First days in Dallas

I made it to Dallas without much to mention. It was a slightly crammed flight with two large ladies besides me, so I was glad I had an isle seat. It wasn't too bad though, and I got through to 11 hours of flight mostly by reading my book.

What caused me most problems was to find some melatonin to help my get over the jet lag. The stuff is not available without prescription in either Denmark or the UK, but it's a food supplement/homeopathic ingredient here in the states - go figure. Having gone through the ingredient list of about a full shelf of products I finally found some chewable pills, they taste horribly but I think they work as they should. I'm almost on Dallas time - or perhaps I've just slept so little the last few days that I've completely ruined my sleeping pattern :)

The hotel here is fairly nice, though a bit dated. The exercise room is tiny and the pool is both outdoors and tiny, but then they have free wireless internet. That kind of balances everything out :) The view isn't great, but at least I can see the building where the company office is, and where I'll be attending training for the next few weeks - see more in my picasa album.

I haven't seen much of Dallas yet, as it's around or below zero degrees and raining - it's simply too cold to venture outside for long. It's not just the city sights I want to see, I'd like to figure out where to buy food etc. I haven't found anything but the pharmacy on the corner. I've only got a microwave oven and a sink, but it would be nice to not have to eat out each and every night. Though the idea sounds promising, you actually get tired of it after a while. Actually, the same goes for "ping diners" (aka prepared meals for the microwave oven; most of them go "ping!" once the time's up)...

One of the things I kind of look forward to, besides starting training, is figuring out if my stereotypic image of Americans (or perhaps more specifically Texans) has any basis at all. So far, most people I've seen here are slightly on the heavy side compared to the average Londoner, and with the amount of parking spaces and car parks just outside the hotel, it's quite evident that they love their cars. Also, I saw a lot of pickups on the way in from the hotel...but still, this is just a few small things that aren't that important in my view - it's more important how the people are, and what it's like being here. So far everyone's been nice, from the guys in the reception to the homeless people I've met, but I still don't feel too comfortable with the idea of just walking around town. That might change once I get more information on the area, and once downtown get filled with people again. It almost seems like the only people here during the weekends are homeless people, tourists, business travelers and those who have to work here. There doesn't seem to be any one living here which is quite a shame; it makes the city seem dead and without much soul.

Enough rambling...it's time to go to bed. I need to be rested for tomorrow :)