AP in USA: Entrepreneur Teens

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B: Can I mow your lawn for 10 Dollars?

A: OK, come and do it once every 2 weeks. Do you have your own mower?

B: No

A: Alright, you can use mine. Make sure to gather and get rid of the grass and clean the mower after use.

Over the phone...

A: Have you got time tomorrow morning at 11am?

C: Yes, what's up?

A: I'm having my house painted and I need my furniture relocated to the basement. Can you come over to help me out? Bring your brother with you.

C: OK.

Over the phone...

A:  I have a new bed delivered tomorrow at 3pm. Will you be home from school?

C: Yes. What can I help?

A: Can you please set the bed up for me? I also have new window blinds I'd need your help to install.

C: OK.

One evening as A was moving some old furnitures out from the house, D came over from the house across the street.

D: Hey A, you need any help?

A: It's OK.

D: You're painting your house, eh? That's quite a bit of a job. Would you like me to do it for you? I'd do a great job!

Some descriptions about the characters above:-

A: a woman in her 40's 

B: a 4th grader boy at 10 years old

C: a high school boy at 16 years old

D: an elementary school boy at 13 years old

and they all lived in the same neighbourhood

An additional note...

In fact, D distributed flyers around offering his service around the neighbourhood as a do-it-all serviceman.

One could even see his flyers posted up on the mall's community board as well as at the community club house down at the beach of Lake Washington.

This is not the first post AkiraSabine shares her observations on the USA. Click here to read more...

AP in USA: The First Week

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It was in May 2010 when AS first arrived at her host family's house in Seattle. She was there as an Au Pair for a 10 year old kid. The first week was the most critical week as she had to pick up lots of new challenges besides accustomizing to the new environment around her. 

First and foremost, she was informed of the kid's daily schedule during weekdays, weekends and even the extra responsibilities when mom's away on business trips. Other than that, she was introduced to relatives, friends and neighbours so as they were aware of this new AP's presence.

Next, came familiarizing with the cellphone. It was a flip-open Samsung model and apparently cellphones in USA do not use SIM cards. It's preloaded with a default network provider which in my case was .err err .. Akira COULDN'T BELIEVE she couldn't recall it now and was charged as per usage. If she remembered it correctly, she couldn't save any songs with it and there weren't any music player or even radio stations and voice recorder applications in it. Her very own regular Nokia was even much better than that one but no complaints - that was just meant for calling and texting for the AP job. She had all important contacts saved in the phone and familiarized with the location of the buttons which took her quite some time after having familiarized well with her own.

Then, she was taught how to prepare the kid's favourite food and his eating habit. For this 10 year old kid, it was cereals+milk or fried eggs with hashed browns for breakfast, cinnamon sugar+butter/ peanut butter/ cream cheese toasts, sometimes maple syrup cookies as packed snacks for school, then burritos/ Vietnamese-style ham sandwiches with mayo+soy sauce+pepper / western style ham sandwich + cheddar cheese with mustard+ketchup, salami+cheese sandwiches/ egg sandwiches/ cold pizza/ pasta/ steamed filled buns as packed lunch for school together with a fruit normally apple wedges in zip-loc bags. Should the ingredients or his evening snacks (yogurts, various stone and berry fruits, milk, juice) runs low, she would have to replenish them at the nearest grocery store - Albertsons, Fred Meyer, QFC, Freeway.

So in order to prepare meals as small as packed snacks and lunches, Akira had to first familiarize with the location and availability of ingredients followed by tools. Where she could get the plates, knifes, can openers.. how to work the coffee bean grinder and coffee maker, built-in oven, dish washer, source for drinking water (right from the tap), microwave oven, juicer as well as mechanical hand mixer. 

Akira was also shown where his school was and getting to know his school schedule. The school bus picked him up at 8.45 am at a bus stop down the street when he joined the rest of his neighbourhood friends. In cases he missed the school bus, the car is at AS's disposal to send him there. Therefore, AS had to familiarize with the opposite side driving in the US. It wasn't really easy after 10 years of driving in Malaysia. Besides familliarizing driving a different car and different traffic system, she had to know the street well. She was lucky to have been provided with a GPS. Apparently, it was an essential gadget in American cars, either as an add-on or built-in into the car.

What is caring for a kid if not knowing his interests well. This guy liked swimming, Wii, playing with his guitar as well as play dates/ stay-over at buddies' house. Thus, one of the responsiblities of AS is to be his play mate, supervising him down at the beach club nearby or driving him over to friend's place.

USA: You Won't Be Lonely

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Are you lonely? Do you need someone to talk to? Do you wish to chat about hot topics with the hot chick/dude on the other end? Here you go, openly published in the local dailies or even newsletters left in your mailbox daily in the USA. Either you're a guy looking for hot girls to talk to or a girl looking for hot guys, there's absolutely no problem. You want it, they have it. What colourful social life, it is!

Need a hot chat partner?

Men shows are no less popular.

Letter to the editor 1

Letter to the editor 2

USA: Speaking the American Way

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It is not an admittance of poor English language skill but an introduction to new words/ slangs / way of saying and how they are used in a foreign land - the USA.

1. Nuke it                       : heat it
2. Chap stick                  : 'chopstick' was what AS first heard. "Put some 'chopstick' on your lips?!" She later learnt that Chap Stick is a popular lip balm brand in the USA.
3. Pooh...                      : blowing through closed lips simultaneously with rolling eyes to express disgust.
4. Way-- back                : notice the word 'way' being stressed
5. Real s l o  w...            : notice the word 'slow' being stressed
6. So good                    : spoken as  (eyes closed)'so! (and then eyes opened!) good!'
7. Hmm  mm                 : Don't really know the exact spelling but this 2 humming sounds can be used for yes/affirmation or the complete opposite - no/objection. It's a matter of the intonation used in order to mean what you meant. All in all, to AS, it sounded like baby vocabs used when encouraging him/her to poo-poo. The same goes to the way you pronounce 'I can' and 'I can't' in the USA. It's a matter of intonation.
8. I know!!                   : It may sound rude to anyone not used to the way it's being used in the USA. Apparently, it's widely used accompanied with a wide smile to mean 'Exactly,I agree with you!' 
9. Awesome!                : Yes, I'm sure you've heard of this a lot in American conversations.
10. Sweet!                      : Sometimes, people get bored of using Awesome over and over again and they use a different vocab.
11. Nice! I like it!            : and when they get tired of 'Sweet!' too.
12. Good job, buddy!     : widely used when encouraging a kid over his/her effort though no matter how small it is in the American society.
13. 8-ish                         :  8 something... (of time)
14. Flour                         : which sounded a little funny the first time AS heard the American pronunciation - 'flower'
15. Semi (as in half)         : it's 'seh - mai' to them.

USA: Kids and Exams

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One morning when AkiraSabine was getting her kid ready for school.

AkiraSabine:  Ermm.. what's the bathrobe doing here on the chair?

Host mom: Oh, H is going to wear it to school.

AkiraSabine: Wear it to school?

Host mom: Yea, it's the first day of exam and he's going to wear it throughout.

AkiraSabine: Yes, it's the first day of exam but why?

Host Mom: Oh, the school allows them to bring anything they like with them to make them feel good during the exam. They may bring a soft toy, a pillow.. or anything that makes them comfortable having by their side.

AkiraSabine: Ahh... How nice.. I don't know of something like that in Malaysia.

The People's Court

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First month in USA in the month of May 2010, Akira had some free time and her kid was in school. So, she checked out what was on the local TV.

"We'd like to sue Mr McBrian, the Managing Director of Power Wash for destruction caused to our house after their service. I'd like to seek a compensation of USD **** for the required repair work."

"The workers weren't meticulous enough with their work and their power wash ruined our blinds among others!!"

"Mr. McBrian, what do you have to say to protect your workers and your company? Is this something to expect after the power wash service rendered to your clients? Did you normally forewarn your customers of potential destruction like this and that your company takes no liability of destructions so as they could take early precautions to safe fragile items at home before your service took off? Could you please briefly explain how the power wash work is carried out?"

"Your Honour, our Power Wash System utilizes high pressure water to remove molds and dirts off surfaces and it is unfortunate that such a minor destruction happened though we would not rule out its possibility. For our work, the water pressure normally ranges from so and so kPA to ensure efficiency."

"We'll be back after a short commercial break.

Will the Stewarts get the compensation they asked for for their loss?

Stay tuned wherever you are!

We shall hear what the judge decides right here at the People's Court!"

On another afternoon, Akira chanced upon another live court scene - The Divorce Court on TV.

~Names used in this blog post are not real but merely created by AkiraSabine~

I Like Ellen, do you?

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So, Akira happened to be at the grocery store one week upon her arrival at Seattle in May. She saw 3 magazine covers of her on the shelf. The next day, she saw her on TV at home. This lady had her own show. "Who is she? Who she    r e a l l y   is?" thought Akira. The only times she watched her on Malaysian TV  was in American Idol.

Camera was handy one afternoon and at the same time Akira was fascinated with her dancing skills. Can you believe it? She is 52! She is Ellen Degeneres.

Interested to know more, Akira found this posted at YouTube courtesy of Megami284. So, that's how her wife, Portia de Rossi (an Australian) looks like. What a beauty! In this video, her wife appeared as a guest in her talk show.

Akira Relocated

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UPDATES!!!!

3 weeks ago, back on Sept. 11, Akira made an unexpected transfer to big state California. Akira would like to apologize for this late update and lack of blog post lately. In fact, she just realized, she hasn't made any post in this month of September! Shame on you, Akira!

She realized she'll also need to change to a new blog header as she slowly settle into her new home, new neighbourhood, new state, new HOT (113 degr F!!!) weather, new faces, new kids and new family lifestyle.

One thing for sure, she would not neglect this blog and she hopes her readers too.

Thank you for your visit and hope to see you back again.

Have a nice day!

Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle

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Backdated in June 2010...

AkiraSabine(AS) was actually here at the Northwest Folklife Festival as she was writing this. From where she was, she could hear drum plates being hit with a rhythm not far away. Next to her, a group was playing a mixture of Indian + Middle Eastern rhythm with his special guitar and a lady singing some songs to it. In front of her sat a couple watching some youth skate boarding in the designated rink. She could smell the tantalizing food aroma lingering in the air with some curry spices form nearby food stands.

It's been a very eye opening day to be among the crowd checking out this festival. It's a HUGE turnout with all kinds of street and stage performances, participatory dances and  instruments workshops and all kinds of unfamiliar free hugs and some petition to get support to legalize Marijuana. Hmm!

The Space Needle - landmark of Seattle Downtown

Hula Hoop OOooOO La LA

Rain defying audience! Seattleittes have long agreed with the country song - Rain Is A Good Thing!

Participatory folk dance

AS sat here and they came sitting next to her and started playing a random rhythm

                              AS likes this! You too?

                                          Awesome!

Measurements In The USA

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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"

As a Kid in USA

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My 10 year old kiddo: Soccer ball, guitars with amplifier, Wii, dozens of board games, tennis racquet, swimming gears, airsoft guns, bullet guns, rifles, gameboy, etc.

My kiddo's 8 year old cousin: Soccer ball, basketball pole,  XBox, PS2, guitar with amplifier, keyboard, creative toys, inflated pool, TV in bedroom, etc..

Observation of our neighbours: basketball poles, skateboards, scooters, and probably many other cool stuffs in the house.



School's summer break:

About 3 months and summer break is not the only break throughout the school year.


A typical schedule during school days:

9 till 3.45 pm      : at school
4 till 4.30 pm      : homeworks
4.30 till 7.30 pm : playtime outside with neighbours/ friends
7.30 till 9.30pm : dinner, shower, read and sleep


 Weekends schedule:

Play the whole day or go out for movies with eventual possible sleepover at friend's house.

Now, Akira wishes to turn back time and grow up as a kid here...

 

 While waiting to pick up kiddo and friends outside the cinema, Akira was happy to discover this.

Utilities in American Homes

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Things Akira finds new in homes here at Seattle..

- Instead of air conditioners in Malaysian's home, we have heaters with centralized automatic control.

- The built-in dish washer under the kitchen counter reminds her of the CIP(Clean In Place) system she was familiar with at her dairy manufacturing work place.

 - Wooden built-up houses with every steps or water flow upstairs could be heard from downstairs or vice versa.

- Americans really do take recycling seriously with cleaning the recycled items and separating them into dedicated bins. Evey house has at least one of each green (yard waste), blue (recycle) and grey (garbage) bins.(Akira has never identified them this well before, seriously!)

- Contrary to back home, there are no traps in kitchen sinks here. Perishable items are allowed to drain down the sink into the  mechanical  food waste disposal unit.

- Gas to homes are supplied through centralized underground piping. Akira found out from her host mom when she couldn't find the familiar cylinder tank in the kitchen.

- It's safe to drink from the tap at home. Just fill your glass at the tap. There's not even a water filter installed.

- A toaster and microwave seems to be very useful to prepare the simplest meal - all kinds of sandwiches and burritos!

- With actual sunlight and heat available only for a quarter of the year, it comes to  no surprise to Akira that her home has a washing machine and a laundry dryer which she normally see at laundry shops in Malaysia.

Adventure in The Kitchen

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Has Akira told you she once cooked for herself quite often? Well, not very good actually because the best food is the most sinful food one does not do it often enough to feed herself or others. She reckons that whatever food would taste good so long something gives the smoothest and creamiest texture (sour cream, mayonnaise, butter, cream cheese, oil, lard ) or cheeezy flavour (cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, basically all sorts of cheese) or some crunchy deep fried food. To feed herself, she tries to eat food as close to its natural state as possible except with non-sinful seasonings as specified above. Not many appreciate her way of food preparation though but it's alright.

But first of all, Akira had to know what's in store for her to mix and match. This would mean rummaging the kitchen to familiarize with where the ingredients are placed, regardless they're dry or wet materials and how the available sauces, spices and seasonings tasted like.With these in hand, she'd be able to work more efficiently around the kitchen and she'd know what to add to food for that particular taste. Don't you agree?

"Pictures, oh pictures... where are you? Please show up! Didn't Akira remember taking a few of you?"

Sorry guys, Akira couldn't seem to find them. Probably she didn't take any of them after all while she had her hands and taste buds on the sauces.

Summer arrived at Seattle

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Back in May 2010...

The sun was nowhere to be seen but yet the sky wasn’t dark. It felt like 6.30pm in Malaysia when in fact it was already 8,30pm. The kiddo would have to retire at 9.30pm. AS’s biological clock said she should not wash up until the sun sets. She didn’t feel the urge to get ready to sleep yet, it’s still 6.30 pm! I was still in office at this time of the day in Malaysia!

But Grrr…. “Damn, I’m freezing!” So, she snuggled into bed, and wrapped herself like a burrito in the comforter! “It’s cold, brrRRrr but it’s not dark yet outside! Arrgghh. Cold!

The next thing she knew, she woke up to a brand new day! The chill remained but not as cold as the evenings. She went in for the warm shower and wished to stay there forever.

“It’s cold!”

“No, it's not! ” The kiddo argued everytime! In a Tee and khaki shorts, he went out to play.

Nevertheless, it’s a lovely weather to walk when Akira hardly trickle a bead of sweat and maked an ugly sight of herself. The air is fresh(you hardly see or smell the emissions from vehicles), the flowers were blooming, the lake was pretty, the people were friendly, the dogs were happy, the aroma from Starbucks was tempting. Seattle, you're a heaven!

Now in July, after 2 months of high at 70 and low at 48 degrees, temperature for the past few days has risen and stayed at a high of 90 degrees during the day though it’s still pretty cold as the sun sets. Akira is beginning to understand why people like to soak up the sun as the temperature is a little colder unless you get direct sunlight and of your to get their tan.

Smiles on everyone's faces. Kids are competing each other in swim meets.

“Summer’s finally here!” Dressings switches to tank tops, mini shorts and flip flops, caps & sunglasses! Nice! And lets picnic down at the beach!

"Yee - haa!!!"

Downtown Seattle

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This is Downtown Seattle to AkiraSabine(AS). She likes what she's seen so far very much! How about you?

 View from her host mom's office at Seattle Downtown.

 Mount Rainier - tallest mountain in Washington State.

They call him 'The Hammering Man'

 Downtown get around buses hiring for 0 cost.

 View from one of the many steep streets.

 While riding in a car...

 Outside Pike Place Market...

 These street musicians were singing a song of 'Mother In Law' which actually sounded good!

Interstate football match on a Saturday afternoon, 'The Sounders' of Seattle Vs ... Akira had no idea.

Driving in USA

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Whenever Akira saw this in Malaysia at 10am, she would think this person must be crazy switching on the headlights at this time of the day! Well, maybe she would think, "Oh well, he/she might have accidentally turned it on or left the headlights on overnight. " That's not until she arrived here that everyone could not be crazy or forgetful!

"Well, the next time you see headlights on, check if the driver is a foreigner." Cars in the USA are automatically set to turn the headlights on whenever they're on the road. In Canada, it's a traffic rule to turn it on when you drive.

Akira loves the fact that she's allowed to drive in the USA. However, that doesn't go without obstacles. Some little facts she needs to constantly remind herself are as follows:-

"Stay on the right side of the road!"

"Turn into the right lane!"

"Stop as in not moving at all when you arrive at the STOP sign or blinking RED light ."

"Do not overtake the school bus when it stops for the kids"

"Turn right when it's safe though the traffic light shows RED. Otherwise, impatient drivers behind you will start honking!"

"Don't turn left even if the traffic light shows GREEN. Turn only when it's safe to do so."

"Stay with the speed limit. Police and cameras are everywhere here and I really mean EVERYWHERE!" This, she has been reminded many times by different individuals. "10MPH at school area and 60 MPH at freeways. You may get a ticket for being slower than that!"

Extra controls for heaters and the stick for the windscreen wiper.

It's RED but Akira may turn right when it's safe.

Akira still wonders why...

Struggling to accustomized...

Missing what she left behind...

Still not too confident with the shared center lane. She either gets in too early or misses it!

AS's Chilly New Home in Seattle

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Looking out from the dining table, it was sunny outside. AkiraSabine could see the water very clearly from her home. It was so blue and so welcoming.

Akira was having her breakfast. It felt so good enjoying the hot brewed coffee in the chilly weather. The aroma from the toast she made blended into the lingering coffee aroma. How heavenly!

As she walked her kiddo boy to the bus stop this morning, she was introduced to her neighbours, kiddos friends and parents. These would be the faces she sees every weekdays morning from now onward.

Walking in the sunny yet chilly weather felt so awesome. Not a trickle of sweat rolled down her cheeks. “Good morning, it’s a lovely day, huh?” a mom greeted her. The dog she was walking seemed to agree as well. “Hi Allison,” she was greeted from behind. Oh, it’s a young girl she met yesterday but couldn’t recall her name. Bad AkiraSabine!

“Oh wow, don’t you feel cold?”

“Uh-uh”

AS was under 3 layers of tops and a jeans but her young friend was in a Tee and short skirt. “Oh well, I’ll be able to get through this later if not now. “

Salami with cheddar cheese and tortilla chips with a choice of Salsa or smooth avocado+basil leaves dip! Deeeeelicious!!!

Grilling terrace...

In Bangkok, it was 7-11 every 100 metres. In Seattle, it's this because it's born here! AS hardly see any 7-11 over here in Seattle.

Any postcard printers out there?

As AS went for a stroll....

God's creation!

Nope, we're having spring now.

Resort like neighbourhood, don't you think so?

And AS was only walking and shooting...

What's exploration without a trip in a local bus...

Awesomely A W E S O M E!! (borrowed these words from her kiddo)

Arriving at The Great States

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It was May 3rd when AkiraSabine(AS) arrived at the USA. Flight chronology was as follows:-

Depart – KLIA (Kuala Lumpur) @ 2am
Arrive - Pudong Airport (Shang Hai) @ 7.30 am
Depart – Pudong Airport (Shang Hai) @ 12.30 pm
Arrive – San Francisco Airport @ 7.30 am (May 3rd) which was already 11.30pm Malaysian time
Depart - San Francisco Airport @ 10 am ( 1 am on May 4th Malaysian time)
Arrive – Newark Airport @7 pm on May 3rd (7am on May 4th Malaysian time)

Jeez! And that totalled up to 29 hours! GRRREEAAT!! That was the longest May3rd AkiraSabine had ever had in her life!

There were lotsa APs like her as she went down for breakfast the next day. Everyone looked so excited being in the USA. They were excited to meet up with their new American families and living in the new neighbourhoods.

“What would you do when a child had difficulty in breathing and couldn’t speak? “
“What would you do when you meet with a car accident?”
“What would you do when a child refuses to listen to you?”
“What would you do when the teenage girl you care for told you to keep a secret from her parents?”

Those were among the questions raised and discussed during the 3 days’ academy. In the evenings, short trips were made to catch sights of the New York city.

A bus ride from Terminal 1 to 2 @ Pudong Airport

A friendly uncle narrating his life experience in the USA

"Thank God, they served you!"

Arriving at The San Francisco Airport

Was it snow down there?

Brazillians, German, Kiwi, Malaysian - cracked their heads

The city famous with yellow cabs!

Looking out to the remains of the World Trade Centre