Crazy Tipping

Tipping is much different here in Euroland from how it works in the USA.  The biggest difference is that service works in Euroland don't live off of their tips.  European employees provide an actual salary, with health benefits, to their staff which is required by law.  Customers here don't need to subsidise the employees so that they don't have to provide a living wage.  As someone who used to live off of tips, I have strong opinions about tipping but after almost 15 years of living in Europe I see how flawed the American system is.

While we were on holiday I saw just how out of control tipping has become in the United States.  It seemed that wherever we went, there was a request to tip.  I ordered a bubble tea at a food stall in Atlanta and tried to pay by card.  The system prompted me to enter a tip amount in order to complete the payment.  Why the hell am I being asked to tip for a bubble tea?  And the system required me to swipe to a second page to confirm that I did not want to tip.  We bought hot dogs at the Braves game and the again, I had to enter a tip amount in order to pay for our food at the game.  

During Covid time, I think a lot of people were more generous with tipping in order to help out service workers during all of the lock downs.  Yet, it seems that once the lock downs ended the expectation for higher tips didn't.

I had explained the whole tipping thing to Kája.  He didn't understand why the customer is responsible to pay an extra +20% because employers don't pay better.  Why don't people just get better jobs?  Not easy to explain.  Here's an interesting video I found on YouTube about tipping having gotten out of control.

©CNBC

Birth Certificate Bureaucracy

I was eligible to apply for Czech Citizenship two years ago after I passed my B1 Czech language exam.   However, I can't apply until I first sort out my birth certificate.

Here's the situation...

I need to provide a birth certificate with an apostille.  An apostille is basically an internationally recognised "super notarisation".  In the USA,  an apostille can only be issued in the state where the document was issued.  Since I was born in California, my birth certificate can only be given an apostille by the Secretary of State of California.

The fee to request an apostille in California is $20.  I have an old certified copy of my birth certificate with me in Brno.  I would need to mail my birth certificate to California, along with payment for the apostille, and the return postage for it to be mailed back to me in Czechland.  

I wasn't really thrilled about mailing the only copy of my birth certificate.  The next option was to request a new certified birth certificate from Riverside County, in Southern California.  I would need to submit a request by mail, with payment, for the new birth certificate.  It would get mailed to me in Brno.  Then I would need to mail the new one back to California for the apostille, and then have this mailed back to me in Brno.  Crazy.

I found lots of companies that I could pay to sort out a new certified birth certificate or to sort out the apostille.  Finding companies that would handle both the birth certificate and the apostille was damn near impossible.  The few companies that I did find that would handle both parts, and seemed somewhat reputable, cost around $1000.  

So while we were in California I took the opportunity to finally get my documents sorted.  I shipped my birth certificate to Sacramento for the Secretary of State to issue the apostille.  My mom needed to write a Czech for the $20 processing fee.  I included a pre-paid DHL envelope for it to be shipped back to me in Brno.

While in California, I also requested a new certified birth certificate just so that I will have a spare copy.  The new birth certificate will be sent to my parent's home in Arizona.

Time to Head Back Home

I can't believe that it's already been three weeks and now it's time to head back to Euroland.  It's been great to spend time with Steven & Michael in Atlanta, and with my family in Arizona and California.  A special shout out to my brother-in-law, Manuel, for driving us all over Southern California!!  I even got to spend my birthday with my family for the first time in forever.  

I'm really glad that everyone got to meet Kája.  It's been fun seeing his reactions to some of the differences between Czechland and the USA.  

I've had a bit of reverse culture shock as well but I suppose that's a normal thing that most long-term expats experience.  I may have to put together a list later of some of the things that I noticed.  

Of course my last meal in the motherland had to be an animal-style double-double from In-N-Out.  If you're from California...then you know.

At LAX

For now, we're waiting on our flight from LAX to Madrid, then to Vienna before our train back to Brno.  We'll lose a day travelling back and I'm not looking forward to the jet lag.  Jet lag always hits me worse going back to Europe way more than it does flying west.  I hope to get over it soon because at the end of the week we're off to the Tatras.

52nd Birthday

Yesterday was a pretty cool day.  I celebrated my 52nd birthday with my family.  The last time I was with my family on my actual birthday is when I turned 18.

My nephew Kai plays the drums and he has been participating in a jazz camp at one of the local community colleges this week.   

As the final wrap-up he performed in a jazz concert that we all went to.  I look at it as getting a jazz concert for my birthday.  

It was pretty cool to see him do this thing.  Here's a video of his group performing.  

Afterwards, we came back to my sister's house and had dinner and cake.  

This has been a really nice holiday but it's hard to believe that it's already been three weeks.  Just one more day and then it's back to Euroland.

Some Major California Sightseeing

We did quite a bit of sightseeing yesterday.  With mom, my sister Angela, and brother-in-law manual we showed Kája more of the LA/Hollywood touristy experience.  

The first stop was Union Station which is in the northeastern corner of downtown Los Angeles.  Union Station opened in 1939 was known as the "Last of the Great Railway Stations."  

The station is beautiful, combining Art Deco, Mission Revival, and modern styles.  In 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Union Station is the largest and busiest passenger rail terminal in the Western United States.  It is the 13th busiest train station in North America.  This also shows that train travel isn't really a thing in the USA.  Just the city of Los Angeles has about 4 million people but the station only serves about 110,000 passengers a day.  Brno has about 400,000 people and more than 65,000 passengers use hlavní nádraží every day.

Me & my sister

Across the street is Olvera Street.  It's a historic pedestrian street in the historic centre of the city.  There are plenty of street vendors and restaurants to check out.

Olvera Street is home to Ávila Adobe, built in 1818, which is the oldest standing residence in Los Angeles.

Olvera Street gets about two million visitors per year.  Some people don't care for it because it can seem touristy.  I like it because of the history; it was the historical city centre in both the Spanish and Mexican times prior to California being taken by the U.S.

Then it was on to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour.  Warner Brothers (WB) was founded in 1923.  It is one of the major American film, animation and television studios.

It's fun but expensive.  An adult ticket is $76 and the tour lasts about three hours.  You get to visit a soundstage and the backlot, which is where we got to sit on the Friends couch.

Some of the most popular sets we got to visit were from Friends and The Big Bang Theory, plus big exhibits for Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and The Justice League.  

Barbie gets released this week so there was lots of promotion for the film.  I had to get a photo of the Kája Barbie doll, plus some video of him dancing around like Dobby the house elf.  

San Clemente Pier, California

Yesterday we went to San Clemente Pier to meet my aunt and uncle for lunch.  San Clemente is a city of about 65,000 people about a half hour drive, 42 km (26 miles) southeast of Irvine roughly half way between Los Angeles and San Diego.  

San Clemente is known as the "Spanish Village by the Sea" due to its Spanish Colonial style architecture.  

It's a popular California beach town that gets about 300 days of sunshine and an annual average temperature of 23℃ (73℉).

The most famous landmark is the San Clemente Pier.  

Me and mom

It was first built in 1928.  It was rebuilt in 1939 and again in 1983.  The pier is a popular fishing site and home to a nice seafood restaurant.  

It was nice seeing ma aunt and uncle and lunch was nice.  But for dinner, I finally got my In-N-Out fix.!!  

My niece decided that we needed to wear the hats during dinner.  Though not everyone was on board with that one. 

Griffith Observatory, California

Yesterday we got in a bit of sightseeing.  My brother-in-law, Manuel, drove us out to LA so that Kája could see a few of the city's iconic sights.

The first stop was a visit to the Griffith Observatory.  

When it opened in 1935, it was only the third planetarium in the country.

The land was donated to the city in 1896 along with funds to be an observatory and planetarium that would be free to the public.  Since the day it opened, the observatory has been free.

From 2002 to 2006, it underwent a major $93 million renovation.  

So many movies have been filmed here.  Here's a short video I found on YouTube.

©Fandor

Of course being so close the the Griffith Observatory, we had to go check out the Hollywood Sign.  First built in 1923 has part of a temporary real estate advertisement, it is not a California landmark.  The sign was replaced in 1978 and the steel letters are 13,7 metres (45-feet) tall. 

Us and Manuel

There were some German tourists taking selfies next to us and I took a photo for them.  They were quite surprised when I spoke to them in German.  

While in Hollywood, we hit a few of the typical touristy sites such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Seeing as we went to the Griffith Observatory, we decided to watch La La Land on Netflix with the entire family.

Some Beach Time

I've lived in Czechland, a landlocked country, for 14 years now.  Before that, I lived in Atlanta for 13 years and from Atlanta it's a good 5 to 7 hour drive to the beach in Georgia, South Carolina, or Florida.  

So yesterday was some long overdue beach time!  

We headed over to Dana Point and went to Strand Beach.  It's a popular spot for surfing but we just wanted to lay out and catch some rays.

The sun was strong and we did get a little red but, to me, it was so worth it.  I guess that, deep down, I will always be a bit of a California boy.

Going Back to Cali

Yesterday, we drove from Prescott to Irvine.  Well, Dad did all of the driving.  

The trip took 7,5 hours and thank goodness for air conditioning because it was wicked hot.  It was 45,5 ℃ (114 ℉) at the Arizona-California border.

I was one happy Mexican when we got to my sister's house because she had a feast waiting for us. #fatandhappy 

I need to make sure that I don't put on 5 kg while I'm on holiday. 

Day Trip to Montezuma Castle

Yesterday was wonderful road trip with my parents.  First up was about an hour's drive, 72 km (45 miles) from Prescott, to Montezuma Castle National Monument.   

Montezuma Castle, one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America, is 27 metres (90 feet) high up a limestone cliff.  

The name is deceiving as Montezuma had nothing to do with the dwelling.  When American explorers first found the ruins in the 1860s, they mistakenly believed the the Aztec emperor had something to do with it.  Even though the dwelling was abandoned more than 40 years before Montezuma was born, the name stuck.  It's also not a castle.  

The dwelling was built and used by the Sinagua people from around 1100 to 1425.  It's about five stories and has 20 rooms.

In 1906 it became a U.S. National Monument.

About 40 minutes away is Sedona.  With mild winters and warm summers, after the Grand Canyon, it is one of the the most popular tourist destinations in Arizona.  It's a popular place for people to retire to.

Sedona is lovely.  The pink sandstone formations are simply gorgeous and there are hundreds of hiking and mountain bike trails.

Day Trip to the Grand Canyon, AZ

Today was a day trip out to the Grand Canyon.  It was a beautiful day.  

Even with a few sudden downpours it was still a great day.  

Before we left this morning, Mom bought tickets online for the IMAX show at the Visitor Centre.  There were electricity problems and the theatre was closed so we missed out on it.  Hopefully she can pass the tickets on so that they won't go to waste.

On the way back we stopped by Williams and Kája got to see part of Route 66.  

Tomorrow's adventure is Sedona and Montezuma's Castle.