America is an amazing place. Really, it is. Lord knows we have a lot of room for improvement, but honestly, coming back is such a revelation. There is so much of everything! How many different kinds of wheat bread does one person need? How many varieties of tomatoes, or apples, or cereal? I still have this sense of embarrassment, knowing how little most of the rest of the world has, knowing that all of this choice doesn't make us really more satisfied, but still...the abundance we have is astonishing. I was so happy to see Cub and Rainbow selling canvas grocery bags! And the prices...I bought $240 of groceries (7 bags)...in China that would have run at least $100 more for all the imported food. Things like grapes and strawberries and raspberries are far more expensive, as is any food not made in China.
Space is one of those abundant things we have and take for granted. I'm not talking about major inner cities or urban areas like New York...for the most part America is WIDE OPEN. I drove home in traffic from the Como Zoo, through construction, and it was a breeze compared to a regular drive into Beijing. Everywhere there is just room to breathe and relax. I've mentioned the number of green spaces in Beijing, but make no mistake--there are hordes of people everywhere and I find it very stressful. Even our compound has very little green space. And we're really pretty clean, too! People go out of their way to put trash in a bin. The sky is blue, the air smells fresh, the grass is green...every yard is surrounded by a green apron and bursting with flowers. Thanks to communism, China is mostly gray...streets, buildings, and all...with splashes of red. No one has a house with a yard. Life is lived mostly indoors.
Somewhere we got the reputation for being blunt and outspoken. I agree that we Americans are louder, but I still say we can't hold a candle to most Europeans when it comes to being outspoken! As for overall politeness, however, I think we must lead the pack. People let someone go ahead. They hold the door. They slow down when someone crosses the street. They queue up patiently, and address those that budge in. They drop back when someone signals a lane change. It's insanely easygoing. God forbid you are standing in front of the door on a subway or in an elevator in China--you'll be immediately crushed by the mass behind you pushing out and the crowd in front of you pushing in...at the same time! When the plane first touches down (and is still hurtling down the runway), people start unbuckling, calling, and standing up. It's crazy. I know life moves fast here--every radio ad screams out products and plans to do things more efficiently so you can do more and more, we are slackers compared to China. And I don't think that's a bad thing at all.
It's interesting to contemplate all these emotions and ideas...after all, we made a conscious decision to go overseas and to stay there when we had the opportunity to return "home". Why put up with all the angst and irritations that go along with living outside of your own culture, whether it be Africa, China, Italy, Spain, or even English-speaking England? There's a line from Under the Tuscan Sun that reads something like, "...although I'm susceptible to the known, I'm just slightly more susceptible to the pull of the unknown..." and I'm surprised to realize that that does apply to me. I've always been a person who craves routine--I loved going to Montana every summer and hiking the same trails every summer. I don't crave funky foods, or music made past 1989, and I can reread books and rewatch movies ad nauseum. In Tanzania we vacationed 3 times a year at the same beach spot. I married a guy I met when I was 16, I suppose because I didn't like change then, either. Yet, I look at the street I lived on, the schools my kids would attend, the stores where I would shop, and think, nope, I'm glad I'm over there for now. Even though I crave routine and sameness there, too, even if it means feeling slightly abashed when I admit that I haven't been to the Forbidden City (yet). I'm grateful that I feel right now I have the best of both worlds--one foot anchored in Minnesota while we explore what the other side of the world has to offer.
1 comment:
Nice Post, really enjoyed reading it.
Post a Comment