[kvining]

Since there are a lot of people here I don't know and there seems to be a lot of overseas people on this forunm as well, I thought I would ask if you might tell us where you live and comment on the subject.

I live in Houston, Texas. The best thing about Houston, is that I have never lived in a place where there are so many ethic groups that get along so well. It is a sprawling city, Houston and its surrounding suburbs total 10 million people, and driving thru it can be like a trip around the world - there are neighborhoods as big as cities composed entirely of ethnic groups living as they do in their own countries. In a short drive, I can travel thru Korea and Thailand, savor the foods and dig the people - I can go to India and eat lunch sitting on a pillow as a belly dancer snakes thru the guests. I can go to Russia or Arabia, even the Sudan. name a country. It is truly an interesting place.

On the negative side, in the native American and nearly arrived Hispanic neighborhoods, the crime is horrendous. I have never lived in a town where there are so many people armed to the teeth.

In the summer, it is so humid, green slime grows on every surface. Its like living on the set of "Alien". You have to rent a 600 PSI water blaster to to get it off your concrete.

Worst, is our air pollution is so bad sometimes, you can see nothing but brown fog everywhere. But at least the tropical storms come thru and blow it all out, and for a few days, we see the most beautiful sky I have ever seen as huge puffy clouds form over the gulf.

You don't have to write a big essay like I just did - just jot a simple list!

Thanks
Kirk