Despite my being sick or they're coming down with something, my cousins and I will attempt to bring in the New Year in Las Vegas. We check into our hotel this afternoon, matter of fact. I hope my cousin Camille (who is visiting from Australia) has fun. She's been having quite an experience in the States, learning etiquette, customs, driving on the "wrong" side of the street with her international driver's license, and soaking in the horrible radio music.

My cousins and I took Camille to the Gaslamp District the other evening. Camille bought a round of drinks and didn't tip the bartender (she didn't know about tipping). When we tried to get another round of drinks later in the evening, the bartender ignored us and Camille felt horribly about the faux pas. The other night my cousins and I took Camille to the mall to buy things at Victoria's Secret (they don't have Victoria's Secret in Australia) and Camille asked me, "Ate (pronounced "ah-teh," it means "big sister"), do I have to tip at Victoria's Secret?"

I don't know why, but I thought that was the cutest, most innocent thing I'd heard in the longest time. The image that came to mind was like, "Dolla-dolla bill, y'all!"

But I digress.

One thing that I find really interesting about my cousin Camille is that she "seems" less corrupt(ed) than me or our other cousins. Taking into account "The Tipping Incident" and some of the things she says/does, it makes me wonder if Australia is "backward" (even though I don't like to use the word "backward"). I suppose the right word to use would be more "naive," yeah?