Coming back to the United States what so much more difficult than I expected it to be. For a long time I had heard of something called "reverse culture shock" I was really worried about it and all of my friends told me I'd be fine. I suppose I was fine, however it was more of an experience than I expected it to be.
I know that a lot of time has passed since my last post but I finally feel that I'm ready to tell my story of coming back to America. Ironically getting out of China was the easiest part of the entire journey. I was only charged for one heavy bag saving me $200 plus I was upgarded to United Economy plus because I had a short layover in Chicago giving me free wine and beer for the whole flight.
The issues began with my layover in Chicago, having flown through here before I figured it would be easy. NOT. Chicago does international flights differently making me get in line with the general population entering the airport instead of having a seperate line for people entering the United States via international flights. So as I rushed desperately through the airport searching for Terminal C, I found myself in insanely long lines for TSA checks. Had I bothered to check the flight boards I would have known that my flight was in the process of being delayed nearly inevitably.
This is where the wonderful people working at the Terminal C United Desk helped me more than I ever could have imagined. Having arrived in the United States without a cell phone I was at the mercy of their kindness for getting in touch with my parents to tell them that my flight to Albany was delayed.
With the help of the wonderful woman at the desk I was able to avoid spending the night at Chicago O'Hare International airport. They were able to switch me to a flight to Newark that would arrive only slightly later than my flight to Albany was scheduled to arrive and they waived the fee for changing destination. The woman even allowed me to use the United desk phone to call my parents and update them of the change.
Speaking so much English was actually a bit of a tongue twister, I found myself automatically using Chinese phrases instead of answering in English. Thus we get to the first reverse culture shock moment, I had to remember to reply in English. Even in China I would use various Chinese phrases when speaking to my Western English speaking friends.
Once I touched down in Newark I ran into the funniest reverse culture shock issue of all, the amount of water in the toilets. As I walked into the women's room I found the first toilet had a ton of water in it, figuring that meant an overflow was inevitable I went to the next, and the next, and the next. At somepoint I began to get frustrated, why were all the toilets about to overflow? It took me at least two minutes to figure out that they actually weren't broken, there is just more water in US toilets then there are in Chinese toilets (if you can find one).
I think however most of the "reverse culture shock" is most noticeable when it comes to the things I missed. When I turned on my favorite radio station for the first time I didn't recognize any of the songs. People talk about new movies and TV shows, most I've never heard of. At first it bothered me how much I missed, but now I like it. In a way it makes me feel more mature, being ok with not knowing all the movies and all the TV shows. China changed me, the country, the people, the food, the experience. All of it together has re-created me into a new person. And I like it.
