15 Things About San Jose, California

In less than 2 weeks we'll be on the road again and headed back to the other side of the continent, so I thought I'd list some of the things I've learned about San Jose while living here.

1. The population of San Jose is approx. 989, 000. It is the 3rd largest city in California and the 10th largest in the US.
2. San Jose is called the Capital of Silicon Valley.
3. San Jose is refreshingly diverse. The neighbourhood we've lived in is what I refer to as "Little Mexico."
   
4. San Jose is about 40 minutes south of San Francisco and approximately 5 hours north of Los Angeles.
5. Menudo, a popular Mexican dish, is actually "stomach stew" and is recommended for hangovers.
6. Taquieros, a Spanish word seen in and on many restaurants, is a generic term for a variety of tacos.
7. In the time we've been here (June 1st- now) it has not rained even once.
   
8. San Jose has very few second-hand book stores.
   
9. You can get a bottle of decent wine here for $2 US and you can buy it at a variety store or drug store. Beer, too. And you can buy beer at Walmart. This really eases the pain of the high cost of living and the high gas prices.
   
10. While San Jose has a huge Latino population, it is known for having the largest Vietnamese population in the US.
    
11. Don't trust Mexicans wanting to sell you "DBD's" out of their "ban."
    
12. If you're walking and want to cross a busy street cars will actually stop to let you cross.
13. You cannot get a transfer when traveling by bus. If you plan on taking a return trip that involves more than 2 buses, you might as well just buy an all-day pass for $5.
14. San Jose has 7 "sister cities," one of which is Pune, India.
    
15. The street lights here are all yellow. This is is to reduce light pollution so it's easier to see the stars at night. The Lick Observatory has named an asteroid after San Jose (asteroid 6216 San Jose) in appreciation of its efforts.