I have an amazing grasp for the obvious.  Coming back to America (after 1.5 years in Asia) shows that this skill has been sharpened in me quite a bit.  Here are my latest observations– being back in my home land…

• We have a LOT of cars here.  And by a lot I mean a TON of them.  It feels like every citizen is somehow entitled to own one even though I know this is not truly the case.  It just feels that way.
• We hide our garbage well.  There isn’t a lot of litter or heaps of trash lining the roads and sidewalks of the greater Seattle area.  It just looks neat and clean and amazingly green.  But I would assume we produce more garbage than any country in the world.  I have no hard proof of this.  It’s just a hunch based on the insane amount of packaging we went through to get to the girl’s Christmas toys this year.
• We are a narcissistic country.  (In other words we are obsessed with looking at ourselves in the mirror.)  You can watch news programs here in the States and get the sense that the rest of the world simply doesn’t exist.  In fact, most of the areas that lie outside the perimeter of Hollywood and Oprah Winfrey’s studio barely merit The Media’s attention.
• We are a country that values variety.  Do you know that in the time we’ve been overseas they have invented about 6 new flavors of Doritos?  I must say I tried the Hot Buffalo Wings and Ranch flavored and was pleasantly surprised. (Now I have to stop making fun of all the crazy flavors, i.e. Earl Grey Tea flavored chips, I see in Xining all the time.)
• We generally respect a pedestrian’s right of "safe passage" when they are using a cross-walk.  In northwest China this is a revolutionary concept.  The first time I came across a cross-walk in a parking lot on this trip home, I froze!  I was trapped like a deer in the headlights.  It took me about 5 seconds to realize that if I stepped out on the white stripes, there was a fairly good chance the oncoming vehicle would actually stop.  It was literally a step of faith.  I just have to remind myself not to attempt this sort of thing when we’re back in Xining.
• "Reality" TV (unfortunately) was not a passing fad. I had hoped as it saturated the various markets it would start to fade and wane over time, but instead it has spread like a terrible flesh-eating virus.
• Generally, we are polite people.  We say "please," "thank-you" and "how are you doing today" very often to total strangers.  (Even if we don’t really mean it.)  It’s nice having culturally appropriate small talk once again.
• Seattle is coffee culture.  That’s the main reason I feel so at home here.  In about a 10 block radius from where we are staying there are at least 6 or 7 GOOD coffee shops.  It’s ridiculous really.  I am NOT complaining.  Heaven will be like this…
• We are over-sexed.  It’s everywhere and it’s in your face.  You can’t even watch a game show on television or walk through a book store without seeing an image of a girl in a bikini who is likely making monthly payments to a plastic surgeon for her ‘enhancements’.  I wouldn’t label myself as overly puritanical either; but I am starting to feel that way as the culture continues to (d)evolve.
• We are efficient.  I like that about this country.  Sure it causes its own sort of problems at times, but having "10 items or less" checkout lines in the super market and vehicles that remain in their own lanes on the highways sure has advantages, too.
• We are carnivores.  Sure it causes some heart disease and other nasty means of extinction, but you just can’t deny the intrinsic value of tasty hamburger.  We took Anna & Sarah to McDonald’s the other day and she said, "This is the best food I’ve ever had."
  My response, "Anna, I’m glad you are a normal kid after all."

I hope my observations don’t ring overly negative.  I love the U.S.  These are just some of the thoughts I’ve had about being home that have jumped out at me.  I’m sure there are many other things that I could have mentioned, but the pleasant things are often the most familiar (and therefore, ironically, the easiest to dismiss or forget.)  Until the Observation Muse strikes again…signing off.