Rachell, 19

So internet in SD failed me last night and I had to use my phone to write my post. And apparently that doesn't work so well. So Sammie, I'm sorry my dear. I will re-write my post on my new friend Rachell now.

Happy Black Friday! In honor of this special day, I found a new friend that works at the mall - more specifically UTC. She was sitting at a table getting ready  for work when I asked her if I could meet her. She seemed annoyed with the conversation at first but it turned out to just be shyness.

UTC food court

Rachell's name sounds like "Rochelle." She told me that when she was born, her mom wasn't sure how to spell her name so it ended up being wrong on her birth certificate. But as it turns out, now she just has a really unique spelling of a very pretty name!

This girl is quite the dedicated shopper. Because she was working on Black Friday, she came hours before her shift started to put in some good bargain shopping time and then drop everything in her car before work. She also added how annoying it was to have a car. WHYYY!? I didn't fully understand why but from what I gathered, when she lived in Japan she didn't need to drive. (She lived in Japan until the beginning of this year.) She enjoyed taking the train and walking places - driving seemed so useless. Also, in Japan when she needed to drive, traffic was slow. She was not a fan of the crazy California drivers, especially when she first drove from LAX to her home in San Diego. Can I just point out, if everyone thought like her (that walking and public transportation were superior to driving) it would have a wonderful effect on our environment.

Another cool factoid about Japan: the people there are nicer than here. When I say here, I mean California. I would understand if she thought they were nicer than the East coast. No, nice than Californians. I definitely consider the West coast the nicer coast so I was very surprised to hear this. Her reasoning was that all the workers, "even people who picked up trash," would smile at you if you passed. Apparently people who work here are a lot more negative about their jobs or bitter about it when they interact with others. It goes beyond the customer service though. Japanese culture emphasizes being outwardly nice to others when you are having a bad day. This makes sense. It's your bad day, not everyone elses. I think I like Japan.

Sooo after meeting Rachell, I learned Japan is awesome and I should visit again, having a unique spelling of your name helps people remember you better and really quiet and shy people open up most when you ask them about what they are most comfortable with, (in Rachell's case it was her home)!