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Sunday, August 8, 2010

Measurements In The USA

Upon arrival at Seattle 3 months back...
Akira was frustrated..


She wanted to know what all these signs meant right away! She's a little mad. "Why Americans  would not just stick to the Standard International (SI) units? Why would they not standardize baggage check-in fees across all domestic airlines? Why must Alaskan Airlines charge higher? Why must Washington state incur sales tax when neighbouring Oregon state is free from it?" *OK, Akira is drifting too far away. Cheeky smile.*  Every single measurement here is in English units which didn't strike a chord in Akira until she converts them.

30 miles/hour? --> "How fast is that?"
6 feet?             --> "How deep is the pool actually?"
50 degr F?      --> "How cold is that in terms of degr C?"
1 quart?          -->  "What?"
$3.10 / gal?  -->  "Where does this gas price stand comparing dollar to dollar with home's?" When she googled, she found out there were 2 different gallons, the US Gallon and the Imperial Gallon with slight difference in terms of factor.
80 lbs?           --> "How much has this lady lost?" she wondered while watching 'The Biggest Loser' on TV.



3 months later, today.. 
Akira is still frustrated...

However, the few she knows now are

1 mile = 1.6 km  (got it stucked to her head with them popping everywhere in the American driving licensing knowledge book)
1 ft    = 30 cm
1 lb    = 600 g
1 degr F = 1 degr C x 1.8 +32 (NOT directly proportional like she used to think)

Nevertheless...
What is travelling without feeling foreign? 
What is travelling without the culture shock? 
NO FUN and definitely no blog updates here!
Ambiguous, huh?

Akira's first impression of it - "$315  9/10  for how much of petrol?"


"$2.99/kg.. hmm not cheap. Opps, no...$2.99/lb.. double not cheap"

2 comments:

Ken Wooi said...

yeah.. the different measurements can be a little tricky elsewhere.. =)

Call me A.S for AkiraSabine said...

Exactly Ken, it is indeed!

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