[Culturechat] A foreigner in his own country

[Vance Roy]

OK, first the disclaimer. If you think me a traitor, don't bore anyone about
it but me. You can send what you like as a private message. Some of you know
how I like to wear my asbestos underwear.

I have been in USA four days now. Am I mistaken or are people a bit nicer to
each other since 9/11? It hit me between the eyes in Boston as I entered MY
country again after many months. You may know that in the late 60's, I was a
prisoner of war in Boston. Almost never left.

Our country has become a multi language country since I left in 1994. There
have been a lot of voices in the USA for a long time. I knew that already,
but it is more apparent each time I return. What the Heck! I live in a 3/4/5
language country anyway.

Folks in RI have always been a cut above the New England "brusqueness", so
Newport is still Newport. Mansions, great accents, wonderful traffic
courtesy, lousy streets and sidewalks, beautiful trees and  beaches, what I
call Rhode Island "lick and promise work", overpriced places to eat and play
(not so bad in the off season), and I especially like it because I don't
have to get my "Boston personality" on before I walk in somewhere.

Funny though. I know folks over the whole USA that recycle. As some of you
know, the Swiss are big on this. Today, we went to the grocery and asked for
paper instead of plastic bags. What did we get? We got paper bags filled
with groceries AND STUFFED INTO PLASTIC BAGS!! We just laughed.

I still run around turning off lights, wonder at the amazing number of cars
with only one person on the roads, am amazed at the great variety of goods
in places like Walmart (One of my favorite places to waste time), don't want
to be here if gasoline gets to be 10$ a gallon, but I cannot find a bakery
in the whole town comparable to those Swiss places.

I'll probably write more about this. I am still learning a lot about "my
country". If you read this as unpatriotic, so be it. I don't see it that
way. I just realize how different things can be. It is a "culture thing", I
suppose. After all, we are still all together on the same ball.

Vance Roy
gigli.saw@dplanet.ch