Saturday, July 26, 2008

culture shock

I am liking Idaho Falls so far, I really am. It's pretty different than Salt Lake, and I'm still adjusting to all these differences.

For example, the alcohol laws here are a bit more lax which is a plus to me -- I'm not a heavy drinker or anything, but it's nice to be able to get a bottle of wine at the grocery store, and not have to drive 20 minutes to a liquor store. I enjoy that.

Also, the high temperature may be 95 degrees, but it only seems to be that miserable for a few hours in the afternoon -- in Utah, it would have been 90 degrees by 11 AM... at 11 AM here it's still something normal like 75 degrees. I also enjoy that.

Now to things that I don't enjoy, or that I'm going to have to learn to get used to...

People in Salt Lake are very image conscious -- I knew some women who had moved from places like Southern California and they were pretty surprised by the parallels between those two spots. Everyone has designer jeans, designer homes, designer teeth and bodies, you know... the works. It's very important to LOOK good in Salt Lake -- it's a bit extreme, really.

I find myself having to remind myself here that "just because it's not fancy doesn't mean it's not quality." Not to say Idaho Falls is a dump because it's NOT -- don't get me wrong. It's just a bit more normal than Salt Lake, probably... I'm actually a bit embarrassed to find myself hesitating when I find out that Aidan's preschool classroom is in a modular building outside the church the rest of the school is in (it's supposed to be a fabulous program so I just made myself get over it -- seriously, what does it matter?) or that the credit union we signed up at isn't all glossy, huge, and expensive-looking. (apparently credit unions are "the thing" in Utah and so they are everywhere and they are huge since most of them don't even seem to enforce membership guidelines, and they are probably oozing money. That's right, oozing. Aren't they supposed to be not-for-profit?? How does that work, seriously?) I feel bad for being so hung up on appearances, I feel almost shallow. So that's something that I'm definitely needing to work on.

This last thing I really don't love... again, I was probably sheltered in Utah. I was returning something at a store and I overheard a cashier having a conversation with some other people -- a girl and a guy (kind of trashy looking). It went something like this:

Cashier: You pregnant?

Girl: Yeah.

Cashier (to the guy): Is it yours?

Guy: No...

Cashier: Who's baby is it then?

Girl: His friend Bobby's... we got drunk at a party. (laughs)

I tuned them out at that point because my mouth was probably wide open and I was no doubt giving myself away as a sheltered Utahn who has only ever actually heard a conversation like this on a show like "Cops" -- hello, people?? How trashy is that? Think of the poor baby!

Ugh.

SO anyway, in a roundabout way I guess all I'm saying is that I'm adjusting. I still miss my Costco though.

3 comments:

Nancy Williams said...

I'm really gonna miss your Costco. Too.

Anneka said...

Hey, don't think those conversations are a normal thing around here! We're not all trashy people! ;)

suzy's jewels and gem said...

you make me laugh Anna!!! No costco has to suck!!!