American Revelations

Discovering a new country is one the most exciting journeys that one can undertake. The fun part is developing habits one never had but cannot live without now. These are a few of my favorite things

1. Online Shopping: I'm a compulsive shopper by nature so this should not come as any surprise. the day I learned my dress size, I got hooked to online shopping and started receiving clothes by the droves. two things that I love about online shopping is 1. the larger inventory and 2. the return policy. I could order clothes and return them at the store if I didn't like it. My only other online shopping experience prior to this was ordering books on Amazon. The nerd me is understandably worried by the clothes-horse me.

2. Driving: I never drove before coming here so driving on the "wrong side" of the road was not a problem. What was a problem was the fact that everybody here followed traffic rules religiously. People actually navigated by reading road signs. Who does that I asked?? I was politely told not to display such naivete at my driving test. Which was another proud moment for me considering that in India I got a driving license without ummm driving. The officer who sat beside me at my driving test told me that I drove too cautiously and that I should ummm go easy on the brakes. He still gave me my license even though his nose almost touched the windshield when I braked out of sheer nerves

3. Basketball: I've become crazed basketball fan thanks to Duke's NCAA Championship team. So much so that I even followed the 2010 NBA draft . I know the rules, I know some awesome cheers to heckle the opposition and the refree (eg: I'm Blind, I'm deaf, I wanna be a ref)...err you get the drift. I actually prefer basketball over cricket because its much faster and gets over in 90 minutes so the ratio of Emotion Invested Vs Time is much higher in Basket Ball especially when your team loses. You know in 90 minutes and get over it. As an aside I used a ratio to compare Basketball and Cricket. The nerd me is understandably worried by the MBA me.

4. Obscure Coffee Choices: Before coming here nobody told me to get up to speed on my coffee choices. Its extremely important to have your coffee choice down pat. The more complicated the better and cooler. Also, if you don't have an overtly complicated coffee choice like "Double shot, non fat, decaf, no sugar, free trade, organic, grande Latte" you will be looked at strangely by those good folks at Starbucks.

5. Cardio Dancing: I was always a gym nerd but discovering Zumba & cardio dancing took it to another level. These classes are a lot of fun and you end up learning a LOT of dance moves which come in handy for those B-school parties. You also end up doing strange things like doing salsa for a bhangra song. To quote a popular refrain " Yes you can!" My indian self wanted to protest this anomaly. I wanted to tell all the peeps that this was wrong. An insult to two great culture but then the dance instructor yelled "Booty, Booty, Booty" - a cue for all of us to shake it and sigh I just gave up and "bootied" instead. The choices one is faced with!

6. Student Discount: As a student, largely in debt and a shopping addiction, this is something I'd want to be in School forever for. You get student discount in the oddest of places. For car washes, gym memberships, for theater, music recitals..you curiously never get discounts on things that you actually need as students like books for example or coffee or food. I try my luck anyway. I'll shamelessly ask any establishment if they offered student discounts. Thats how I got $2 off for car wash.

I could go on but here's the rest of the list in bullet points:

1. Food network (which is not good considering I watch it eating a bland salad)

2. Tailgating (getting drunk before a game..like a pre-game party)

3. Barbecues

4. Chipotle Sauce (I dive towards it like an Indian in a mexican Restaurant)

5. Hulu (I dread the day they go subcription based)

6. Biscuit, Scramled Eggs & hash browns at waffle house

..aaah waffle house, I think I'd better stop.