our dollar bills?
Next Holiday Episode: Philly! (I told you we've been busy!)
The first weekend of December, we rented a car with some other European friends and drove to New Jersey. Back in summer (when temperatures rose through the roof), we decided that it would be an excellent idea to witness a real American college football game in New Jersey... in December. Unfortunately, we didn’t put much thought into the fact that football games take place in open air (no roof!) and that December in NJ tends to be rather cold… We drove down to the Rutgers football stadium and I started to worry when I saw everyone dressed in about 10 layers of sweaters, coats and rainproof plastic. The game started out great – until it started raining and then even snowing very badly. The Americans kept cheering but for me and my Euro friends, wet and cold, one quarter was more than enough. After hiding in the warm restrooms, we decided to abandon the game early.Plan B: drive to Atlantic City. Atlantic City is the Las Vegas of the East Coast – not as spectacular – but still a gambling paradise. We arrived around 6 pm at the Borgata Casino and split up – some of us trying their luck at Blackjack or Roulette, others at Poker and me… at the casino stores. I’m not the gambling type and never will be, it just doesn’t make sense to throw away your money on luck games while instead you can throw it away on shoes and clothes. After gambling, we met up to have a cocktail before dinner. Unfortunately, one of us didn’t bring his passport and was denied service. You probably know that in the US you need to be 21 to be able to drink in public. Normally, a regular ID will do the trick but casinos tend to be a bit stricter, I guess their policy is to only rip off adults. Fake ID’s are very common in the US; I’ve only been here a year and I already saw a lot of American kids trying to get into a club with a fake ID - and in about 80% of the cases they get away with it.
Since Americans are not familiar with our Euro IDs, it is harder to check for fake ones. So, no passport means no gambling and no booze for foreigners… unless you pass the casino’s local security test: they will compare your national ID to examples in their database (well, just a book with pictures) – if it matches, you get a stamp on your hand reading “21 – legal”. You got to love American practicality (although, I’m not sure what is easier to fake, an ID or a stamp). With a “21” stamp, they allow you to keep gambling and drinking and throwing away your money – wouldn't it be easier to put the stamps directly on our dollar bills?Next Holiday Episode: Philly! (I told you we've been busy!)
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Happy Holidays!
Holiday Season Recap, Episode I
December has been a very busy month for us (or how to open with an excuse for not posting more often). We broadened our horizons – geographically, culturally, historically and gastronomically – and what better way to end this blog year with a recap of our Holiday season? Today, Part I...
End of November, we started the Holiday season with Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York City (see my previous post). We got up very early and by 7 am, we were already fighting for a spot close to the parade route at Central Park West. 
People warned us that it might get crowded but we didn’t think that at 7 am (2 hours before the parade), we would only be able to secure a spot on the 10th row. But we did get a decent view of the parade – the wagons, the balloons, hundreds of dancers, big bands, acrobats, clowns – quite amazing, makes you want to shop at Macy’s!
We continued our Thanksgiving day with dinner in Washington D.C. Our American friends prepared a huge turkey dinner with very American-exotic side dishes (such as yams and a marshmellow Waldorf salad) 
and delicious deserts (pumpkin pie and pecan pie). No wonder that the biggest discounts are on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving (see also my previous post): you eat so much food that you need a new set of clothes! When the clock stroke midnight, we decided to take advantage of the infamous Black Friday discounts at the outlet mall in Virginia. There were indeed some really good deals out there but you had to be prepared to be patient: waiting in line to park, waiting in line to get into a store (sometimes up to 1 hour for the popular brands), waiting in line at the changing rooms and of course, waiting in line to pay. We made it back home around 5.30 am – exhausted, broke but happy.
December has been a very busy month for us (or how to open with an excuse for not posting more often). We broadened our horizons – geographically, culturally, historically and gastronomically – and what better way to end this blog year with a recap of our Holiday season? Today, Part I...
End of November, we started the Holiday season with Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York City (see my previous post). We got up very early and by 7 am, we were already fighting for a spot close to the parade route at Central Park West. 
People warned us that it might get crowded but we didn’t think that at 7 am (2 hours before the parade), we would only be able to secure a spot on the 10th row. But we did get a decent view of the parade – the wagons, the balloons, hundreds of dancers, big bands, acrobats, clowns – quite amazing, makes you want to shop at Macy’s!
We continued our Thanksgiving day with dinner in Washington D.C. Our American friends prepared a huge turkey dinner with very American-exotic side dishes (such as yams and a marshmellow Waldorf salad) 
and delicious deserts (pumpkin pie and pecan pie). No wonder that the biggest discounts are on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving (see also my previous post): you eat so much food that you need a new set of clothes! When the clock stroke midnight, we decided to take advantage of the infamous Black Friday discounts at the outlet mall in Virginia. There were indeed some really good deals out there but you had to be prepared to be patient: waiting in line to park, waiting in line to get into a store (sometimes up to 1 hour for the popular brands), waiting in line at the changing rooms and of course, waiting in line to pay. We made it back home around 5.30 am – exhausted, broke but happy. 
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