Jess-Culture Shock!!

I have returned home to the farm...but that does not mean that I did not experience a culture shock! I would not say that I experienced a culture shock when I returned to the U.S., but I would say that I had a great realization about how it feels to be an outsider.

When we stepped off the plane we were taken to yet another passport check point. We were once again moved through a maze of ropes like a herd of cattle. Then it was our turn to be told which booth to continue to in order to have our passports checked. A man, who was maybe three years older than I rudely asked Alanna and I if we were together. I replied yes and he asked me whether we were sisters or not. I had to smile, but he did not find the question humorous in the least, so I replied that we were not sisters, but we were students who had been traveling together. So, he allowed me to go through the line with Alanna with a warning that we were NOT to "processed" together, whatever that was supposed to mean.

I eventually learned what the young mans “not to be processed together” warning meant. Alanna and I moved into line at the passport "processing booth," but this was not even passport control yet. Alanna was the next person up. She moved to the booth and I, mostly out of habit, followed close behind her. The next thing I knew I had this young man, who was not much older than I, screeching at me..."M’am! M’am! Move behind the red line immediately! I told you! I already told you to stay away from her!" Wow, what a great welcome into the United States!!!

I found this very telling. I now know how foreign travelers must feel when they first enter the U.S. They are all treated as though they are some sort of boogie man that could blow up the entire Midwest at any second. I found this very unfortunate. I know that the U.S. has to keep tight security because of 9/11 and the seemingly never ending threat of Al Qaeda, but that does not mean that we have a right to treat people like they are terrorists. I am a twenty year old, white, woman, who (in my opinion) is not at all threatening looking, and yet I was treated as though I was some huge threat to national security because I stepped two feet across some red line! How must a twenty year old man of Middle Eastern decent feel?

I think this was the biggest shock that I experienced when I returned home. That one instance made me think twice about whether I was really happy to be back in the U.S. or not. I was treated better in Denmark! I do not know that this instance is considered a "culture shock" but it definitely made me see my country in a different light than I had in the past.

The other revelation that I had when I returned home is that Americans truly are fat! I know that as a country we are very well taken care of in the eating department, but when I stepped off the plane and looked around, I did note that people were much heavier than in Denmark. I think part of this is due to the fact that food here is so cheap and readily available. I also think that this is due to the American lifestyle. Heaven forbid we actually get on our bikes to go to the grocery store, work, or maybe even the park! Even though we are fat and lazy as a whole, I think that we should all understand how fortunate we are that we can be fat and lazy. We always have food and entertainment!

Despite these small welcome home blunders I am still very grateful that I was born in the great U.S. of A. and happy to be home!