I have been living in Whippany, New Jersey ("The Garden State", according to the license plates and that movie with the guy who played in "Scrubs") since mid July, and every weekend, I vow to update my blog, and then I either just laze around or I get taken out to see even more of my new surroundings by my temporary office-mates (and, I hope, permanent friends!) So I've decided: Instead of trying to write One Perfect Blog Post, I'm going to go with the series approach. In the next couple of episodes, I'll catch you all up to the present day.
The first thing that struck me on arriving at our Whippany office, was how everyone took a great interest in making sure I felt welcome and had everything I needed; from a birthday card signed by the whole group, to the way my new boss made sure I had everything I needed, and helped connect me to whomever could help, to the colleagues who helped me find my way in the lab and around the area (more details to follow in future episodes!)
I'm not prone to culture shock, so I didn't expect USA to be a strange place, beyond what I'd already heard about it. I consume popular culture (TV and Internet), so I figured I'd be pretty much prepared. As it turns out, the surprise was how little different it was from South Africa. New Jersey is quite cosmopolitan, very suburban, and quite green at this time of year. (I hear that winter is a very different story.)
There were a few weird things, though. For example, on my arrival in Whippany, I stayed in a hotel for one night, and when I left I mentioned that they should check the shower, because it was only giving cold water. When I arrived in my rented apartment the next day, though, I had the same type of plumbing fitting, and I discovered that I just didn't know how to use the tap. Consider the following two devices:
Superficially, they seem to have the same user interface, and they're made by the same company. However, they work quite differently. To open the tap in the bathroom sink, you pull the knob towards you, and to set the temperature, you turn it left and right. It's rather hard to set the flow rate, but it can be done. The one in the shower, on the other hand, has no independent control of flow rate and temperature. You turn it anticlockwise to turn it on, and if you want hot water, you turn it further anticlockwise. Go figure.
Another particularly annoying "feature" in the bathroom user-interface realm is automatic-flush toilets. The plan is probably that you don't have to touch anything in the stall, and won't forget to flush. The reality is that the toilet flushes when you walk into the stall, because the sensor isn't properly tuned; flushes again if you happen to lean forward for any reason (very disconcerting!) and once more when you leave. I just hang some toilet paper over the sensor to avoid surprises.
For the first few days I spent here, I was taken to work and back by a limo service. They use Lincoln Town Cars, a brand of car I'd never seen in real life, but which I'd describe as big, ugly, stereotypically American cars.
On the second day, we rounded up a posse of highly qualified R&D scientists to rent a car. Being the frugal type, I selected an ugly little van that wouldn't have looked out of place as a drug dealer's car, but as it turned out, there were a few bits of red tape that the team wasn't used to dealing with from the previous manager. Apparently his lax attitude was part of the reason why he was the previous manager.
This worked out in my favour though. When we came back the next day, the nasty little van was gone, and I got a Ford Focus instead, which I enjoyed, partly because Surice had driven one before, loved it, and would be envious! It's not bad, but it's an automatic, and a petrol model, so the best I can achieve is slightly above 30 MPG (about 7.8 L/100 km), while I can easily get 5 L/100 km (47 MPG) out of my sweet little VW Polo diesel back home.
The Whippany team also quickly organised a driving evaluation/lesson so that I'd be allowed to drive my new ride, and got me a GPS so that I'd be able to find my way around. I almost turned into oncoming traffic at one point, but my teacher corrected me, and I was fine for the rest of the drive, so he cleared me for action. I haven't repeated that mistake, so I guess I'm OK.
Street signs are a bit different from South Africa: you have to read more over here. Where we'd have a picture of pedestrians crossing a road, they have a sign saying "PED XING", which is apparently not the name of a local restaurant. Their speed limit signs are much easier to miss, because they're just rectangular black and white signs, so you have to keep a sharp eye out for them.
I was quite strongly advised against cycling in New Jersey. It's supposedly not bike-friendly, the drivers are aggressive, and the consensus was that it would be a bad idea. I weighed up the pros and cons, and started bike-shopping. Before I got to the point of actually shelling out cash, though, one of my favourite colleagues from the Halls group came to my rescue and lent me a bike, a helmet, a water-bottle and a pump (Thanks, Khyati!), so I started commuting by bike, and I've become significantly fitter! A trip that took me almost an hour now takes me about 45 minutes. A good part of my trip is a designated cycle route, I ride on the sidewalks where possible, and I face traffic if I feel unsafe about any part of the ride. The cops don't seem to mind any of these behaviours, and I haven't even had a close call yet: so far so good!
The cyclists in our R&D group are friendly and helpful, and they've taken me along on one mountain and one road biking trip so far, and it's been a blast! I haven't yet had a chance to take pictures, but the views have been picture-postcard great, for example, the view of the George Washington Bridge from the Palisades Park. For the road biking trip, a colleague whom I'd only ever emailed a few times before coming here lent me a carbon fiber road bike and cycling clothes (Thanks Tony!), and another contributed pedals (because I don't own shoes with cleats for clipless pedals - Thanks Frank!)
Look out for my next installment: shopping in Jersey!
The first thing that struck me on arriving at our Whippany office, was how everyone took a great interest in making sure I felt welcome and had everything I needed; from a birthday card signed by the whole group, to the way my new boss made sure I had everything I needed, and helped connect me to whomever could help, to the colleagues who helped me find my way in the lab and around the area (more details to follow in future episodes!)
I'm not prone to culture shock, so I didn't expect USA to be a strange place, beyond what I'd already heard about it. I consume popular culture (TV and Internet), so I figured I'd be pretty much prepared. As it turns out, the surprise was how little different it was from South Africa. New Jersey is quite cosmopolitan, very suburban, and quite green at this time of year. (I hear that winter is a very different story.)
There were a few weird things, though. For example, on my arrival in Whippany, I stayed in a hotel for one night, and when I left I mentioned that they should check the shower, because it was only giving cold water. When I arrived in my rented apartment the next day, though, I had the same type of plumbing fitting, and I discovered that I just didn't know how to use the tap. Consider the following two devices:
 |
| Bathroom shower |
 |
| Bathroom sink |
Superficially, they seem to have the same user interface, and they're made by the same company. However, they work quite differently. To open the tap in the bathroom sink, you pull the knob towards you, and to set the temperature, you turn it left and right. It's rather hard to set the flow rate, but it can be done. The one in the shower, on the other hand, has no independent control of flow rate and temperature. You turn it anticlockwise to turn it on, and if you want hot water, you turn it further anticlockwise. Go figure.
Another particularly annoying "feature" in the bathroom user-interface realm is automatic-flush toilets. The plan is probably that you don't have to touch anything in the stall, and won't forget to flush. The reality is that the toilet flushes when you walk into the stall, because the sensor isn't properly tuned; flushes again if you happen to lean forward for any reason (very disconcerting!) and once more when you leave. I just hang some toilet paper over the sensor to avoid surprises.
 |
| Lincoln Town Car |
On the second day, we rounded up a posse of highly qualified R&D scientists to rent a car. Being the frugal type, I selected an ugly little van that wouldn't have looked out of place as a drug dealer's car, but as it turned out, there were a few bits of red tape that the team wasn't used to dealing with from the previous manager. Apparently his lax attitude was part of the reason why he was the previous manager.
 |
| Yes, the number-plate says "AXE". |
The Whippany team also quickly organised a driving evaluation/lesson so that I'd be allowed to drive my new ride, and got me a GPS so that I'd be able to find my way around. I almost turned into oncoming traffic at one point, but my teacher corrected me, and I was fine for the rest of the drive, so he cleared me for action. I haven't repeated that mistake, so I guess I'm OK.
Street signs are a bit different from South Africa: you have to read more over here. Where we'd have a picture of pedestrians crossing a road, they have a sign saying "PED XING", which is apparently not the name of a local restaurant. Their speed limit signs are much easier to miss, because they're just rectangular black and white signs, so you have to keep a sharp eye out for them.
 |
| Jersey drivers (this is actually a rare sight) |
I was quite strongly advised against cycling in New Jersey. It's supposedly not bike-friendly, the drivers are aggressive, and the consensus was that it would be a bad idea. I weighed up the pros and cons, and started bike-shopping. Before I got to the point of actually shelling out cash, though, one of my favourite colleagues from the Halls group came to my rescue and lent me a bike, a helmet, a water-bottle and a pump (Thanks, Khyati!), so I started commuting by bike, and I've become significantly fitter! A trip that took me almost an hour now takes me about 45 minutes. A good part of my trip is a designated cycle route, I ride on the sidewalks where possible, and I face traffic if I feel unsafe about any part of the ride. The cops don't seem to mind any of these behaviours, and I haven't even had a close call yet: so far so good!
The cyclists in our R&D group are friendly and helpful, and they've taken me along on one mountain and one road biking trip so far, and it's been a blast! I haven't yet had a chance to take pictures, but the views have been picture-postcard great, for example, the view of the George Washington Bridge from the Palisades Park. For the road biking trip, a colleague whom I'd only ever emailed a few times before coming here lent me a carbon fiber road bike and cycling clothes (Thanks Tony!), and another contributed pedals (because I don't own shoes with cleats for clipless pedals - Thanks Frank!)
 |
| This is the view we saw at the start of the bike trip (not my photo, sorry!) |
Look out for my next installment: shopping in Jersey!
