Sorry I haven't had much to say about CA culture recently. I've spent the last week or so moving in more permanently and trying to get acclimated to where my new place is. For those of you who haven't looked at a map (or have and couldn't figure out where I live), I live a mile or so East of the intersection of 880 and Brokaw, North of downtown San Jose. It's a couple miles from the Milpitas town line.

This is not Troy. The area has a very large Asian population. The nearby strip-mall's signs are all in characters with English subtitles. (Being a big dumb Ameri-centric jerk, I never learned the difference between what Chinese, Japanese, or whatever look like.)

I walked into a big grocery store the size of a Price Chopper called Ranch 99 to get some staples. Ranch 99 is NOT Price Chopper. This was the Latham Asian Market inflated to an immense size. There were easily 15 different kinds of fish sauce. There were 35 or so different dried and candied fruits. There were easily 75 different kinds of pickled... items. The fish were still swimming. The beef hadn't been vacuum-sealed and sanitized for my protection.

Needless to say, they didn't have much in the way of choice for the items I was looking for. I failed to find tuna fish. I wasn't brave enough to attempt what appeared to be hot dogs. They did have good produce, but out here that's the norm. Ultimately I had to find an "American" market for those things.

Suddenly being a minority is a little strange. I don't know if I'd feel comfortable walking into the "*&$% Dental Office" (those are Asian characters, not curses) next door. Of course, I'm not sure if I'd feel good about any dental office which is in a strip mall.

Every morning on Good Morning America, the local weather person points at a map of the Bay region and rattles on about the sunny day and how warm it will be where. The map is labeled "Bay Microclimates." I think the area also has "Microcultures."

Incidentally, GMA is broadcast on tape-delay here, but they still have the LIVE taglines on the screen. Media plot? Government Conspiracy? Hmmm...

Pointlessly,
poz

P.S. If you know what the subject means, you're a geek.