Keyflower. The core game play mechanic is very simple in that essentially everything is just bidding meeples that it is very easy to teach, but there is so much to consider, a ton of interaction, meaningful cost/benefit decisions, and so many ways to build up without being too much of a point salad. The game itself is very attractive on the table without being garish, and it can be kind of ruthless. It also scales beautifully, I have played it with 2 players and I have played it with 6 and its great everywhere in between. The iconography is clear and simple, the expansions are both great (although I prefer the Merchants for low player count and the Farmers for high).

It is also nice to be able to leave when you want, and get off the road to take a break or stop to eat where you want. It is also nice to have the flexibility to move around as you please at your destination.

I really wish that the US had a functional rail system, let along high speed rail. I fell in love with sleeper trains when I was living abroad in college, it was so nice to get dinner somewhere near the centrally located train station, hop on the train, hang out a bit then get rocked to sleep and wake up at your destination.

Fuck using a car to commute, I am more than happy to take the train for that, and generally when transit is convenient I prefer to not have to drive.

I lived in China for a year after college, and that was basically fine since I was already pretty knowledgeable about the country and I went into it expecting to be off balance and that there would be a lot of new things. What was a surprise was the culture shock when I came back to the US. I don’t think that the jet lag helped, but I remember feeling really really out of sorts for about a week and just generally in a bit of shock about how different life was here having largely not been exposed to it for a year.

It does not mean they are stupid, but it does indicate a poor education, or that they are ESL. Either way, not a value judgement on that individual, but there isn’t really a good way to differentiate if someone is dumb or ignorant when they send you something that looks like it was written by a 5th grader.

I ordered one once and the waiter didn’t know what I was talking about so I just got a beer. He comes back later with a big smile on his face holding a glass with some liquid in it saying he brought me a pickleback. It was premixed. I shot it, it was a lot of liquid, and only once it was in my mouth did I realize they had used bread and butter pickle juice.