Back in the US - a little bit of culture shock

Well, we made it back to the US without any problems. Although, I am still a little irked that the line at immigration at the airport was longer for US citizens than for foreigners. Speaking of, it is nice to be in a place where I am no longer a foreigner. I think that US citizens should have the shorter lines and then even less waiting time for those who have been out of the country the longest.

Jet lag is getting the best of us. It is 4:30am right now. My goal was to stay up until 10pm last night, but made it to only 8:15pm and then I woke up at 3:15am. Jerry's sleep schedule is even weirder. Not only did he stay up past 10pm, he did not go to bed until 4am! So, now he is sound asleep and I am wide awake.

It is weird being back here. So far, the strangest thing for me is seeing no people on the streets, but LOTS and LOTS of cars - big, new cars! And because of window tinting, I cannot really see the people inside. It's like I am in some kind of futuristic place, which compared to K, Houston IS futuristic. And driving around in my parents' neighborhood, it feels abandoned. There are not many people walking around and hardly any cars either, driving OR parked on the streets. And it is so quiet.

When Jerry and I are in the car together, all of this makes me feel like we are the only people around. Which is the strangest sensation after living in K, where there are zillions of people, animals and vehicles of all shapes and sizes crowding every street. And the noise - people screaming, horns honking, cars creaking/clunking and animals being herded.

We are also going through another bit of culture shock - the kind where you sort of romanticize your home country, only to go back and realize it has problems, too. Case in point - mailing a package at the FedEx/Kinko's in Rice Village.

One of my US friends in K asked us to mail her family's Christmas gifts. We were delighted to help her out. We go to FedEx and a woman comes to greet us and asks if she can help. Well, we tell her that we want to find out the cheapest way to ship a package that arrives before Christmas. Well, she replies that we have to fill out a shipping bill first. Well, there are several different shipping bills, so it would make more sense to ask the shipping clerk which way is best and THEN fill out the form. But the first lady was insistent so we made an educated guess and then asked the shipping clerk. Fortunately, we made the right choice. And you know what - all the shipping clerk needed to know was the zip code.

Anyway, we told the shipping lady we needed to buy a box. She said no problem and said that the boxes are really cheap. She then looked at gifts to be mailed and suggested a particular size. Well, that box was three times the size of the gifts! We found a much more suitable size and packed everything up. So, she rang up the cost of the shipping and as we were about to go, she said that she forgot to charge us for the box. She scanned the size and it came up $9.69. Golly!! I said, "Are you sure?" And she acted as if that was a really great price and even went so far as explaining that it was a good deal. I asked again, "$9.69 for THIS box?" (Remember, she said that the boxes were cheap, so I initially thought, well, I have not lived in the US for 15 months, maybe I just don't know what cheap is anymore.) Anyhow, she replied again that the price was correct and we paid for it. Meanwhile, Jerry found a placard near the shipping supplies with the price list and it showed $2.00. He showed it to her and we could see that she was not ready to concede that $9.69 was not the right price. Jerry pointed out the box, dimensions and price listed a few more times and then she said that she would give us a refund.

Well, guess what!? It took four employees and about 15 minutes for us to get our refund. I could have sworn we were in S Asia. If I told someone boxes were cheap and then a box rang up over 9 bucks, I would have said something like, "Hmmm.... that can't be right," and checked into it. Jerry says that what she did is what happens when people do not have critical thinking skills because "the computer cannot possibly be wrong!"

But, we are glad to be back. It's been nice to hang out with family and we have already eaten Chick-fil-A, Vietnamese noodle soup, sushi and steak. And Jerry has also gotten to eat a JUMBO beef hot dog and drink lots of Starbucks coffee.

If you are interested in either sharing a meal with us (we've got a list of things we want to eat) and/or taking semi-leisurely walks for exercise (me only - Jerry is training for the marathon and will be running), let me know!