Thanksgiving Turkey and Glib Bits in Reno

I think I'm becoming Amercanized!  How can I tell?  Well, this is a conversation I regularly have with unsuspecting shop assistants.  Me:  "Excuse me, is there anywhere around here I can get a good coffee?" Unsuspecting shop assistant: "Yes, there's Starbucks".  Me:  "No, I mean a 'good' coffee".  Unsuspecting and now realising she's also unlucky shop assistant: "No, sorry, there really isn't."  This was the exact conversation that took place today while I was at a shopping mall in Reno where I am visiting my father-in-law with my husband for Thanksgiving weekend.

Shopping malls in America are just that - shopping malls which consist of great designer shops but lack food halls, restaurants, coffee shops, entertainment, newsagencies or chemists.  And shopping in a rainy zero degrees in an uncovered mall that is spread out over 2 kilometres makes it difficult to do much shopping unless you want to freeze to death, and all this for one Starbucks!  In fact, there's a great outlet mall in Park City, Utah, but they have ONE place that sells food in the whole centre - that being, Mrs Field's Cookies.  I know!!!  Now, I'm figuring if they were really smart, they'd have a great pub or coffee shop where women could leave their husbands while they shop. You know like "park your car there and your husband here".  But with no food outlets, one can only shop there for a maximum of 2-3 hours, and then even the most hardened shopper (yes, even you Lizzie), would need some sustenance.  I'm at a loss as to why Americans, who are excellent marketers, cannot see the benefit of building a shopping mall where you can spend all day - with your family. I think it should be mandatory for every shopping centre developer in the US to visit a  Westfields.

Anyway, I digress.  Back to my acclimatisation.  Out of sheer desperation, I went to Starbucks and ordered my coffee and as I sat there drinking my single shot soy latte with no foam made with the horrible vanilla soy that Starbucks insist on using throughout the country, I thought "gosh, this coffee tastes quite good!" And that's when I realised:  "I'm becoming Americanized"!

View of the Lake

Which brings me to Thanksgiving, a lovely American tradition where family and friends get together to give thanks for all the blessings in their lives.  Because we were in Reno, which is in the gambling State of Nevada, my father-in-law who is recovering from a hip operation had booked our Thanksgiving dinner at a favourite restaurant of his which is a bit like the Australian version of a RSL club.  I know what you're thinking, and you're right.  The dinner consisted of yam soup, followed by a huge plate of very tough turkey smothered in a very thick gravy, lumpy mashed potatoes and peas and carrots and further followed by the strange phenomenon, pumpkin pie.  But again, I actually enjoyed it - all part of my conversion process.  I just hope that we didn't contract the swine flu from the poor waitress who couldn't stop hacking away as she was serving us.  

View up at Lake Tahoe

But Reno is a lovely city and my husband and I spent the day following Thanksgiving at Lake Tahoe which was truly spectacular and which reminded me of Europe. 

It's been a lovely weekend, and I, like most Americans at this time of the year, feel very grateful for all the blessings in my life, but most particularly for my husband and his family who I am getting to know and love, and for my wonderful family and friends back in Australia who keep in constant contact with me.

But I think next Thanksgiving, I'll be cooking the turkey!

Drugs anyone? Just go to the doctor!

It has probably not gone unnoticed by we Aussies that whenever we read the latest "No Idea" or watch "ET" - and here I'm referring to "Entertainment Tonight" not "ET Go Home", that prescription medication addiction is rife in the good old US of A.  According to statistics, Utah has the highest rate of depression and prescription medication addiction in the country.  Now this seems a little odd for a state that is made up predominantly of Mormons who are not allowed to drink tea (I know, tea!), coffee or alcohol, but let me tell you, if I couldn't have a coffee and a glass of wine every now and then, I'd be severely depressed too.  I agree with The Sunday Mail's Frances Whiting when she says that the most stressful time of the day is five minutes to wine o'clock! 

But I'm at a loss as to how people get addicted to prescription medication.  I mean, how does one get so much medication that it causes one to become addicted to it?  Apparently, they go to the doctor - and not just one - many. Surely when someone goes to the chemist to get their third bottle of Oxycontin in one month, isn't there some kind of database that alerts the pharmacist that this person might have a problem? And shouldn't that person be reported?  Now, I'm not sure if we in Australia have Oxycontin, but here, it is prescribed like they are lollies.  Oxycontin is a pain killer, but is also narcotic - so it is addictive.  Millions of Americans are getting addicted to this and other narcotics.  Everyone I speak to here has a family relative or knows someone who is in rehab for alcohol or drug addiction and Americans look at me strangely when I say I don't know anyone back home who is in rehab.  While I know Australia has the same problems as many other western countries, I think we are lucky or maybe it's because we only have 24 million people, but ultimately, I think it's because Australia still has a naivety which is refreshing and which I hope we keep.  And they start young here - parents are giving their children sleeping tablets.

Prescription medication is also advertised on TV - all the time!  But rather than being informed, one can only stare at the TV screen with a look of what might be described as confusion, because after about 10 seconds of describing what the medication is for, you will then hear about 20 seconds of warnings. Take for instance, an ad for Celebrex, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.  The warnings go something like this:

Celebrex and other NSAID medicines can cause stomach ulcers that bleed. The chance of this serious problem increases the longer you take Celebrex and with higher doses of Celebrex. Stomach bleeding can also happen suddenly while you take Celebrex. Stop taking Celebrex and call your healthcare provider right away if you get: 

• a burning stomach pain 
• black bowel movements that look like tar 
• vomit that looks like blood or coffee grounds 

Celebrex and other NSAID medicines can cause serious allergic reactions that include swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat. 

Now I don't know about you, but if my doctor prescribed this medication, I'd need another prescription for anti-anxiety.  I mean, "vomit that looks like blood or coffee grounds"?

You can only imagine the warnings for Cialis (like Viagra), one of which says that if you have an erection for more than four hours, to call your doctor.  My husband said that he used to say, "why waste that call on a doctor?"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

If there's one thing Americans do better than anyone else, it is the celebration of annual events - especially Christmas.

Having spent most of my life growing up in South-East Queensland, Christmas seems to have consisted of battling the crowds for last minute gift shopping, going to mass on Christmas Eve, singing a few carols; preparing the Christmas Day lunch in 35 degree c. heat and fighting the flies that also seem to want to join in the feast, digging out the Bing Crosby Christmas CD, and then if you're lucky enough to have a pool, diving in to cool off, before sneaking off for a quick nap.  I don't know, but Christmas in Australia just never really feels like Christmas.

 Christmas 2009

However, last year I spent Christmas with my then fiance and now husband, Brian, in Salt Lake City, having arrived at LAX (which can only be described as third world) on 23 December. Allow me to warn you here and now, if you are planning to come to the USA two days before Christmas - DON'T, especially if you decide to enter the country via LAX.   After a 13 hour flight having to cope with hundreds of people queuing (or lining up as the Americans say - they don't know the word "queue") on the roadside to get through security, luggage check-in etc., is pure hell.  Expect the process to take 2-3 hours at this time of year.  Arrgghh! 

But once having got to Utah, Christmas was like being in a story book.

So here I am in Salt Lake City, Utah in November and Halloween has just finished.  Thanksgiving is next, but Christmas is already in the air.  It's started to snow - bit white fluffy flakes, and it's great, because when it snows here, it really doesn't seem that cold as there doesn't seem to be any wind - well, not yet anyway).  The mountains around the city are covered with a light dusting of snow and everything takes on a whiteness that is so beautiful and "quiet". 

And, what's most surprising of all, is that the radio stations have already started playing Christmas songs. I was driving around yesterday and the station I was listening to played only Christmas music.  I felt like Meg Ryan in that scene from Sleepless in Seattle when she's driving to her parents' house on Christmas Eve and she's flicking radio stations and the radio announcer says: "Okay, now let's play Jingle Bells backwards!"

But it's a beautiful time of year and America does Christmas so well, and apparently, here in Utah, it's always a "White Christmas".   The only thing missing will be my family.

Trick or Treat with some Pâté

Pumpkins Galore!

The Americans love their Halloween!  There are pumpkins everywhere and it seems that almost everyone goes all out to decorate with spider webs, gravestones, ghouls, spiders and a lot more.  It's quite entertaining walking around the neighbourhood to see how much trouble the average American family goes to for this annual ...what would you call it? Celebration? There are Halloween parties, Halloween paraphernalia in every store, candles, and parents go all out to make sure their children have fabulous costumes for their trick or treating.  So, how and why is Halloween so popular in the US?

Well, as you know, the Irish came to America in droves in the mid-1800s. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the "Otherworld" became thin on Halloween (Samhain which means "summer's end"), allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. 

So, if I was having a Halloween celebration or dinner party with friends, I like to start my guests with a glass of wine and a platter of toasted ciabatta that has been basted with olive oil, rosemary, garlic and chili and then toasted (my friend James will attest to the fact that it is delicious) and serve it with some good Pâté.  So, off I go to my favourite grocery store, Wholefoods, and begin scanning the fridges and shelves for some Pâté. Where the hell is it?  So, I ask the girl at the counter where I can find the Pâté.  "Pattay?" she asks quizzically says.  "Yes" I reply.  "I'm sorry, I've never heard of that she says?"  At this point, I am speechless - in the words of one of my favourite TV characters, Elaine from Seinfeld - "I am without speech".  So, with a look of shock and horror on my face, I turn around and walk away with, if I was a dog, my tail between my legs.  "What am I going to do without Pâté?"  So, I go searching on the internet for some Pâté.  Joy, there is a company in New York that makes it and you can order it online!!! And they send it all the way from New York in a "huge" container (of course, as this is America). How long does Pâté keep I wonder?

On a final note, my husband and I were staying with dear friends in California last weekend, and when asked what I'd like for breakfast, I replied: "some eggs would be lovely please".  At which point, our dear friend took a carton (like a milk carton) out of the fridge and said:  "How would you like them cooked?"