Jetlag and Reverse Culture Shock: Back in the U.S.A.
Well, it’s been a week since I’ve returned to the United States from my month in China, and I finally seem to be back on a Western hemisphere rhythm. For several days following my return home to West Virginia, after a few days in the office on the left coast, I could not stay up past 8 p.m. I would try and try to stay awake, but to no avail, promptly waking up 3:15 a.m. or so. But that’s the rather mundane aspect of my experience; after a month in China some of the things that I would normally take for granted seem strange. Like being in a crowd of people and understanding...
Read MoreYou’re Just Like Cross Town Traffic
SHENYANG, China — One thing people in the U.S. always talk about when returning from China is the traffic. But I think it’s the larger issue behind the traffic that those planning on visiting or working in China would do well to consider. Us Westerners, especially us Americans, are used to having plenty of personal space. You know — “give me a home, where the buffalo roam” and “from sea to shining sea” — and all that. Heck, where I live in West Virginia, I can pee off my back porch in the middle of a sunny afternoon, if I want to, and no one...
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Jeff Chappell: journalism nerd; web geek. That's the short story. Want the longer one?