# Coming back to the U.S. after two years -- anything happen while I was gone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974 "2005-02-08T12:44:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![False\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ee7513/32.png) [@False\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/False_God)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/41 "2005-03-17T20:48:26Z")
> [@Scott\_plaid](#): > > I bow to you, oh False God. > > But really, I’ve been to England, Scotland and Canada, to answer your rhetorical question. Fair cop, that came out snarkier than intended. I blame the cold medication. It’s just that sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have a job that takes me to varied and interesting places, so when I meet someone who’s lived in the same town all their lives, I have to do a little mental adjustment. That and when you consider how big the U.S. is, I guess it’s not that unusual, but I’ve heard this observation from other expats as well as non-U.S. citizens. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/42 "2005-03-18T15:04:46Z")
> [@leroy\_the\_mule](#): > > \*\* What have been the highlights of 2003-2005?\*\* > > Two years? Well, [six billion metric tons](http://topsoil.nserl.purdue.edu/nserlweb/weppmain/overview/intro.html) of our soil washed into the ocean. No big deal–not the stuff of civilization like cars, sports, diet crazes, or TV. :rolleyes: So? > [@](#): > > Raindrops, the most common form of precipitation, can be very destructive when they strike bare soil. With impacts of over 20 mph, raindrops splash grains of soil into the air and wash out seeds. Oh noes! The rain will kill us all! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/43 "2005-03-18T15:38:35Z")
Pooh-I was gonna post about the fat people, but I see I am woefully behind, again. Have you found out yet that you, too, must over eat? It’s the American way! Yes, obesity is our new hobby–and we defend it mercilessly. Many folks are now having high risk surgery to avoid the pain and suffering that moderate eating entails. harsh? You bet, sorry and all that, butI have recently had my fill of the “but I can’t help it and now I’m sick” school of morbid obesity. Lecture over. I have been to Europe and Canada etc. I would love to get to Australia, but the pocketbook is not that deep. Walmart scares me–I dont’ go to the local one. In fact, I am to the point where I think that there are no regional differences anymore within our borders–who needs to travel to Atlanta or Houston? I can go to the GAP here and also the Starbucks…we are definetly homogenized-dunno if that is new within 2 years. Welcome home from one of the nice “white people” 🙂 PS-I bet if you go into the poorer neighborhoods, you will find poverty to a like degree as some of what you ahve seen. Hell, go into rural hinterlands and you’ll feel right at home, but colder. Just a though. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/44 "2005-03-18T15:45:33Z")
Sorry dude, they were bullshitting you - the choice was Bush or Kerry, people were praying for a squid to run. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/45 "2005-03-19T01:02:21Z")
I’ve lived in China for 1 1/2 years and was back in the States in February for 3 weeks. Things I noticed: 1. Carbohydrates are evil? How did the whole country go “carb crazy” in 18 months? 2. How many varieties of Coke, Pepsi, and Mountain Dew do we need in America? In China, we have Coke and Diet Coke. Yes, we survive. 3. Nothing’s changed here, but it is noticeable to me now. We are the fattest people I’ve ever seen! Let me put it this way. I’ve been in China for 18 months and I have not seen ONE Chinese person as fat as a person I can see in America if I go to the grocery store. It can’t be genetics, can it? ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/46 "2005-03-19T03:43:20Z")
I just moved back to the US from Trinidad & Tobago this fall. I found myself mesmerized by the grocery store shelves, first. So many new products and so many, many “new” products that are the old products packaged differently or made to be used a different way. I was tempted to try all of them and then left without buying anything, in disgust. All the meat is packaged in plastic and the vegetables are shipped in from afar and don’t look real (that’s not changed, but it struck me this time). People don’t visit and hang out on street corners - they are encased in cars and locked in their homes. I really miss hanging out with people (called “liming” in Trinidad) outside. Most of the things that surprised me or unrattled me, coming back, were not new things. I am just experiencing them differently or more intensely after living in another culture for a few years. One thing I found out right away is that your friends and family here would like to maybe see your slide show and hear a little about what life was like there, but then they pretty much want you to shut up about it. It’s really hard not to inflict your constant “comparing and contrasting” perceptions of the US vs that other place you lived in on friends and co-workers. It just isn’t that interesting to them as it is to you. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/47 "2005-03-19T15:03:46Z")
> [@False\_God](#): > > It’s just that sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have a job that takes me to varied and interesting places, so when I meet someone who’s lived in the same town all their lives, I have to do a little mental adjustment. That and when you consider how big the U.S. is, I guess it’s not that unusual, but I’ve heard this observation from other expats as well as non-U.S. citizens. Thanks to a stint in the Navy I can echo your thoughts. I am quite grateful for the experience of having not only been outside the U.S., but having _lived_ outside, not just visited. You hear people all the time yammering all the time about how “this is the best country in the world” and they may be right, but how do they know if they’ve never been able to compare? Oh, and thank you for your service. DD ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974/48 "2005-03-19T17:22:19Z")
Welcome back. I’ve been to a few places - Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras. I haven’t made it to Europe or Asia yet. About those mangonela and trebuchets - I wonder if anyone has the plans for building one - it would be sort of fun to go “pumpkin chunking”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coming-back-to-the-u-s-after-two-years-anything-happen-while-i-was-gone/288974.md?page=2)