[Spareribs]

On YouTube, vloggers call it reverse culture shock.

Typically the most obvious observation is how so many Americans are extra large in size .....after living in a society of skinny people in parts of Europe or when coming back from a trip to Japan.

I do disagree with Americans who miss eating burgers when traveling abroad. I enjoy American junk food but to be honest, I think food is better in Europe and Asia and I never miss eating burgers and fast food when traveling outside the USA.

However, you can get fast food in Japan too and in my opinion, McDonalds in Japan is a little better than the American version. Although, soda portions are much smaller....but the quality of sodas are better in general. (Love those vending machines ! )

 

[earmonger]

PA!!!! Please vote to think about working people in 2022 and 2024.

 

[Spareribs]

To my knowledge, USA is the only country with free refill sodas at fast food restaurants in the world.

Woo hoo!

 

[Spareribs]

There can also be culture shock within the country too.

Most Americans have never visited some of the remote areas like Wyoming, rural Nevada, rural parts of Alabama and other areas of the south or west.

In some of these areas, you won’t see a McDonald’s, Starbucks or any chain restaurants due to the low population. It’s kind of like time travel to the past. If you see a supermarket, it’s one of those bare minimum small supermarkets from the 1970s. For me, it’s fun to see the odd emptiness. I like that.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

I feel like an experiment where living in a state of permanent culture shock was an unconscious means to become cultured. I'm an american living in the EU now for 6 years. I've traveled to Thailand and China in the past few years, and looking forward to a tour through Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia at some point when travel restrictions ease up again. My work connects me with 5-7 different countries on a daily basis. As viewed through Facebook, the lives of my university and high school classmates in middle America look both cliche and appealing at the same time. Big backyard barbecues with bug zappers, cold watermelon, and squealing children. Pickup trucks and camping trips. Fly fishing in Colorado rivers. Hiking in alpine meadows of the Pacific Northwest. Exploring the gritty chic of New York City.

Here in Brittany, where I live now, there is a Japanese like obsession with cultivating suburban perfection in one's daily routine. I think the thing about America that I miss the most is its savagery. That sense that anything can and will happen also enables a world of possibilities. There is little here in the way of ambition or imagination. Day to day life feels dictated by an air of perpetual contempt for modern society and a growing sense of permanent cultural loss. As a culture and a people they seem doomed to always be looking backward, seldom forward. When I write it down, come to think of it, that sounds exactly like my native state in the heart land. Maybe it's not so different after all.

 

[Chicen]

My first impressions were that I realized how big this country is. What a huge area it is and how beautiful it is. I came to the United States for a trip to Arizona, I really wanted to visit Horseshoe Bend, because I had only seen this canyon for the first time on the Internet. But here I was lucky enough to see it for myself. It is such an incredibly beautiful place that I cannot describe in words the beauty and power of this place. In it you realize that man in relation to nature is just a small insect.

 

[Spareribs]

Yes I agree. Those rural areas of Arizona can be mind bending. Kind of like a psychedelic experience or inner thoughts in some ways. Road trips cross country did influence the hippy culture in the 60s and afterwards.