FINALLY back in the US of A

The stress of my final trip back to California was somewhat lessened and yet exasperated by a long layover in Vancouver. Lessened because I got to spend hours alone observing the now strikingly noticeable differences between Eastern and Western cultures and exasperated because all I really wanted was to get home to my soft American bed.

Some of the things I noticed on my 7 hour layover I was able to document (despite my overly fatigued body and eyes) in my journal.

The things I observed on my way home:

*Americans move much slower, but stay out of each others' way.
*Kids in North America are not as obnoxiously loud
*Everyone orders their own dish at a restaurant in North America, whereas Asian cultures seem to always share everything
*Americans are more friendly conversationalists(I think this was more of a language-barrier thing)
*Strangers don't talk about you and how weird you look!
*Everybody is talking loudly on a cell phone
*People obviously don't care about "saving face"(more to come on this)
*Toilets are very high! You can't squat! And the bathrooms smell just as bad here, its just a different smell.
*I know its gross, but I kept trying to put toilet paper in the trash can!

And believe it or not, those were some of the most shocking things. Other daily activities that I missed so much while I was in Taiwan, didn't seem as strange, maybe because I expected them. I was even able to drive a car normally and without incident. I was sure I was going to try to run red lights all the time.

One absurd thing did happen to me in the Vancouver airport that would never have happened in Taiwan. I was unable to check into my flight until 3 hours before departure. So, I hung out in a restaurant until the time finally came to check in. I meandered over to the Alaska Airlines counter and amidst about 15 confused customers all looking for the right place to wait, I found the appropriate roped-off area that read "wait here for the next available attendant". Normally I would have informed the rest of the wandering people that this was probably the right place, but I was a)extremely sleep-deprived/jet-lagged(i.e., delirious); b)somewhat still uncertain if I was even in the right place; and c)very anxious to get on that flight. So when the "next available attendant" looked at me and said she could help me, I started to walk forward. No sooner had I taken 3 steps that I heard a very loud and angry American man say "Um, excuse me, I think we were here first". I looked at him and saw that he was freshly showered, well-rested and had about 15 oversized bags with him, as opposed to my already-checked baggage. After waiting anxiously for so long, his anger debilitated my ability to speak and caused tears to form in my eyes. "I...I...I...but I've been waiting for so long...." I whispered. Luckily, the same flight attendant had helped me earlier and new my desperate situation, she kindly told the man that it would only take a minute to check me in and that he was in the wrong line anyway.

Now, I think if I hadn't been out of the country for so long, this situation would have caused me to just write off that guy as a stupid American jerk and move on with my day. But I was really offended by this....I mean, this guy has no right to be so rude and has no idea what my situation is. The difference with this and Taiwan is that almost always they would make sure they were following the rules and NEVER raise their voice at a stranger like that.

Anyway, eventually I made it home. When I got the United States stamp in my passport and the guy at the counter said "Welcome Home" I literally started crying. Whoa, it was very strange and very unexpected to have that sort of reaction. Oh well, I guess that is what culture shock is all about. Strange, unexpected feelings.