Repatriation observations

Although I visited the US many times while we lived in Switzerland, moving back to the US (and to a new area of the country) is a whole new ball game.  In particular, I often find myself noticing many things about the US that I hadn't realized before... or are these things that changed since I left... or are these things unique to California… or are they unique to Silicon Valley? Who knows, either way it makes for some entertaining "repatriation observations" that I wanted to share.  

#1: The number of choices and the variety of selection in consumer goods is both amazing and overwhelming.  It is amazing because I craved selection and variety of foods for the past few years.  Now I have a multitude of food choices within a 10 minute radius of my temporary apartment - hello Chipotle my friend, I have missed you so dearly!  At the same time, it is overwhelming because it means I spend way more time in grocery stores than I would like, debating over which flavor, ingredient, food process, or price combination is best. 

Since when do Wheat Thins come in so many flavors? Spicy buffalo? Lime? Sweet Spicy Chipotle?

The butter aisle - why is it necessary to provide 50 different kinds? Someone please help me choose.

#2: Some American food products can be just downright scary. What ARE these presumed food products? I now understand why there is such are big organic/clean eating food movements in the US.

What in the world is "cheese food"?

Since when does a sausage come with pineapple inside?

#3: Americans love color. On their food, their clothes, their cars, their bikes, everything is colorful. It's a pleasant deviation from my all-black European wardrobe which needs updating ASAP. Speaking of clothes, another observation (that I have taken full advantage of) is that Americans are totally accepting of wearing gym clothes out in public (Swiss are not) -- hooray!

The cake section is very colorful.

Colorful gbikes

 #4: The concept of a suburban "neighborhood".  Silicon valley makes feel a bit like I'm living in the Truman Show and it was/is probably one of the most significant differences for me.  The valley itself consists of a lot of pavement, highways, buildings, and "communities" with apartments/houses that all look the same and have perfectly manicured lawns. I'm missing the open space and beauty of nature in Switzerland. I don't mean to sound debby downer though, I mainly feel this way because I haven't had time yet to explore my surroundings. I have gone on a few quick adventures (more about that in later post this week) and from what I have seen so far, the surrounding area is gorgeous.  Everyone has told me that you can easily get outside of the valley to numerous mountains, hikes, beaches, vineyards, etc., I just need to start exploring. In the meantime, I'm certainly won't complain about the spacious, new temporary apartment that I am living in or the pool in my suburban "community".

#5: Americans love their cars.  No one walks places and there are so, so many cars on the roads. Tonight I walked a mile to the grocery store because I miss walking around. I do realize this is a snobby observation though, the fact that I can afford a car is a major privilege that a significant number of people in the world don't have, and because of that, I am appreciative. Also, this isn't to say that Californians are lazy, in fact, the opposite seems to be true, Californians seem very active, always adventuring on weekends and spending their time outdoors. Again, this is another "Lauren just needs to explore her surroundings" conclusion. 

#6: People don't say "Hello" on the streets or in the elevators.  I remember when we first moved to Switzerland I was so caught off guard by the strangers that would say hello to me in the elevator or on the streets. Flash forward 3 years and although its nice to be left alone sometimes, it also feels unkind to not say hello to people. This will just take some getting used to.

#7: Technology is intrinsically linked to American life, particularly in the valley. The phrase "there's an app for that" can be said about basically anything .  For example, I can order goods online and have them brought to the curb of Target for automatic pick up, I can order an Uber from the airport and pay $60 to get home instead of $150 with a regular taxi, I can request maintenance repairs for my temporary apartment via an online app, I can order shoes online and have them delivered to my desk at work (and return them free of charge, thank you Zappos), and of course there are a multitude of work-related apps. Many of these examples might seem like old news to many people, but technology has drastically changed since I left the US (and I would argue that in most cases, these advancements have simplified life).

There are many more epatriation/reverse-culture shock moments that I have had.  I'm sure many of the challenging aspects I mentioned above will quickly fade and the positive aspects will outnumber them in due time, I just need to remind myself that the mental adjustment to my new environment won't happen overnight.