I’m a native Washingtonian who, since the end of ’92, has been living and working in central Taiwan (The Second-to-Last Place on Earth™). I’ve had some interesting times, met a wonderful woman, and become a Daddy, but it’s evident that Formosa will never be home to me so we’re planning our return to the home planet. I’ll be taking certification courses in desktop publishing / editing and polishing up my awful Chinese, and the Bride will get her BEd. Okay, so I’ve got horrible timing. This does NOT seem to be the year to move from the safety of Northeast Asia to Great Big Bullseye City :eek:, but I’ve had my fill of stinky tofu and the Sprout is nearly ready to start school, so here we go.
Having basically lived in the innermost and darkest reaches of a cave for the past decade, I could sure use some help to pre-reacclimatize to life in the States, and D.C. in particular. Just assume I know nothing about, for example, the O.J. trial (total exposure: ~15 minutes), the Clinton administration (oral sex aside), techno, butterfly ballots (okay, I do know about that, and it burns me up that I have to return to YET ANOTHER G.B. in the White house. :smack: Won’t leave you lot alone for ten years ever again…), SUVs, dotcom millionaires, and all the rest of the cultural literacy stuff from the gay 90s. What’s changed, and what’s the same? Thanks in advance.
Mullets are all the rage. I suggest letting the back of your hair grow long and cutting the front and sides to about 1 inch in length. You might also consider cutting a zig-zag pattern in the side, that’s really cool too.
Surprisingly (?), movies are one subject I’ve kept current on. Western media is more and more pervasive over here. Our local cable has English broadcasts of CNN, Discovery, HBO, and most of Nat. Geo., and some of the local stations will run undubbed X-files, ER, etc. (BTW, if you get the chance, watch South Park dubbed into Mandarin while… er… having a fatty.) I’ve had an internet connection since '94, as well, so I do have a view of the Homeland™. My concern is that it’s a skewed perspective that will leave me baffled by the reality of life in the USA. For example, I’ve got a perfect mental image of dirty1’s hairdo - Ace Ventura meets Vanilla Ice. Good to know I’ll still be cool.
Oh, and congratulations!
Coke now comes in a Vanilla flavor, Diet Coke and Pepsi with lemon flavor. But Clear Pepsi has long since passed.
Oh yeah … there’s this teeny little company called Starbucks. You’ll probably run into them when you want a cup of coffee.
We have domestic versions of all the British magazines now (FHM, Maxim, etc.) and many of the British TV shows (Weakest Link … or is that gone now? … the occasional Survivor, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Pop Star …). The great American Porno mags (Playboy, Penthouse, et al.) are in danger of going out of business. Blame the Internet.
Dave Thomas, Founder of Wendy’s, recently died. But Ronald McDonald is still there.
The Simpsons are still on the air, if not quite as funny as they used to be. There is still a Star Trek series running in prime time.
I’m sure there’s more, but probably nothing important.
In all seriousness, RCS can actually be very severe (I had it bad coming back from Hong Kong; didn’t feel myself for 6 months after returning).
Home looks the same as you remember, and is very similar, but it’s actually changed a lot, in very subtle ways. This is often more disconcerting than going somewhere alien, where you’re expecting things to be the same. Try to remind yourself that ‘home’ is actually a different place than the one you left. And try not to complain about ‘home’ as well (I did, and it pissed my friends off a lot).
Sorry about the mispost. This question is about as general as I can think of, so I just dropped it in there. I actually am looking for factual answers, but also personal observations, about what I’ve missed while I was away. I’ll see if I can narrow it down a little. IRL, ouside of what’s presented by the media, what kind of noticable changes have come about in the way people behave, in public or with other people? Do I have to tip the nurse? Can I take off my shirt in the park? Should I salute passing fire trucks? There’s a good start… are there any new ‘rules’?
As I recall, DC was more or less in ruins when I left…
Starbuck’s has actually just opened their second location here. My little city of 150,000 has about a dozen McDonald’s, two Domino’s, a Pizza Hut, and two Blockbuster outlets. If I wait long enough, I imagine the US will come to me.
I’ll try not to bitch too much, unless you’re all really still wearing mullets or driving those ridiculous minivans.
Just what I was after (although the celebrity / entertainment stuff is pretty well covered in even the remotest outposts of human civilization. On a vacation in Ko Lanta, Thailand several about a week after the release of “Titanic”, the Bride and I were ‘treated’ to a local viewing on a beach where the sole generator was dedicated to refrigeration and the needs of the VCR.) It’s late here, so I’m off to bed, but keep 'em coming! I’ll be back in the morning. Thanks!
This is a rough question because the people you’re asking have lived those ten years on this planet. (or at least in the US) The change for us has been pretty gradual, and you’re trying to get it all at once.
That and I was 11 when you left. So I’m having problems sorting just normal growing up change from change in the world around me. Sorry I can’t help.
We still have the same president, only he found the previously thought to be legend fountain of youth and had a coupla sips.
My hometown’s skyline has had a drastic change.
The Pledge of Allegiance is now unconstitutional.
The Catholic Church in the US is under seige. The heirarchy, from bishops on up, are now in hiding.
It has been scientifically proven that although it is less filling, light beer really doesn’t taste all that great.
I’d strongly ditto this; I didn’t notice any (serious) culture shock when moving away (and away, and away) but I had a pretty serious attitude for the first six months back here. Probably still some residual effects about.
Seems like there’s a lot more bulky cars (look up pictures of Escalade, Explorer, Navigator, ad nauseum) and more flavors of minivans. People drive even worse, but it’ll probably seem like better given where you’re coming from. Everything got more expensive. And music has changed. MTV doesn’t show videos anymore.
Oh, and the planet is ruled by supersmart orangutans and chimpanzees, with gorillas in charge of the military. But this time we can still talk and Marky Mark is going to save our ass.
I moved away from the DC area in 1991, but have visited occasionlly since. Most of the changes have been incremental.
The area is even more expensive, and the congestion even worse, but not to a tremendous degree. Most supermarkets have “affinity cards”. If you don’t have one (they’re free, but used to track your purchases) you have to pay higher prices for many items. There are now electronic signs in the subway that tell when the next train is coming, and there are electronic passes that you can use, but the old farecards are still used, too. The subway has been extended to most (all?) of the stations that were listed as future construction back when you left. In downtown DC, a number of roads have been blocked off for security reasons. The Redskins now play in a stadium in Prince George’s county. After the latest National Hockey League realignment, the Washington Capitals now play in the Southeast division. Last season they came in second in the division behind the Stanley Cup-finalists Carolina Hurricanes. They are still talking about getting a baseball team. There has been a lot of new building in central DC. Virtually all of downtown Alexandria has been gentrified, including the shotgun houses that looked like they would fall over during the next windstorm. Reston has a large “downtown” development of stores and housing which is actually located on its western border. The giant ants have us laboring in their sugar mines. But working conditions are good and we do so willingly. You now have to have a (free) identification card issued before you can request books at the Library of Congress. The Washington Post switched to a slightly smaller layout. The Washington Times has enough circulation to actually be considered a second newspaper. Cecil’s column is still being carried by the City Paper. The slogan on the DC licence plates is now “No Taxation Without Representation”. Radio has been largely deregulated, and giant corporations own most of the major stations. Their programming is generally bland. Cable TV is expensive, but the new digital systems have a large number of channels. MTV rarely plays nusic videos. You can also subscribe to satellite TV.
There are now only about 5 companies left that seem to own everything.
As was mentioned, you’ll be astonished at the number of horrifying maladies–and clever new pharmaceuticals to cure them–being discussed in TV commercials.
You’ll find Howard Stern is now not nearly as shocking as the rest of the media.
Rock and roll culture, for good or bad, has largely fallen to hiphop culture. Punk has been back for a while, but not really–the new punks are better musicians but not very interesting. The world’s most famous rapper is white.
You don’t need to salute firefighters and National Guard members (anymore … a few months ago, you did). Be ready to see soldiers with M16s standing in airports, though.
LA cops are still beating people on video. It’s now caught on in the heartland, too.
COPS is still on the air.
There are these things called Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They’re very dangerous.
People will probably seem a lot fatter.
Portion size, especially at fast food restaurants, will seem absurdly large.
It now costs about the same to get into a movie as it used to cost to get into a rock concert. A three-pack-a-day cigarette habit is no longer economically feasible for most people.
“Low-fat” foods are starting to lose their luster, since everyone eating them is still fat.
Well, if you’re a beer fan, you’ll find that Bud, Miller & Coors are no longer your only options at the local supermarket. Practically everybody now has a nice selection of local microbrews, and hundreds of new craft breweries have sprung up around the country. Mmm…microbrews! (Dang, now I want a beer, and it’s still almost 2 hours until quitting time!)
mmmm… Krispy Kreme! Until just recently, I was The Last Skinny American Guy, but I’ve gained 15kg over the last two years eating the Sprout’s leftovers. The donuts will be a killer. Up to now, I’ve had to fly to Thailand or the Phlippines for them.
The community spirit / friendliness sounds good. Anyone else have this experience? Hope it’s a lasting effect of our recent troubles.
I’m sooo looking forward to some diversity. Taiwan is overwhelmingly Han Chinese, with some aboriginal people and a very light sprinkling of ‘foreingers’ mixed in. I’m somewhat used to being a ‘minority white boy’, having grown up across the street from the EPA in SW, but it sure was easier to ‘blend in’ than it is here.
I’ve got to go teach, but I’ll be back soon to reply to the rest. Thanks so much for the assist!
Where’d I leave off. Bulky cars and bad driving? There’s a guy in my town who owns a Humvee. The funny bit is that probably 80% of the streets in town are too narrow for him to drive on, even taking both lanes of a ‘two way’ street. I’d have thought that recent events would finally have steered My Fellow Americans toward smaller, more efficient transportation, but then I’ve always been a dreamer. BTW, if anybody has or knows of a nice VW Golf TDI for sale in the next month…
Taiwan does have the distinction of the highest accidental death rate in the developed world, and while some of that is industrial accidents I’d imagine most people accidentally die on the roads. The blood alcohol limit for DUI is 0.5 (!) I’m going to type that again. 0.5 I’d be dead, not driving. I’m going to stick with a bike and the Metro as much as possible, and schools for the Bride and Sprout are in the neighborhood, so I imagine we’ll survive.
What’s this about no videos on MTV?! Are they showing a blue screen with a soundtrack these days, or what? Odd that, while rock is dead (?), punk is not. It is good to hear that the District is a two-paper town again. Having been illiterate for ten years, I’m planning a reading binge. If you see someone running amok in the SuperCrown around late August, that’ll be me. On another media note, is broadband internet access widely available? Prohibitively expensive?
Health is a major concern. From what I’ve read, it costs about $500/person/month for insurance. :eek: That’s going to put a huge ding in our finances. I’ll have to avoid the latest trendy diseases and cures and try to stick to stuff I can self diagnose / medicate. Are 39 hour a week, no benefit jobs still the norm, or can a person still reasonable expect to be covered by group insurance at work?
Bill Bryson is a good read. Mom sent “A Walk in the Woods” a while ago, and I read most of “I’m a Stranger Here, Myself” in the bookstore. Thanks for the link!
This is really helping me to get back into the swing. Greatly appreciated! Looking forward to meeting all the fat, friendly, crazy folks back home.
But Ronald McDonald is still there.