All the fun of the fair

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted so I have clearly been slacking, but believe it or not I have been uber-busy.

The reason is that last Friday, while I was being poked and prodded by my new GP, I got the magic text message I have been waiting for - my work permit has been approved.

And in a spectacular change of form for USCIS, they sent it to me on Thursday and I got it yesterday! In fairness, they cost about $400 to replace, so they really should be able to cough up the $5 it costs to send it priority. It looks a bit like a credit card, but with a lot more holograms. And the obligatory government-issue horrible photograph. (Still, it's better than my travel permit photo, where I have an errant bit of hair sticking up in the air!)

The last day I worked was October 8th 2010. So needless to say, confirmation that my work permit had been approved was like the start gun at a race - job applications can now commence. Since last Friday I have applied for approximately 15 jobs, and I'm exhausted. Companies should look at the number of applications completed and just hire people on persistence alone. You battle against truly awful HR computer systems and continual repetition of the same information; constant rewriting of resumes and cover letters. All in the hope you just get an interview, which given the number of 'prescreening questionnaires' I've filled out (that essentially allow a computer to make a decision about you before a human ever reads your CV), is harder than ever. Consistently applying for jobs today shows persistence, problem-solving, an ability to work under pressure, and a positive attitude in the face of diversity. Who wouldn't want me?!

Anyway, I actually didn't want to write about that, but rather about the slice of Americana I experienced last weekend with my friend Sarah and her roommate - the Osceola County Fair.

From my experience last week, the American fair is very similar to the fairs we have at home - except quite a lot larger (standard) and run by rednecks instead of gypsies. Example:

A boat with wheels - literally - that I saw on my way to the fair. Onboard motor on the back, no roof, covered in seaweed and driven by two ladies in giant cowboy hats. Only in America.

Rather than looking for fortune tellers and romany caravans, you are on the lookout for large cowboy hats and diamanté belt buckles in the shape of the state. The mullets are the same though.

And like at home, everyone goes to the fair for one of 3 things: the freak show, the rides, and/or the fried food. From a freak show perspective the best we got was a petting zoo where we met a fairly terrifying alpaca and a very hairy miniature cow:

Look at those teeth!!

Awwwwwwwwww

The cows and alpacas were kept company by baboons, camels, zebras and a surprising number of goats. So yes, freak show (albeit not that freaky, maybe more exotic) off the list. Rides are not my thing. I love rollercoasters, safe in the knowledge they have 30ft plus of concrete foundations. You are never going to get me on anything that can throw me 80ft upside down in the air, but then can be packed up on the back of a lorry the next day.

But now we get to the main event - the fried food. And in the land of all things fried, this was always going to be good. There was fried everything - from your standard chips, fish, sausages and nachos, to the more unusual:

These, my friends, are fried Oreos. I was brave and had a taste - it was surprisingly yummy, but one bite was enough. I think I would have been sick if I'd eaten a whole one.

But hey, I'm still alive and kicking despite my fair experience, so the food couldn't have been that bad.