Back home again

John and I arrived back in Auckland at 5:00 am Sunday morning. It was a quick trip back to the US but we were happy to see all our friends and family. We had a great time in Clear Lake. We also had a picnic with John's family and I went to Cedar Rapids to see my family. On Thursday I flew out to Las Vegas to meet up with John. It was HOT- at midnight is was still 95. We just walked the strip, stopped in a couple of the must see hotels and did a little shopping. We had a pleasant flight back to NZ on Air New Zealand. The only problem with Air NZ is that they are to efficient- I missed out on the ends of my movies both going and coming because they flew to fast.

So, what was it like to be back in the US? We noticed a few more empty buildings in DSM and some areas weren't as tidy as what they might have been. We heard a little about Obama and health care reform but not as much as we thought we might.

We decided we really missed the NZ system of no tipping, especially in Vegas. I also noticed that I ended up with a wallet full of change that amounted to about US $1.25. A wallet full of change in NZ would be at least $10 due to all the $1 and $2 coins. I also decided I like the NZ system of rounding to the nearest dime so they don't have to deal with pennies.

On the other side, I really enjoyed having shopping options. In NZ, you might have 3 stores to choose from and each store carries pretty much the same thing. In the US, you have 10 stores to chose from and each one has distinct items. And also Super Target..... we need one in NZ.

September 1 was the first day of Spring here. I asked around and nobody seemed to know why Sept 1 was the first day of Spring and not Sept 21. The first day of Winter in NZ corresponds to the first day of Summer in the US. Maybe one of the NZ people that follow this blog can answer this question.