Saturday, August 20, 2011

Home

The cruel mockery of interstate signage.
This is my second day sitting in the office. We came home through Chicago, to Wisconsin (Julie's family), and then to South Dakota (my family). This amounted to a 26 hour adventure on America's interstate highway system. Eating was not easy, or pleasant.

In the office, there are lots of people coming in to welcome me back. 52 voice mails to listen to and 40 cm of mail. But it's nearly done now, I'm starting to work on things again.

I know you'll need it.
And then, America. Fiddlesticks. I'm just trying to avoid becoming too fat to walk. It's a sorry state of affairs over here. I'm not one to pull a band aid off slowly, or venture into a cold swimming pool one toe at a time. Same goes for 'easing' into a culture. None of that for me. I went directly to Costco to observe America in action. I grabbed a foot long hot dog and 20 oz of Coca Cola (imperial units seem crude unless you're stuffing yourself with factory food, then they are completely logical)  and walked around inspecting the contents of shopping carts, conducting my personal inquiry into over-consumption. Highlights, as I recall, were along the lines of: "Wow, that's really a lot of toilet paper! You'll be set for months. Such advanced planning in this country!"

It's all got me a little blue. To combat culture shock, I think I'll go buy a giant box of bad California wine and drown my sorrows with it and an entire season of 'True Blood', or some other  American TV show. Apparently skin and violence go a long ways towards curing whatever ails you.

Taking in some of the culture helps
In any case, I think I've adjusted to the culture. I'm even participating; buying all sorts of things I don't need. For instance,  I got a smart phone. My smart phone is so smart, it's writing this blog. Moreover, we've got a lot of stuff to buy in America. And, it's pretty cheap. Participating is hard to avoid after a year of austerity, I can see my elbow through the taters of my long sleeve shirts. Still, I can't help feel a little exploited every time I swipe that piece of plastic. I bought a little piece of joy in South Africa, and I haven't found that on the shelves anywhere in America.

Consumerism aside, it's nice here in Montana; cool in the mornings, and warm in the afternoons. People are friendly, and it's quiet. I've continued jogging a little, and feel like a real activist riding my bike to commute and get groceries. Our kids wander off to who knows where, and I don't worry. There are plenty of clever, well traveled, well read, moderate, and healthy people.The stereotypical fat, ill informed, and angry America isn't so hard to avoid. It's funny, but when everyone overseas asks you about the ugly American, you begin to expect it yourself. As long as I don't study the newspapers too closely, or modulate the amplitude of radio waves, I don't know it exists at all. Our home is comfortable, and we were missed by our neighbors and co-workers. I'm always delighted to encounter something that I'd forgotten that I like, and occasionally shocked to encounter something I'd forgotten that I don't like. As a rule, these 'somethings' are people and not things. On the balance, its a pretty good place to come back to. I'm happy to be here.

1 comment:

  1. We held off of Costco for a whole month and THEN, we bought the big pack of paper towels, and that's all. It is a little overwhelming, that, and all the stores that are open/accessible 24/7 or nearly so. So much for 'rest' and 'sabbath'. But anyway, we are easing back into it, but being careful not to indulge too much, except in the lusciously cool mornings and ease of getting around. Welcome home to all of you!

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