Reverse Culture Shock?

One of the things I love about traveling, and in particular living abroad, is learning all of the idiosyncricies of that place. As I begin to process my departure from Thailand, I'm realizing that I'm going to have readjust to life in the States and it's own idiosyncricies. In essence, reverse culture shock. After studying abroad in Japan for 6 months and returning back to the States, I think it was always the small, random things that threw me off. For example, sizes of everything were much smaller in Japan. When I landed in the Minneapolis airport and bought a Diet Coke, I distinctly remember being suprised at how much larger the bottle was. That's not a huge deal, but those little things add up and they are hard to explain and can be difficult to process. On my long overnight bus last night, I pondered some of the little differences between Thailand and the United States. Here are a few...

* Paper size: This sounds crazy, but the standard paper sizes are different. I guess I always realized this, but as I was compiling paperwork for grad school, some of it was stuff from the States and some of it was stuff I had printed here. I quickly realized as I tried to collate, fold, and stuff it into an envelope, that it wasn't quite matching up. (In case you were curious, I researched it, and America's standard paper size is A4, where as Thailand's is A5. Riveting, I know)

* Gum: Thai gum is equally delicious as American gum, but there is an important difference. All Thai gum has a hard coating, like Chicklett gum, because of the heat. I love Orbitz gum, and my parents are generous enough to keep me fully stocked on a myraid of flavors, but if I leave it out for even an hour, it starts to melt and sweat and become almost unchewable. As a result, I have to keep Orbitz gum in the fridge. As commemoration of my time in Thailand, I might forever keep gum in the fridge. Yep, I'm destined to be a weirdo.

* Driving: In Thailand, we drive on the left side of the road, and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Left turns are tight and right turns are wider and cross anothr lane of traffic. My kilometers and kilometers of biking have me fully adjusted to this driving system. When I watch a movie or TV that takes place in the States, I actually think "Hey they are driving on the wrong side of the road!" I even have dreams where I'm driving in Fargo and I'm on the left side, instead of the right. It oddly feels normal and correct to be on the left. Fortunately, I'm not a lover of driving and I rely on the subway in NY, so this shouldn't be a huge deal, although crossing streets, I look the opposite way first.

* Metric system: It's taken awhile, but I'm happy and proud to say that I have somewhat mastered the metric system. I don't know why it's so hard to convert to, but it sure is. I now understand metric distances because of all the walking, biking, and riding. Before Thailand, I had no conception of how far 20 kilometers is, but bike 20 kilometers once a week to buy carrots and yogurt and you figure it out. The same goes for temperature, I just know what 37 degrees Celsius feels like (about 100 degrees) from experience, at this point almost intuitively. I've also mastered weights in kilograms unfortunately because Thai people love to talk about size and weight and are oh so curious about the chubby foreigner. Lovely.

* Seasons: Since there are not four distinct seasons in Thailand, just hot, hotter, and hottest, at least that's the joke anyway. I do miss fall and spring a lot, and I guess winters to an extent. But Thailand does have it's own cycle of weather and I'm finally appreciating that in my second year here. I realized it was unique when my favorite fruits started to be in season again. Also, much of the vibe of the village is dependent on the weather and consequently the rice planting cycle. Thailand might not have a nice, cool fall, but it does have mangosteen and mango season and I'm okay with that.

Just as I adjusted to these oddities of Thailand, I will soon be adjusting to the oddities of the United States. Reverse culture shock is a strange process, and in some ways even more difficult because it's your own culture, your own home, and you don't feel like you quite fit. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, but if my time in Japan tells me anything, there will be an adjustment process until I become a full-pledged American citizen again.