Salt
I bought a bag of salt at the grocery store and was looking for a salt shaker. No luck at all, nothing even remotely like a salt shaker. I was so confused as to how there could be salt but no salt shakers. How do people get their salt evenly and cleanly onto their food? Then I opened the bag of salt. It has the consistency and texture of brown sugar, there's no way it would pour out of a salt shaker like the granulated salt I am used to. It's eye-opening to realize how many of these cultural biases I have. The big ones you can try to prepare yourself for; these small ones catch you off guard, and I think it is the small ones that most contribute to culture shock over the long-term. As we (Peace Corps Volunteers) like to say, "Everything's the same, except it's all different."
Comments
I've heard horrendous things about how dirty China can be... *gulp*
How long will you be in the States? You must be sooo excited!!
Techno, I aim to please. Everything you had heard is true, and the reality is even worse. I had to give up caring or I would go crazy. But I still care a little bit!