Weird = Raro

I was inspired today from a discussion with one of my teachers about the weird of Minnesota. While he did concede that Spain was one of the loudest countries in the world (supposedly Japan is louder?), he thought nothing else was out of ordinary. If I grew up here, I would think having conversations involves yelling at each other. But here is some of the weird/different things I have experienced (as a foreigner) in my short stay here.

The TV
It is horrible. Horrible. If you know what I watch back home, me saying that the TV is bad means it is Bad (with a capital B). Most of the shows are of the following formula:

Jerry Springer (with female host) + Judge Judy + Yelling Spaniards + Big Brother = 1 hour show

While I cannot understand much about what is happening in the shows, I get the general gist. Here is an example of a show I watched today: it consisted of a debate over whether or not the hotel manager should be responsible for young people jumping off balconies (balconing en espanol!). The show started with a female judge (Isabel Winkles) who listened to a Mother and the Hotel Manager state their case in a court like setting. Then she goes backstage to come to a conclusion, and during that time the audience gets to discuss with the two plaintiffs and the two hosts. This discussion is the Jerry Springer aspect of the show. Then after about 40 minutes, she comes out and rules her descision (which I couldnt understand). The rest of the shows are your standard soaps (I love Fiscia o quimica) and even the news shows usually lean towards TMZ and Entertainment Tonight type content. Oh, and the newsanchors usually talk to you while looking in a mirror and then the camera moves away.

The Fashion

Couldnt find a real pic, but this is the idea.

Men wear purses, have mullets/rat tails and v necks (ewww) and the girls wear whatever they want no matter how old they are. I have teachers at my school, who are at least 50 years old, wearing short skirts and tank tops. Women (of all ages) love wearing leggings and shirts that don't cover their bums. I am all for their self-confidence to wear way to tight clothing, but it must be my midwest, repressed upraising to not want my muffin top out in the open for everyone to see. Seriously, you do not understand until you see how many people, even grandmas, going out in just leggings that are usually too small. Maybe it is happening in the US and I just dont know about it, but seriously, eww....

The Food
Going to the grocery store is always an interesting experience and I usually learn something new every time. Things arent organized like they are back home, which is logical, but I am still learning my way around and realizing things like canned food is usually next to the beer and milk, flour and sugar are put together next to cleaning supplies. Also, asparagus isnt green, looks like fingers and comes in cans. I also thought it was only a Dutch thing, but they have hotdogs with cheese inside of them and instead of coming in cans, it comes in normal hotdog wrappers. But I have to say, I love the fact you get free tapas when you buy a beer/wine. Also the prices for things are good. However, I would love some real bacon sometime soon...