Freakishly Happy

Ranting:
I've really begun to enjoy the State Fair, don't get me wrong. But it seemed a little odd that when the news is constantly telling us how fat our nation is, that an event of this calibur would have a plethora of junk food. Not just junk food, but seriously warped junk food. Deep fried twinkies and oreos, type junk food.
I think that there should be some kind of rewards benefits for stands that sell healthy yet tasty foods.
As a vegetarian it was quite difficult to find entrees that were meat free. Sure, I could eat all of the funnel cakes and onion rings I could manage, but really there were no entrees to be found. I can understand this as it is an event that is there to celebrate agriculture, a part of which, of course is the meat industry. But soy products are also made from plants. At the entire fair there was only one stand where meat-substitues were sold, and this booth only served Veg-corndogs (which are tastier than regular corn dogs, I might add). Everywhere else I asked they pointed me in the direction of the only salad bar which was located in the AG building, when I asked for vegetarian stands.
Don't get me wrong, a salad is good once in a while, but sometimes you just want a little more.
Hopefully things will come around in coming years.

Ranting:
One of the first things I've noticed since I've been back is the shocking lack of toilet brushes in the bathrooms. In Europe, almost everywhere we went, right next to the toilet was a brush. If the toilet was dirty after you used it, then it was your job to clean it. Here, no toilet brushes, no sense of personal responsibility when it comes to public restrooms. I think that having those in the bathrooms made people more aware. They were more likely to wipe up water on the sinks, and pickup stray toilet paper pieces from the floor. Here there is no responsiblity. "Its not my bathroom, I don't need to respect it" seems to be a prevailing attitude. Curious...

No one here really says, "howdy," so I thought I'd try to bring it back....
Yep, we are officially back stateside and have been for a little while now. I apologize for the lack of updates! We got back mid-August and went directly to the State Fair.
It was a good time, but I must admit we did experience some extreme culture shock. For instance, we went into the Grand Stand area, a place where vendors (much like infomercial vendors) set up shop. Man, they must have seen us coming from a mile away. We walked away with two stove top grills and a bag full of sponges. It could have been much much worse, considering that no one has really marketed anything to us in the past year. No commercials, no billboards, no pushy sales people... NOTHIN'... So at least we didn't buy the expensive back massager thingy that looked like a gentrified belt-sander...
The rest of the fair was great, too. It has fortified my dream of moving to the hills to become a goat farmer (well, I want 2 goats Glendeline and Clarabelle), where I will tend the chickens, goats and cows, and sell our eggs, goat cheese and milk at the local organic grocery and John will do whatever it is that John does.
We actually talked to some goat farmers from Pennsylvania, who said we could come and visit them and their goats when we drive out to Vermont. I'm pretty pumped. Now most people have a mistaken view of goats... they are really friendly, kind of like ugly dogs with horns. They area also fairly smart as far as barn yard creatures go. And cute. Really really cute.
I got addicted to Feta cheese while in Deutschland, seriously, seriously addicted. It was only €0.79 per package, or €5/1000 grams. Seriously good and seriously cheap. Here however, its not as flavorful or nearly as cheap. So I figure if I have goats I can make my own cheap, delicious Feta cheese.
We also went to the rolling pigeon contest, always a favorite. The whistling contest, which was a little weird. Especially the guy who thunked his teeth to make the horse-running noises during the Lone Ranger song. I also actually enjoyed the Varied Industries building. As a child this was torture of tortures. Worse than carpet stores or lumber yards... But this year it was quite enjoyable. We have both been a little lacking on small talk, as Germans don't really do too much of it. Now we talk to EVERYONE. We spent a good 2hours yakking with vendors.
Since we left the fair, we've been spending some quality time with John's parents, which has been really fun.
Currently we're just kind of hanging out... We'll be on the move again sometime shortly, so be expecting a knock on your door!
jandj