On Being Back

Alright, so there are some nice things about being back - I'm loving having a clothes dryer and a dishwasher - so, so nice. TV - in English!  Superb! Calling friends and family without worrying about the time difference (although I still stop, try to figure out the time difference, then realize there isn't one) - very nice!  Being able to read labels again is nice to, except for the part that if you can read the label, you know what you are eating - good or bad - so there are no excuses.  It is great to be back in the land of the drink - meaning that I now have a choice of more than one brand of Vodka or wine.  But, buying the spirits in the store while I am picking up a loaf of bread - that's a little weird.

Speaking of weird - I am catching myself screwing up daily on the road.  Either I am trying to drive on the wrong side or turning my blinker on when I am looking for my wipers.  Fortunately I have caused no accidents yet!  *Knock-knock.  And meat - not liking the beef here.  In JP you typically found a mix of pork and beef (I think...) when you bought ground meat.  I came to like it a lot and now the stuff here - 100% beef, just not doing it for me.  And the smell of it...terrible.  People here are rude, or normal I guess. I miss the overly polite ways of JP.  No matter what, no matter where, everyone in the service industry there was always kind and smiling.  Here I find myself wanting to apologize for asking people to do their jobs.

But here is one that kind of got to me today...I went for a haircut, no place fancy, just a little place one step up from a Hairmasters.  There were 3 girls working, but I was there at open so I was the only other person.  We start chatting - typical haircut small talk.  As we talk we get into my time in Japan.  After a bit one of the girls starts telling a story about stopping into a nail place for a pedicure.  The owner's wife was gone and he told the girl that his wife had gone home to visit family.  The girl replied by saying, "Oh, to China?"  The owner of the shop was offended as he and his wife were not Chinese but Vietnamese.  So the girl telling the story is laughing, as if she found it hilarious that this man would be upset by something like that.  Sitting there, I was offended too.  Maybe it's dumb of me.  But, having been in Japan and spent some time talking to people about their culture and how proud they are to be who they are, I kind of get it.  Here in the US we don't have 1000 years of history and wars and just life like so many civilizations around the world have.  I don't know if I was offended that she had that "they all look alike" attitude or if I didn't like the fact that she was paying someone to kneel and scrub her feet and she didn't even stop to ask them about themselves.  So, I told her that she should take some time to learn about the different cultures, even just study their physical characteristics.  Of course, sitting here now I have to take into account that she (who was not cutting my hair so I didn't get into her life story) lives in a little town that is mostly made up of Caucasian and Hispanic people and she probably doesn't have a lot of exposure, but still!  Come on!  Stop and learn about your neighbor.  And their neighbor too.  Off my soapbox...

So, that's what being back for almost 3 weeks has been like.   One more day and the kids are off to school.  They are both excited, I am super excited as it's been us and them for 3 weeks...need some space!  But I am also nervous for them.  I want to be there with them but they've said no.  Sad!  I will be sure to post after they start school.

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