USA - Aftermath
Well it's taken about a week and I am just about adjusted back to UK time though not to being back in the UK yet.
Back in the UK its almost like The Silent Spring. The level of bird song back in the UK, be it outside of London, London or points all the way up to Leeds, is orders of magnitude less than in the USA. Not just in volume but also in variety and closeness. Everywhere I went in the USA there was birdsong. Even the centre of Chicago, which is a major city by any measure, there was more variety of bird life and a greater density of the feather critters than in the UK.
In fact on the train journey back from Armpit this week, the landscape seemed very empty of life compared to what I had been seeing for the previous two weeks.
The roads in the US seemed to be a lot calmer than the London roads. Even Chicago in the rush hour was a lot more relaxed and civilised than London and even the interstates seemed more chilled out. However the quality of the roads was a lot poorer over there. Concrete slabs are not a good surface and there is a much high noise level from it. Also the surfaces were a lot more split and pot holded and there is far more risk to the car from hitting such items than in the UK.
I've already commented on the racial splits in the USA but another thing I noticed was just how much more polite and friendly the people there were. Shop assistants were much more polite and attentive there. Other things that I noticed was just how much everyone there was obsessed by the price of Gas (petrol to us). I hate to see their reaction if they tried to buy any over here. The other topic that everyone was talking about was the economy. I guess as the British talk about the weather, they talk about gas prices and the economy - though they did call it the recession.
Politics. A lot more discussion and over heard comments about elections, local and national on public transport or in the streets than I am used to hearing. But the sample size was small.
Children. In general bigger and fatter but also quieter and more polite. I suspect in a few years we'll have equalled them in girth and gone the inverse in manners.
Back in the UK its almost like The Silent Spring. The level of bird song back in the UK, be it outside of London, London or points all the way up to Leeds, is orders of magnitude less than in the USA. Not just in volume but also in variety and closeness. Everywhere I went in the USA there was birdsong. Even the centre of Chicago, which is a major city by any measure, there was more variety of bird life and a greater density of the feather critters than in the UK.
In fact on the train journey back from Armpit this week, the landscape seemed very empty of life compared to what I had been seeing for the previous two weeks.
The roads in the US seemed to be a lot calmer than the London roads. Even Chicago in the rush hour was a lot more relaxed and civilised than London and even the interstates seemed more chilled out. However the quality of the roads was a lot poorer over there. Concrete slabs are not a good surface and there is a much high noise level from it. Also the surfaces were a lot more split and pot holded and there is far more risk to the car from hitting such items than in the UK.
I've already commented on the racial splits in the USA but another thing I noticed was just how much more polite and friendly the people there were. Shop assistants were much more polite and attentive there. Other things that I noticed was just how much everyone there was obsessed by the price of Gas (petrol to us). I hate to see their reaction if they tried to buy any over here. The other topic that everyone was talking about was the economy. I guess as the British talk about the weather, they talk about gas prices and the economy - though they did call it the recession.
Politics. A lot more discussion and over heard comments about elections, local and national on public transport or in the streets than I am used to hearing. But the sample size was small.
Children. In general bigger and fatter but also quieter and more polite. I suspect in a few years we'll have equalled them in girth and gone the inverse in manners.