Welcome to the USA, land of opportunity and most noticably big flags.

Canada like the US has big flags all over the place - at supermarkets, petrol stations, car dealerships. Almost every business flies a flag, and a big flag at that. A large number of individuals fly the stars and stripes out front of their homes, although I am told this increased significantly following Sept 11.

There is so much big stuff here - the cars are also big, no make that massive, food can come packed in huge amounts and when you order a large soda / pop / soft drink from a take away place they come in containers so big that they resemble small lakes. Talking of lakes it is weird to be on the banks of a body of water so vast that you can not see the other side, has sailing ships on it and contains nothing in it so ever that can eat you. The abundance of water available is incredible, you drive over vast rivers like nothing found in Australia, making it understandable why the population of the US can support 300 million people and with a compariable land mass Australia has around 21 million.

(Word Geek moment. If a river has a bank does a lake have a 'shore'? Shores really occur on "beaches" which mark the boundary of an 'ocean'. maybe a lake has an "edge". Will have to think some more on this.)

Summary of cities thus far:

NEW YORK
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Crazy busy, overwhelming noise, underlying dirt from use, almost no green space and especially no grass except in the oasis of Central Park. it is a little disconcerting to see girls sunbaking on the grass like they are at the beach but with skyscrappers in the background. you can tell that you are in a richer area bc the footpaths are clean. they get washed down virtually every day.

Central Park is a mecca of activity, roller bladers, pick up basketball, runners, cyclists, walkers and softball games both recreational and social competition. Got to see a boys baseball game that happened to be a final and the top side of physically larger kids got knocked off by the small kids - the parents were amazing to watch.

Got to stay with my friend Jan and his girlfriend Delia up outside Harlem area. Gentrification is at work but the locals still hang on. the loudest of the culture and some of the general swagger of Harlem has some similarities between some more at risk areas I've been too in Oz. Generally it felt safe although you'd not walk thru the park at night.

The city was hot and subway is hotter. You can see why not having electricity would make people upset and short tempered bc NY is not a "nice" city to hang out in with almost continuous 6 story apartments linked together and cement footpaths blurring into asphalt roads.

Wow, the museums. An incredible experience in the Natural History of stuffed animals - rhinos, elephants, lions, tigers, black, brown and grizzly bears, primates and birds of every kind. The highlight was a life size hanging exhibit of a blue whale. Overall a huge sense of the biodiversity of the world. The NHM also has a massive amount of ancient artifacts and traces the growth of human kind from civilisations across the world. It fuels the desire to travel and "see" it live.

The Guggenheim M was an amazing design, you really appreciate the genuis of Frank Llyod Wright in its curving design and pitch of the floor such that you don't notice that you have ascended 6 floors until you get to the top. You can look back across the open empty core to make comparisons to earlier works as well. This made it easier to appreciate the architectural works of Zahid as you could see how her work matured.

Jackson Pollack was also displayed and it was good to see his work across time. Poor guy, not that talented actually, just hit upon the dribble art which innovative (right place, right time) but he really did not have all that more. Being declared "greatest artist alive" and then not being able to evolve would have been devasting for an already mentally fragile individual.

the Museum of Modern Art was also incredible. it is magnificent way to appreciate the evolution of art across the modern era. and the range art - Piscasso, Van Gough, Monet, Piet Mor?, Duchampe plus one exceptional Dali. It must be worth a FORTUNE.

Bit disappointed in the MET experience actually. Too many people, too diverse a collection but nothing really outstaynding. Maybe just too much.

Seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time from the Brooklyn Bridge gave a bit of the heart leap "yep I am really here".

ANNOYING THINGS
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Sales tax - damn it this sucks. Of the annoying things that the US has done this is HUGE. It exceeds tipping by a huge margin. You go to buy something for $1.50 and get hit by state AND federal tax so it costs $1.64 meaning that you can't actually buy it with the change in your pocket.

Reports on Dearborn / Detroit, Toronto and Niagara Falls to come...and photos if I can work it out.