Living like a local?

Have I assimilated?

• I chew gum
• I listen to my iPod on the subway
• I dash out to shop at the supermarket when changing trains
• I give money to musically talented buskers
• I eat breakfast in a bodega
• I can say,'two eggs easy over, side of bacon, rye toast no butter, hold the home fries' really quickly
• I wish I had gumboots for rainy days
• I own more umbrellas than handbags
• I save pennies in a jar
• I buy Shea butter from the Africans on the street
• I drink strong, freshly ground coffee in the mornings when it's still dark
• I sleep less

It's a bit scary cos I could go on and on with a list like this. What would stop me would be the fact that so much of what I now do is so instinstive that I don't realise it's a habit of only a few years. How interesting it is to me to think about how culturally located so much of what I do is. And to think I thought I had an independent mind!