Before I left the States, back in August, heck before I even left HWS last Spring, I was warned about reverse culture shock and adjusting to life once back in America. I’m glad to say that it’s been a smooth transition though.
My roommate, Yolie, and me.
The 15-hour flight wasn’t so bad. I lucked out and had 3 seats to myself. So I was able to sprawl out and sleep for a while. I watched some movies, Going the Distance, the first hour of Inception, and then a few episodes of Glee and America’s Next Top Model.
Leaving Hong Kong
Clearing customs and picking up my luggage at JFK was easy-numerous long lines but it didn’t take too long. And then I finally saw my Mom and Nana. We grabbed sodas at the little convenience store (oh 20oz Diet Coke, how I missed you) and then lugged my suitcase and cardboard box (yep, my suitcase was overweight so I had to unpack some things at the check-in counter while the attendant constructed a box on the spot) to the car, where we head back to Massachusetts.
We broke the 5-hour trip up with a stop at Friendly’s for lunch in Connecticut and then I ended up sleeping the rest of the way home.
Jet lag wasn’t too much of a problem. I conquered it within 3 days or so. I would be fine all morning, then around 2pm I would get so exhausted and just crash. But I am now back to my normal sleeping routine.
In terms of culture shock, there have only been 3 main instances when I’ve had to stop and be like wait, “I’m in America- this isn’t how it’s done here.”
1. When I’m running along the street, there have been numerous times when I’m like “Wait- where is the car coming from? What side of the street?” But then I figure it out and keep going.
2. There have been numerous times when I’m brushing my teeth or washing my hands at the sink and stop and think “Wait- why is the water still running?” In my bathroom at Lingnan, the faucets were automatic, so you would turn it on and the water would run for 10-15 seconds and then turn off. You would have to keep pressing it on to keep the water running.
3. I was eating lunch at Panera with my mom the other day and as we were getting ready to leave, I was ready to just leave my tray and walk away, figuring the employees would clean it up. Nope, that’s only in Hong Kong. Forgot I had to carry the tray over to the trash and clean it up myself.
I have been tempted to raise my hand and yell ‘mm-goi’ at restaurants to grab the waiter’s attention, but I hold back (In Hong Kong restaurants, the waiters wait for you to call them over and order, they don’t just check in on you every so often in).
I am anxious to get back to HWS and Geneva. I feel like culture shock at school will be very different since I’ll actually be doing what I was doing in Hong Kong, like going to school, rowing and such- not just working and hanging out.
