American things, good and bad.

Everyone who moves across countries and continents probably knows the feeling of "but this thing was better in place X". First year or two, you get stuck missing food and way of doing things from your previous home country, and talking about the things that were so much better back at home. Well, I know myself and I know that I will be doing this anywhere I go. So, I've been thinking recently about the aspects of America and California that I will miss one day.

• Customer service. You truly can ask for things the way you like them. Nothing is ever too outrageous a request, and when it is, suitable compromise is being worked with a smile. I've never felt that the friendliness of the servers was fake, and I'm getting too used to the speed at which food is being brought out at restaurants. Returns policies are really extensive (e.g. REI allows returns for a year!) and easy even when shopping online.
• Shopping online. Even when living in a small town where shopping options are limited, it's easy to buy whatever you might want just with a couple of clicks and the items arrive in a couple of days to your doorstep. I regularly buy shoes, clothes, cosmetics and electronics online, but I've also bought non-standard items like custom-made clothing, decorative fabrics and art supplies. 
• Friendliness and genuineness of people. Before to moving here, I thought that Americans are fake and no one can truly be that friendly, but I'm happy to report that I was absolutely wrong about this!
• Sense of community. As the social security system is minimal, people really look after each other. Also, Davis is such a small town that people readily organize small events themselves and everyone is made to feel welcome. Most extreme example of community efforts has been Burning Man and related events, where large groups of people come together to build stunning (yet temporary) art and welcoming community. 
• Opinions and open discussions. People are not afraid to debate, to exchange ideas and views, and I feel this is the best manifestation of the American freedom.
• Fruit. I don't think I will ever eat such delicious and cheap fruit as here in the middle of the Central Valley. Avocados, peaches, apricots, oranges, plums, nectarines... 
• Beer. American craft beer market has exploded in the recent years, and now the selection is huge and exciting. Yummy white beers, fruit beers (watermelon & apricot being my current favourites), ambers, brown beers, dark beers... and unfortunately a ton of IPAs.
• Weather. I love that I can wear a summery dress every single day of the year, including winter when addition of leggings makes you warm enough. And the continuous sunshine, oh the sunshine! It makes a huge difference to my energy levels.
• Technology. People are truly at the forefront of everything new, and new gadgets and technologies are adopted at staggering speed.
• Science. Also at the forefront of everything new. A lot of great science happens in California and people dare to dream up big ideas and big projects. Everything is done in powerful high-throughput. People speak up about where the academia should be headed, for example there is a lot of movement towards open access (but European funding agencies might be more supportive of this?) and people who actively promote the gender balance. Diverse role models exist.

And then a quick list of things that I will not be missing (just so that no one thinks that I'm totally in love with the US):

• Coffee. Either horrible or expensive.
• Lack of public transport. We are finally looking to buy a car, as doing the things we'd like to do has become difficult. It's impossible to go skiing, visit Bay Area (or even Sacramento) in the evenings or seeing the country without a car.
• Living to work, not working to live. Luckily I absolutely love my work and I have the freedom to decide what is included in it (e.g. mentoring, organizing events, conference travel, learning new things). But yes, I work longer hours than I have ever before, and my work has become an inherent part of me. Or maybe it's the fact I'm in academia and it happens eventually to everyone?
• Workers rights. The postdoctoral researchers have decent vacation days and health coverage in the UC system thanks to our union. I'm not jealous of the regular worker without guaranteed health benefits or sick days, and typically two weeks of (unpaid) vacation time. Maternity leave is minimal, three months in academia seeming to be the norm.
• Healthcare. Stories I've heard of healthcare even with good coverage are shocking, let alone the stories of paying for the insurance yourself or having a shitty one provided to you by your employer because you happen to be e.g. a grad student. 
• Legal system. All the weird stuff about suing and paying huge sums for damages, companies being treated as people, and a huge proportion of the population being the jail at this very moment make no sense to me.
• Traffic. How can there be so many frigging cars??

And now it's time for me to go and enjoy yet another sunny and beautiful day in Davis!

Food, glorious food.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Life has been very busy and travelling quite minimal, so blogging has been low on the list of priorities. However, we've been recently cooking a lot of new recipes, so I'd like to list some of the things I found really fun and delicious in the past year or so. Why haven't I cooked these before?!

• Falafels
• Tsatsiki
• Yorkshire puddings
• Gravy
• Cranberry sauce (modification of the recipe linked)
• Custard / Creme Anglaise
• Spanish rice
• Coleslaw
• Garbanzo bean salad
• Baked goat cheese salad
• Devilled eggs
• Bacon and chevre and mushroom pastries
• Tea & cream parfait(/sorbet?) with ginger sauce (no link - recipe inherited from an old clipping)

Om nom nom!

Wait, is it normal in Europe that it rains for two days?

Observation 1: American students are taught to insert a double space after a period when writing official documents. I have never heard of this and it irritated me heavily (working on a manuscript where some authors do this, and some don't). Internet agrees with me that this is something that was done in early 1900s when typing on a actual typewriter, and should never be done in modern world.

Observation 2: Apparently two days of regular rain is a "storm". I'm thinking this is a Californian use of the word, as people here are used to the eternal sunshine. Internet again agrees with me: rain on it's own doesn't constitute a storm - typically heavy winds (55+ mph) are needed, or alternatively some additional element such as thunder, hail, or even fire. This obviously came about from the fact that it rained for a week, although it still is not enough to restore water levels. The magnolias and fruit trees have started flowering.

Observation 3: Call for gender equality manifests in weird ways. Most typical is mocking people who ignorantly portray gender distributions based on current reality (e.g. of group leaders and lab workers or Nobel prize winners). I understand that people feel that using imagery like this might perpetuate the atmosphere of male dominance in sciences, but it could be turned around into a (positive?) rallying call for awareness and change (instead of shaming the ignorant).

Observation 4: I still don't understand what is and what isn't racism. There's a grant we're applying for to fund summer students to work with us, and it would be easily ours if we could show that we have identified minority students to work with us (minority = Native American, Black, Hispanic). How do you ask your students their ethnicity?! I'm still extremely baffled by this.

Observation 5: Voting with your feet is difficult if you delve into moral/politic considerations. I today learned that the bike shop I frequent in Davis is owned by a supporter of Proposition 8 (same-sex marriage ban). I agree with my friends - it's difficult to bring your custom to someone when they disagree with you on a human rights issue. But then, where do you draw a line? If you hear that a shop is Christian or Muslim owned, will you not shop there? Big companies and anything produced in China are probably also out of question. Should I avoid my favourite grocery store, Davis Co-Op, because I approve of GMOs and they probably don't? Also, even though the owner of the bike shop might think that not everyone is equal, I do. And I think he deserves to make a living with the well-run shop where I've always had the best service, regardless of what he thinks as a private person.

Yet another sunny day in paradise.

This winter has has amazingly sunny weather. Yes, there was a couple of weeks of freezing weather and the night time temperatures are still cold, but every day has been sunny and bright. And not so surprisingly, lack of rain has led to a severe drought (worst in the history, someone said). But Davis is still green, lawns get watered to muddy pits and water gets wasted... because water is still ridiculously cheap (at least compared to countries where I've lived before) and for instance, in the apartment complex where we live, water is included in our rent. So far the impact of the drought on our lives has been not going skiing in Tahoe due to lack of snow but I'm really dreading next summer and the real trouble; crop losses, water use limitations and increased cost of living.

Also, we've managed to get outside Davis a few times in the past weeks, and I've been baffled by the billboards around Sacramento. Firstly, it seems weird to me that atheism is something that needs advertising. Do people pick their religious beliefs from billboards? I guess using real people and their lack of belief expands the understanding that there are everyday people who do not have religion... something that is blatantly obvious to me.

Secondly, would you shop at a grocery store that advertises themselves only with a phrase "Where else can you have marshmallows for dinner?" Is advertising towards kids not restricted here? Are there adults that would choose that store because of them suggesting marshmallows for dinner? Does that not scream "this not the place where you should be shopping for food!" I just do not understand.

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings!

The autumn has gone by in a blink with a lot of work done and many great evenings of fun with friends old and new. We had a great Christmas break, involving too much good food and a lot of board games, and on my part, some pondering about how Christmas can be politically incorrect in such a Christian country.

For me Christmas weather is definitely cold, maybe even white, so once again, it's been difficult understanding that it's Christmas when it's 20C and sunny. Also, I've found that Christmas decorations in public places are much more minimal here. I don't know if it's Davis or America in general, but the first Christmas songs I heard whilst shopping were in mid-December. Not September like in the Philippines, not October or November like in Europe, but so late in the season that I actually considered finding some Christmas music from the internet to fill the void in my life!

Christmas has been always close to my heart even though I'm not religious in any sense of the word. I love all the candles and fairy lights, the smell of the tree, amazing home-cooked food, the family getting together, spending a couple of days just with the family and enjoying each other's company, and there is still something elating about Santa's visit and all the thought that loved ones have put in preparing a celebration together. I guess that Thanksgiving plays that role in America's hearts, so there hasn't been a fusion of all cultures and religions to celebrate Yuletide together in the same extent as in Europe.

I started writing this post thinking that I'd comment on certain points, but after attempting to write about them I changed my mind about them. It's ok for me if people want to be considerate and call the vacation day on 25th Dec the Winter Holiday, because not everyone approaches Christmas in the same non-religious way that I do. It's ok that Americans don't get the Christian holidays off from work automatically, because they're Americans and work-crazy anyway (and politically correct to top it off). I appreciate the US trying to separate the Church and the State, but for me it would not start by making Christmas politically incorrect - I would rather see religion not interfering with e.g. holding a public office. In the same vein, here's an interesting story about non-Christian groups fighting for equal rights in this country.

However, it's the New Year now and I wish all my readers great adventures!

Dear Top Gear,

On my daily commute to work I suffer from the stupendously bad knowledge of traffic rules by cyclists. I get over this by dreaming of an amazing video, where the same type of driving is carried out by cars. It would include

• turning right just to fall over
• not stopping at a red light or a stop sign, regardless of incoming traffic
• not yielding to vehicles in a roundabout but diving into people already in it
• driving slowly side by side taking both of the lanes, chatting away
• driving on the pavement and not on the lane dedicated for your vehicle
• turning across two lanes without checking the mirror or indicating a turn
• all this without seatbelt or lights, in the dark, while texting a friend, listening to music and drinking a latte

And an extra one for the pedestrians near extremely busy bikeways:

• trying to cross a highway whilst staring at your smart phone

If you could make this video a reality, I would be eternally grateful.

Camping til the summer ends.

The late summer in Davis has been glorious. Returning back to the sunny and warm weather from already cool and rainy Europe in August was awesome, and I've had great opportunities to go camping with my lovely friends.

Canoeing and wine tasting in Russian River

As a jet-lag cure, we spent a weekend camping at Schoolhouse Canyon in Sonoma Valley. It was my first experience of camping in America, and I was stunned how nice the campgrounds were and how much camping gear people had. Huge tents, travel kitchens, the works. I had great time regardless of my jet lag (got to see the sunrise on a foggy river... probably the first in a long long time).

We had bought a Groupon for a day canoeing trip, and as the weather was around scorchy 40C, a day on the river was so pleasant and fun. I had no idea how to steer the canoe, but luckily my friends were more apt at it! Also, the same friend who kept me going straight, had prepared an amazing Greek-themed packed lunch for us to picnic on by the river.... (mmm I'm getting hungry thinking it even two months later!). 

The day on the river was followed by an evening in Healdsburg: some wine tasting, art gallery window shopping and some of the best tapas I've ever had at Bravas (I don't think I can even start thinking about those... I'm too hungry to write about them!)

Unsurprisingly, on the Sunday during the drive back to Davis, we stopped at as many wineries as we could. While I disagreed with the others on matters of taste for most of the day, we all absolutely loved Harvest Moon. Their wine tasting was somehow more personal and friendlier than any of the others, and the owner stopped by too to share his tales about winemaking. I really want to go back there next time I'm in Sonoma!

Backpacking in Ventana wilderness

Now that I had some camping experience under my belt, another couple of my friends managed to persuade me to go backpacking with them on the Labour Day weekend. We drove down past Big Sur on Highway 1 just before the Labour Day traffic. The first night we camped at Limekiln camp grounds, where we watched the sunset by the Pacific and used the appendix of my Game of Thrones book to light a campfire. The new camping mattress I had invested in was amazing, and felt rested starting the hike the next morning.

My friend had led me to believe that the hike would be really easy, and I had warned her that I swear like a sailor when I have to walk uphill for more than 10 minutes. I think both of us lied. In the end, it was an amazing hike (except for the flies) on a lovely cloudy day, and the views were stunning:

After 5 miles uphill when we reached our camping spot at Vincent Flat, I set my tent up under a huge redwood and promptly proceeded to take a lengthy nap. We had the best dinner ever (like the meals out in the wild tend to be), and the night was so dark and the forest was so full of sounds that I slept ridiculously well. I think that the large redwood in the middle of this picture is that I slept underneath:

Obviously the hike down was easy breezy beautiful, and I felt like I could go on for ages (but my leg muscles next day proved this to be a lie). We had a quick dip in the ocean before heading to Pigeon Point lighthouse hostel. This time we had some vacation traffic with us on the Highway 1, but we got to Pigeon Point well before dark - on time to book the last time slot for the hot tub under the stars. To prepare for the hot tub, we ate well at  Highway 1 brewery, and well, I was so amazingly relaxed.

(For people considering to stay at the hostel: There is some debate if I got bedbug bites there or not - both my legs were bitten and they still itch a month later. This was regardless of the annoying plastic sheets they used. Also, do take earplugs for dorm sleeping although I doubt the woman snoring like a war elephant will be there again.)

Symbiosis Gathering at Woodward Reservoir

After having tagged along my friends and practiced camping with their awesome gear, it was time for me and Boyfriend (who arrived here not too long ago!) to gear up for camping trips of our own. Tiny gas cooker, cooler, camping cups and plates, camping chairs... and we were all set to go to a festival!

So we headed out to Symbiosis Gathering - a mini-Burning Man of sorts: 10,000 people, amazing amounts of art and music, and all around good time. It was located on a peninsula into a reservoir, which made an interesting venue to explore and washing off the dust easy. I had amazing time meeting new friends, dancing out under the stars, enjoying the shows from circus to burlesque to psychedelic bingo, and hearing some of my favouritest artists out there to play sets. When can I go again? 

As we didn't bring a camera there, here's some good photos from Symbiosis.

Greetings from summer vacation!

Amazing summer in Davis.

This is a list of amazing things about spending summer in Davis:

Daytime weather (30-45C)
Nighttime weather (15-25C)

Friends
Barbecues
Boardgames
Breweries
Accordions
Swimming pools
Ice-cream
Fireworks on July 4th
Whole Earth Festival
Farmers' Market
Apricots
Peaches
Nectarines
Hikes
Bikes
Parties
Pool parties
Birthday parties
Barbecue parties
Run 5K parties
Eurovision parties
Movie nights
Shopping days
Road trips
Adventures
Lake Berryessa
Point Reyes
Napa Valley
Fine Dining
Dining
Picnics
Hot Springs


...there has been so many great weekends this summer! It's a pleasure looking back the past few months and realise how much awesome stuff has happened. Thank you goes to all of my friends here in Davis!

American Law.

Disclaimer: I actually have not read any law books ever, and all of what I'm writing here is based on hearsay, and no one should trust this as a reliable reference. Because, you know, it's America, and someone might sue me for incorrect legal council.

So this is my general impression of American law:

• Common sense is not expected from Americans. ("Putting this plastic bag on your head may cause death", "Warning: coffee is hot", "Do not leave the driver's seat whilst driving").

• If someone hurts themselves in your house, you have to pay for their medical bills.

• If you own some beautiful forest, or a piece of pretty but rocky shoreline, or even a simple greenhouse, it's an attractive threat. So when a drunk person climbs on your property and hurts themselves, they will sue you and win. To get around this, you can make your property much prettier by posting "do not enter" every hundred meters and you'll be covered!

• Instead of law expecting you to help someone in need (e.g. car crash), the law might cover you against the other person suing you for damages that you caused whilst helping.

So interestingly, you can and will be liable for things that someone else's stupidity caused to themselves... but don't worry! You can still legally shoot people (in self-defense, in some states).