As I indicated in an earlier post, I would begin to post observations we made in our return to the US. We’ve had been gone from the US for over a year and there were some interesting things we noticed upon our return. Prompted by our friend Lon’s blog post (check out LonLangston.com), I will start with the #1 observation made by all Expats that returned from the US….Americans are fat!
This was the first thing that struck us as we walked off the plane in Detroit (and maybe there’s a post coming from Tammy regarding her experience in the “Motor City”). Being in China, the vast majority of the population is small people, I don’t know the average height or weight but they are just smaller people. At first, it’s a little overwhelming to see how small everyone is but after a while, you become accustomed to it and you hardly notice it, with some exceptions. When you see Jacob & Warren walk by Chinese and notice their height versus the locals (given their age, it’s really interesting). Tammy also notices this during her workouts at the local gym. She has to come home and mention that she’s the biggest person in the class (and complain that the women need to eat a burger, the skinny so-and-sos). So, when we get off the plane we knew we weren’t in China anymore. More than anything else, it was the sheer size of the people that made you take notice. I don’t know that I can really describe it well enough for people to understand (and I’m sure that some reading this are saying “He’s talking about me, that skinny so-and-so.”), but believe me, you can’t help but notice. You look around and you see person after person that is overweight (or undertall), it is scary. When we were in the US, it wasn’t really all that obvious to us but now; it’s like a slap in the face. Wake up and smell the cheese fries with bacon! When we were at the Sam’s Club, I’ll bet every 3rd person I saw was overweight and if I had to venture a guess, 3 out of 4 of those people would be classified as obese. It was just plain crazy! It’s been said for years that America is the fattest country on the planet. I used to think that all of the stuff about Americans being fat was just piling on by those who run down the country at every opportunity. However, in this case, they may be 100% right (but I will admit, I haven’t traveled around the world enough to know the size of the people in Denmark so I’ll say that for the countries that I have visited, the US has the title, hands down). When you look at food portions at restaurants and see that eating has become a competitive “sport” in the US; it’s not surprising that obesity is on the rise.
Another observation, how about those bad tans! In China, in many of the cities having a tan is a signal that you are a “peasant” since you work in the sun all day long. It’s a status thing to be “white” here so in the cities, you’ll see them walking around with umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. Also, many of the products here contain a bleaching agent to assist with the tan-o-phobia. So when you see a Chinese woman’s legs, many times they are pasty, flour-white with no muscle definition. It’s actually disturbing to see how white their legs are and to see what lengths they go to keep from tanning (despite the fact that their skin tone is naturally darker than the average Caucasian). So, when we go around in the US we encounter the tanning salon tans that just slap you in the face. You know those “natural look” tans? Being tan is one thing, but not everyone can pull off the George Hamilton look and most didn’t. Don’t try so hard, keep a healthy tone and when you start to look like mahogany wood, it’s time to cut back a little (just a little tip from the guy that burns to a crisp without SPF 5,000).
My cellphone observation leads me to state that one positive to living in a foreign country is that despite the “noise” around you, not understanding can be a good thing. You don’t have to hear people’s problems even when you’re not trying to listen to their conversations. Back home, people on their cellphones seem to go out of their way to ensure you hear their inane babble. Unfortunately, I could understand and it reminded me of how useless cellphones can be. Why do people insist on just walking around and talking to other people, can’t they just walk around the mall for 5 minutes without having to be on the phone? Did they really need to tell the person on the other end of the line about their troubles; can’t personal issues remain just that? Call them, tell them there is a sale or something but the rest of the conversation could wait until they were face-to-face….couldn’t it? I’m not saying the conversations were any different than what the Chinese have on their phones but I can’t understand the Chinese so it somehow makes it better. Having said that it seems that there is something that many people have in common, they seem to think that the use of a cellphone requires a voice decibel level somewhere between a fire engine siren and a jet engine.
We almost had forgotten what it was like using a full size washer and dryer. Man, what a treat! In Suzhou, our washer is small and the dryer is even smaller. We are limited to maybe two pairs of pants, some shirts and socks in the washer for a full load (and the dryer is even smaller despite the fact that we “upgraded” to a larger model than the one that came with the apartment). Needless to say, it takes some time to do the laundry and it’s almost a full time occupation with the kids changing clothes all the time. It sure was nice to do one load for one day’s worth of clothes. It made us remember what it was like to have those conveniences. They do sell these in China but the apartments aren’t built to house such things and I’m not certain that you could find a place where it would fit.
Another “luxury” in the US was the ability to drink the water out of the faucet. In China, you don’t drink the water from the tap (unless you want/need a cleansing). We have a water dispenser in the apartment (you know, one of those upside down jugs of water) and a separate faucet at the kitchen sink with drinkable water. Otherwise, you can bathe with it but don’t ingest it. Now I have seen the Chinese drink from the sinks in the bathrooms at work but I would never try that. It supports one of my key points about the Chinese, despite their small build, they can handle a lot. Living with the air quality and water quality has to build up a strong immune system that can knock down many bugs that might take out others.
Sleeping in a nice, soft bed was yet another benefit to going home. In China, it seems that everyone has a “Flintstone bed” (you know, hard as a rock). They sell “pads” for the beds but they aren’t like the foam mattress pads at home (unless you want to pay through the nose). They are essentially, moderately thick quilts that go over the mattress. They add very little to pad the mattress but it’s better than nothing (barely). You get used to the beds being like they are but the first few nights are really tough. Lift your head up too far off the mattress and drop it down and you could knock yourself out. Seriously. The first time Jacob went into his room and plopped on the bed, he complained that he broke his butt on the bed…it’s that hard.
How about those gas prices??? It’s crazy!!! I don’t remember what the cost was before I left but c’mon, it seems to have skyrocketed upward. I know that many leaders want the US to be like Europe, keep the gas prices climbing like that and we will be just like Europe. It was a little different to be able to drive again but it didn’t take much to get back into the swing of things. We had one of those dual-fuel cars which could run on either ethanol or gas. Now the ethanol was cheaper but it had an obvious drawback. You didn’t get the same gas mileage so you would use more ethanol to go the same distance, overall it seemed a wash to me. I know that many sing the praises of ethanol and alternative fuels but if you have to use more….where’s the gain?
While in Greenville, we were in Barnes & Noble to look at some books in the International section. A couple and their daughter came down the aisle and much to our surprise, they were speaking Chinese. It was odd but funny at the same time. Here we were back in the US and we hear a language that has become very familiar to us (this doesn’t mean we understand it but we recognize it when we hear it). They were talking about the prices of things. The girl was looking for a Chinese-English dictionary so we pointed her to the Berlitz one that we have. For once, we were able to help the Chinese and not the other way around.
Before I left, I asked some of the kids at work if they want me to bring them back something from the US. They asked me a question that left me a little surprised. “I don’t know? What is made in the US?” Wow, good question. I thought about it and there really isn’t a lot of manufacturing that is strictly a US thing now. Everything seems to be made in China. I mean Harley-Davidson, but a motorcycle seemed a little excessive and they sell them in China as well. The only other thing I could think of was like a gun manufacturer (trying to get a gun into China….not really a good move). Maybe you can think of something but it’s a pretty difficult question. So much is now made abroad that it is difficult to think of many things that are made exclusively in the US.
While in the US, we ate at two places on our “must eat” list. Five Guys Burger and Fries (fat American comments be damned!) and at Flavors of Thailand, one of my favorite places. We can get burgers and Thai food here but it just isn’t the same. Getting a greasy burger with jalepenos and a bag of fresh cut fries (with the grease just soaking through the paper bag….Mmmm!), it is something we don’t seem to find here. Burgers (many are “meat” patties, more closely resembling a meat loaf than hamburger) in Suzhou you can eat at a small handful of places. Many restaurants serve them but most are just plain awful. You learn quickly where the good ones are and where to order something different. So when we made our list of places to go, Five Guys was near the top. Sometimes you just got to have the quick cholesterol fix and it definitely hit the spot (where’s my Lipitor?). The Thai place was just as it always has been, delicious. We didn’t eat out much while at home (Chic-fil-A, Weathervane, etc) so we made it count when we did go out. The drawback, the cost (very expensive in the US to eat out) and the tipping. In China, you don’t tip (ever). It isn’t part of the culture. Back home, you tip and the expectations for the tip are always increasing. We almost forgot to tip at the one place but remembered before we left the table. Don’t forget the taxes. In China, when the menu says 35 RMB, when the bill comes it is for 35 RMB. It makes things so much better. It’s the same everywhere you shop. You pay what the item costs are so everything is rolled in and you don’t get the additional charge when you hit the front counter. Tips and taxes, things you kind of forget about but quickly need to remember when you go back home.
Overall, we had a good visit back to the US but the time change leaves you at a disadvantage. You can push yourself to around 8:00pm but no matter how later you stay up, you are awake and ready to take on the day really early (4:00 – 5:00am). We expected it so it wasn’t a surprise but it still makes for a little bit of a difference day and working around to get things done early in the day before you hit the wall in the middle of the afternoon. We did a lot of shopping to buy pants, shoes and other things that are more difficult to locate the proper sizes in Suzhou. We brought back to the US many of the local trinkets from China (fans, silk art, glass globes, etc.). I think we ended up almost even with the weight of the bags in both directions. It is the way things happen when you make these trips. We know many Expats that go home and stock up on items that are more difficult to locate in China (or if they can be located, the brands are just not as trustworthy as the brands we know). So we went, we saw, we conquered. And then, it was back to China where we are the foreigners; that can be a good thing.
This was the first thing that struck us as we walked off the plane in Detroit (and maybe there’s a post coming from Tammy regarding her experience in the “Motor City”). Being in China, the vast majority of the population is small people, I don’t know the average height or weight but they are just smaller people. At first, it’s a little overwhelming to see how small everyone is but after a while, you become accustomed to it and you hardly notice it, with some exceptions. When you see Jacob & Warren walk by Chinese and notice their height versus the locals (given their age, it’s really interesting). Tammy also notices this during her workouts at the local gym. She has to come home and mention that she’s the biggest person in the class (and complain that the women need to eat a burger, the skinny so-and-sos). So, when we get off the plane we knew we weren’t in China anymore. More than anything else, it was the sheer size of the people that made you take notice. I don’t know that I can really describe it well enough for people to understand (and I’m sure that some reading this are saying “He’s talking about me, that skinny so-and-so.”), but believe me, you can’t help but notice. You look around and you see person after person that is overweight (or undertall), it is scary. When we were in the US, it wasn’t really all that obvious to us but now; it’s like a slap in the face. Wake up and smell the cheese fries with bacon! When we were at the Sam’s Club, I’ll bet every 3rd person I saw was overweight and if I had to venture a guess, 3 out of 4 of those people would be classified as obese. It was just plain crazy! It’s been said for years that America is the fattest country on the planet. I used to think that all of the stuff about Americans being fat was just piling on by those who run down the country at every opportunity. However, in this case, they may be 100% right (but I will admit, I haven’t traveled around the world enough to know the size of the people in Denmark so I’ll say that for the countries that I have visited, the US has the title, hands down). When you look at food portions at restaurants and see that eating has become a competitive “sport” in the US; it’s not surprising that obesity is on the rise.
Another observation, how about those bad tans! In China, in many of the cities having a tan is a signal that you are a “peasant” since you work in the sun all day long. It’s a status thing to be “white” here so in the cities, you’ll see them walking around with umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun. Also, many of the products here contain a bleaching agent to assist with the tan-o-phobia. So when you see a Chinese woman’s legs, many times they are pasty, flour-white with no muscle definition. It’s actually disturbing to see how white their legs are and to see what lengths they go to keep from tanning (despite the fact that their skin tone is naturally darker than the average Caucasian). So, when we go around in the US we encounter the tanning salon tans that just slap you in the face. You know those “natural look” tans? Being tan is one thing, but not everyone can pull off the George Hamilton look and most didn’t. Don’t try so hard, keep a healthy tone and when you start to look like mahogany wood, it’s time to cut back a little (just a little tip from the guy that burns to a crisp without SPF 5,000).
My cellphone observation leads me to state that one positive to living in a foreign country is that despite the “noise” around you, not understanding can be a good thing. You don’t have to hear people’s problems even when you’re not trying to listen to their conversations. Back home, people on their cellphones seem to go out of their way to ensure you hear their inane babble. Unfortunately, I could understand and it reminded me of how useless cellphones can be. Why do people insist on just walking around and talking to other people, can’t they just walk around the mall for 5 minutes without having to be on the phone? Did they really need to tell the person on the other end of the line about their troubles; can’t personal issues remain just that? Call them, tell them there is a sale or something but the rest of the conversation could wait until they were face-to-face….couldn’t it? I’m not saying the conversations were any different than what the Chinese have on their phones but I can’t understand the Chinese so it somehow makes it better. Having said that it seems that there is something that many people have in common, they seem to think that the use of a cellphone requires a voice decibel level somewhere between a fire engine siren and a jet engine.
We almost had forgotten what it was like using a full size washer and dryer. Man, what a treat! In Suzhou, our washer is small and the dryer is even smaller. We are limited to maybe two pairs of pants, some shirts and socks in the washer for a full load (and the dryer is even smaller despite the fact that we “upgraded” to a larger model than the one that came with the apartment). Needless to say, it takes some time to do the laundry and it’s almost a full time occupation with the kids changing clothes all the time. It sure was nice to do one load for one day’s worth of clothes. It made us remember what it was like to have those conveniences. They do sell these in China but the apartments aren’t built to house such things and I’m not certain that you could find a place where it would fit.
Another “luxury” in the US was the ability to drink the water out of the faucet. In China, you don’t drink the water from the tap (unless you want/need a cleansing). We have a water dispenser in the apartment (you know, one of those upside down jugs of water) and a separate faucet at the kitchen sink with drinkable water. Otherwise, you can bathe with it but don’t ingest it. Now I have seen the Chinese drink from the sinks in the bathrooms at work but I would never try that. It supports one of my key points about the Chinese, despite their small build, they can handle a lot. Living with the air quality and water quality has to build up a strong immune system that can knock down many bugs that might take out others.
Sleeping in a nice, soft bed was yet another benefit to going home. In China, it seems that everyone has a “Flintstone bed” (you know, hard as a rock). They sell “pads” for the beds but they aren’t like the foam mattress pads at home (unless you want to pay through the nose). They are essentially, moderately thick quilts that go over the mattress. They add very little to pad the mattress but it’s better than nothing (barely). You get used to the beds being like they are but the first few nights are really tough. Lift your head up too far off the mattress and drop it down and you could knock yourself out. Seriously. The first time Jacob went into his room and plopped on the bed, he complained that he broke his butt on the bed…it’s that hard.
How about those gas prices??? It’s crazy!!! I don’t remember what the cost was before I left but c’mon, it seems to have skyrocketed upward. I know that many leaders want the US to be like Europe, keep the gas prices climbing like that and we will be just like Europe. It was a little different to be able to drive again but it didn’t take much to get back into the swing of things. We had one of those dual-fuel cars which could run on either ethanol or gas. Now the ethanol was cheaper but it had an obvious drawback. You didn’t get the same gas mileage so you would use more ethanol to go the same distance, overall it seemed a wash to me. I know that many sing the praises of ethanol and alternative fuels but if you have to use more….where’s the gain?
While in Greenville, we were in Barnes & Noble to look at some books in the International section. A couple and their daughter came down the aisle and much to our surprise, they were speaking Chinese. It was odd but funny at the same time. Here we were back in the US and we hear a language that has become very familiar to us (this doesn’t mean we understand it but we recognize it when we hear it). They were talking about the prices of things. The girl was looking for a Chinese-English dictionary so we pointed her to the Berlitz one that we have. For once, we were able to help the Chinese and not the other way around.
Before I left, I asked some of the kids at work if they want me to bring them back something from the US. They asked me a question that left me a little surprised. “I don’t know? What is made in the US?” Wow, good question. I thought about it and there really isn’t a lot of manufacturing that is strictly a US thing now. Everything seems to be made in China. I mean Harley-Davidson, but a motorcycle seemed a little excessive and they sell them in China as well. The only other thing I could think of was like a gun manufacturer (trying to get a gun into China….not really a good move). Maybe you can think of something but it’s a pretty difficult question. So much is now made abroad that it is difficult to think of many things that are made exclusively in the US.
While in the US, we ate at two places on our “must eat” list. Five Guys Burger and Fries (fat American comments be damned!) and at Flavors of Thailand, one of my favorite places. We can get burgers and Thai food here but it just isn’t the same. Getting a greasy burger with jalepenos and a bag of fresh cut fries (with the grease just soaking through the paper bag….Mmmm!), it is something we don’t seem to find here. Burgers (many are “meat” patties, more closely resembling a meat loaf than hamburger) in Suzhou you can eat at a small handful of places. Many restaurants serve them but most are just plain awful. You learn quickly where the good ones are and where to order something different. So when we made our list of places to go, Five Guys was near the top. Sometimes you just got to have the quick cholesterol fix and it definitely hit the spot (where’s my Lipitor?). The Thai place was just as it always has been, delicious. We didn’t eat out much while at home (Chic-fil-A, Weathervane, etc) so we made it count when we did go out. The drawback, the cost (very expensive in the US to eat out) and the tipping. In China, you don’t tip (ever). It isn’t part of the culture. Back home, you tip and the expectations for the tip are always increasing. We almost forgot to tip at the one place but remembered before we left the table. Don’t forget the taxes. In China, when the menu says 35 RMB, when the bill comes it is for 35 RMB. It makes things so much better. It’s the same everywhere you shop. You pay what the item costs are so everything is rolled in and you don’t get the additional charge when you hit the front counter. Tips and taxes, things you kind of forget about but quickly need to remember when you go back home.
Overall, we had a good visit back to the US but the time change leaves you at a disadvantage. You can push yourself to around 8:00pm but no matter how later you stay up, you are awake and ready to take on the day really early (4:00 – 5:00am). We expected it so it wasn’t a surprise but it still makes for a little bit of a difference day and working around to get things done early in the day before you hit the wall in the middle of the afternoon. We did a lot of shopping to buy pants, shoes and other things that are more difficult to locate the proper sizes in Suzhou. We brought back to the US many of the local trinkets from China (fans, silk art, glass globes, etc.). I think we ended up almost even with the weight of the bags in both directions. It is the way things happen when you make these trips. We know many Expats that go home and stock up on items that are more difficult to locate in China (or if they can be located, the brands are just not as trustworthy as the brands we know). So we went, we saw, we conquered. And then, it was back to China where we are the foreigners; that can be a good thing.
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1 comment:
Good job as always. I still say that when you come back you need to write a book about your time in China. Love you guys.
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