Ok... let me start with what i'd written about my last few days in the states:

Ah, America. 'Tis a land where there was enough of a need for 24 hour drive-through doughnut stores that Dunkin' Donuts has provided such a service.
Fed Ex and Kinkos have combined services so there's a place you can go to print your paperwork and also send it express post without having to leave the store. It's also a land where the roads are wide, drivers go really fast and roadkill is plentiful. I can't say I'm all that surprised to see roadkill every time I get into the car. Sometimes every few miles.

Unlike Australia, drivers won't necessarily slow down if they see you approaching a zebra crossing - it's treated as more of a race. If they can beat you to the middle of the crossing, they'll zoom through. If you get there first, they'll stop reluctantly and let you pass.

And so ends my visit to this place of fascination for me. It's somewhat of a love-hate relationship that I have with it, actually. This is because as someone raised in Australia I was taught to think of Americans as stupid, wasteful and slovenly. I can't say political decisions in recent years have convinced me of otherwise. Nor Jerry Springer for that matter.

Each time I enter the country, immigration looks at my passport and says 'welcome home'. They tend to then give me a funny look when they hear my accent and double check to verify that I was in fact in the right queue. I even got an interrogation this time, asking me what i do in australia, to the point of what my major is at uni and why i've come to america and why i live anywhere else.

My last few days in the states can really be described in one way: bl;oody stinking hot. Think 100F/40C. Several days in a row. And stifling humidity.

Coming in early june I was expecting mild spring/summer weather. Instead, I was confronted with chilly days to begin with, one nice day in the middle, then had a bunch of oppressively hot days when it's virtually impossible to do anything unless you're in an airconditioned space.

Not surprisingly, many of my final days were spent hiding in shopping centres, or at least in large stores where I bought more clothes than I could fit into my bag.

Shopping there is SOOO cool. Clothes are incredibly cheap. Most t-shirts (that's what i was buying, mostly - for Herrang) are around $10 US. You'd be hard pressed to find anything for $12 AU while maintaining reasonable quality. Though some of the check-out chicks leave something to be desired. At one point I was being served by this lady who took three weeks to scan 6 shirts and put them on the other side. I could feel my fingers twitching as I desperately held myself back from scanning them myself and doing it three times faster.

Interestingly, if you buy a t-shirt that is on a hanger in the store - you get the clothes hanger for free, too. I suppose it makes sense given you'll have an extra item of clothing to go into your wardrobe at home, but it sounds like you'd accumulate a lot of clothes hangers that way.

On the day before I left, I went to a balboa workshop with Steve and Heidi.... er... I can't remember their last names. But they were still really good. Steve talks a lot and does a lot of funny things while Heidi looks on in an amused fashion, and Heidi tends to join in the circle as a lead more often. I swear I danced with her like 5 times and Steve only once. Anyway. That particular workshop taught me some great balboa moves and let me feel how good it is when things actually work well. I found that with the best leads, if you're all nice and relaxed, it feels as though you're dancing while getting the nicest hug ever. I kind of felt like I was lifted of the ground and being twirled around slowly. It was just damn nice. Will have to do much more Balboa soon.

Anyway must get off the computer as there's a queue behind me.... more updates soon!