I’ve been trying to prepare the girls (and myself) for re-entry into the US.
That might sound silly. After all, we’re Americans, and re-entering life in America should be pretty natural. Especially for Keith and I, given that we have lived the vast majority of our lives in the States.
But I’ve been forewarned that the first trip home can release all kinds of feelings and emotions, and if you’re ill prepared for that, it can be a hard trip. I’ve been told to look at America as a foreign country and to give it grace in the same way that we say “Oh, this is China, some things aren’t going to be the way we’d prefer them.” We might feel alien. We might feel a bit like outsiders. We might feel like sometimes we don’t know (or have forgotten) the social rules.
I talked to the girls about the way things happen in America. When you do things you have to line up. You can’t push and shove. Here, if I don’t push and shove, I’m left without whatever it is I was lining up for. It feels awkward, it feels rude, but it also feels like the only way to get stuff done here. I’m not sure I can whip out my elbows in the Kroger line and throw my stuff on the conveyor belt in front of people. I think I might get more than a few stares for doing that. The girls nodded their heads for that one “Oh! It’s like school! We have to line up at school!”
I told them that in America, people won’t want to take their picture all the time and they probably won’t have strangers squeal and say how cute they are. I assured them that the only people that will take their pictures are family members. They have a love/hate relationship with the attention they get. Sometimes (rarely!) they ham it up and smile for the camera and play along with the locals who are fawning over them. But more and more lately, they seem tired of the attention. Eliza’s response of “Why won’t they say we’re cute? Don’t people in America think we’re cute too?” made me giggle. I explained to her that yes, they think she’s cute, but there’s a lot more little blonde haired, blue eyed princesses running around Texas, Indiana, and Missouri, so they’re not quite the novelty there.
As for me, I’m reminding myself that I will (hopefully!) get a 7 week reprieve from people poking my fat, telling me how unhealthy ___ is (drinking ice water, taking a taxi, drinking coffee, etc..), asking my salary, staring at me open-mouthed, and smoking everywhere. However, on the same token, I’ve got to remember that some of the social liberties I’ve adopted here aren’t going to cut it in America. I can’t say things out loud in English and assume no one understands! I also need to cut all of my “Chinglish” words from my vocab. I naturally use words like “mei you” (don’t have), “dui” (correct), “li hai” (severe or harsh- it describes women usually), “ma fan” (troublesome). They obviously don’t make sense to people who don’t have a background in Chinese!
We can’t WAIT to see family. My sister has a kid I’ve never even met! He’s almost 2 years old now! Of course, she has 5 kids, so it is pretty easy to imagine he’s a lot like the others, right? Hehe, sorry, Tamara! But we are definitely excited to meet Gabe!
Keith’s brother has a “new” girlfriend. I say “new” because they’ve been dating a long time, but we’ve just never met her. Same for my little brother Logan. My baby sister Bethany’s gone from high school student to college superstar. Emily’s husband Matthew is about to deploy to Iraq. And I think we have some grandmas and grandpas who want to see their sweet grandbabies??
I’m looking forward to drinking unnaturally large 44 oz Sonic strawberry limeades chock full of ice. No more 3 oz cups of water for me! I’m ready to use a big girl cup!
Yoplait yogurt, Buffalo wild wings (boneless please! I’ve had enough skin and bones in my diet the past 2 years!), guacamole, eggplant parmesan, real CHEESE, fresh salads topped with sweet vidalia onion dressing, baked potato soup in a bread bowl (Atlanta Bread Company!), bagels topped with jalapeno cream cheese, pumpernickle bread with dill dip, DIPS of any and every kind, quesadillas, fajitas, real authentic tamales, Edy’s ice cream, steak (hot off the grill, please!), corn on the cob, blueberries, frozen raspberries, green seedless grapes.
Target. With its wide aisles, bright lights (dude, they turn the lights on there- what a NOVEL idea!!), cereal, fresh produce, cute clothes, shoes, toys, candles, dishes, and aisles upon aisles beckoning us to spend more money than we have.
It is currently 100 hours till our plane leaves Beijing. I could NOT be more ready.
I just need to keep mentally telling myself that America might feel like a foreign country. We might feel like outsiders. But DUDE, at least we’ll be eating GOOD food while we feel like outsiders. A big ole tub of guacamole can heal a world of hurts!! And at least we’ll have our friends and family all around us!!
But poor Katie- she’s just so sad she can’t pee outside all summer long!