When life hands you lemons...ask for salt and tequilla

T.H.I.G.S  I  D.I.S.L.I.K.E

1. Room inspections. We had another one the other day and I got in trouble for all the bottle caps I am collecting on the windowsill...I didn't even think about it! And now I think I'm in trouble. But at my hearing I have a plan - I'm going to say that I'm Australian bogan from the outback and that I was making a Lagerphone ok THAT'S WHAT WE DO DOWN UNDER so sue me.

A Lagerphone.

2. Carrying the garbage down every Sunday morning. There are always countless trips, cans that are not-quite-empty and the high probability that the proctor considers you an alcoholic.
3. Kids eat cantelope and peanut butter in class.
4. They don't know what 'cheeky' (a word I use disproportionally) means. Professor quote: "Cheeky. Word of the day - look it up"
5. The plastic shot glasses Liz buys to make jelly shots cost more than the actual vodka to make them.
6. Americans try to simplify things with technology but it always backfires and complicates the entire process.
7. It cost me an arm and a leg to buy some sardines to have on Texas toast.
8. I've started saying 'mall' instead of shoppo and 'purse' instead of bag. I'm finally willing to accept that maybe I've adopted a slight Americanised accent as well.

16 people or things they couldn't believe about america until they moved here

Every time I'm hanging out in America and I hear a loud bang, I immediately panic. I was in my apartment and there was a gunshot-like loud BANG in the hall and my thought process was;

1. Is the door locked
2. Get under the bed

It's frightening, shootings happen on a daily basis, most are just under reported/happen so frequently they don't get a news story unless it's fatal. It's crazy. Seriously, if you take interest in my personal safety in this country, check this out;

Boston Crime hot spots
 ...you can go back days and days and days...4 or 5 incidents every day...all around the city that I  know-isn't-safe-but-didn't-think-it-was-that-bad. Sadface.

Or this one; even worse;
Universal Crime Hub

Just for fun,you can check out Fenway, which is the area around where I explored on Thursday, in my last blog post - Copley Square, ect. The dates are less recent on this one.

Only a couple of weeks ago a student at a high school assaulted and murder his teacher - 20 minutes from where I live and study.
Denver death

And if all of that isn't bad enough, the Mass government makes all information on sex offenders available online for the community; they see it as their duty to inform the public about the past actions of sex predators. SO you can literally look up your area, even your street and view information about your neighbours.

City Data 
"Online database of registered sex offenders provides names, addresses, photos, and the type of crime for which the person was convicted."

Make of that what you will.
Torben swears to have found 5 registered offenders living on Huntington Ave. 

Oh and btw it's illegal to have 6 or more women living together under a permanent lease in Mass because it's considered a brothel.

So ahh, given the slightly depressive post about things that I've taken note of in the US, here is something to giggle at, although I'm not sure about the credibility of the sources...
Big government. Small brains. Dumb laws.

...and finally, photos of Pierre's French birthday party which was a frock up occasion, accompanied by wine and crepes....which our little Frenchman had so much trouble pronouncing, we all thought he kept saying 'crabs'. Enjoy. And I moustache you a question; do you enjoy my outfit? I bloody hope so as the magic marker didn't wear off for a couple of days. So on Sunday morning the proctor thought I was a cross dresser as well as an alcoholic.