Adjusting to Your Home Country is no Different than a New Country

I take the same time in each country

I’ve been home from China for nearly three weeks now. While it hasn’t hit me that I’m not going back to China any time soon yet, there’s one thing that both countries have in common. Adjusting to each place can be difficult.

First, there’s the jet lag

There’s a twelve-hour difference between Michigan and China. No matter which country I go to, I have at least two weeks to adjust to time zones.

For both countries, this means I’m in bed insanely early and waking up earlier. If I’m not careful, I look like a zombie for about a week while I adjust.

This means I’ve got to be careful about sitting down anywhere cause at any time, I could fall asleep. The only time I’m okay to be sitting down is when I’m eating. I’ve never been so tired that I’ve fallen asleep while eating. Not yet.

It makes me want to be lazy in my first week I’m in any country. It’s hard to want to do anything when you never know when you’re going to crash.

Then there’s the food

Two countries. Two appetites. Two food cultures. Everything from adjusting to table manners to different kinds of food, I have to re-adjust when I go to both countries.

In America, a lot of the food feels heavy after I eat it, I tend to have a lot of stomachaches after a meal. I’m not sure if it’s what’s being put in the food or the fact there’s way more dairy in the diet than what’s in China. I can taste the sugar with almost every piece of food or drink I consume.

The portions are a lot bigger in America than they are in China. I’ve bought a bottle of Coke in America that’s twice the size of one in China. I’ve mostly stopped drinking Coke or any sort of pop since I’ve been back in America.

It’s a lot cheaper to buy food in the States than it is in China, so it’s guaranteed that we’re going to be cooking when we have dinner back in the States. I’m usually coming back a bit rusty.

When we eat with people in America, table manners are different. You don’t hear people chewing on their food or slurping their soups. We wait until we’ve swallowed our bites of food before we talk. Eating is a mostly quiet affair in the States unless we have a lot to say that day.

In China, it’s a different story. The food doesn’t make me feel as gassy as it does in the States. It’s a lot lighter, but I find myself using the bathroom way more.

The whole time I was in China, I cooked a few times. It was more convenient to order food from a restaurant. I’m not sure if it was cheaper or not. That’s up for debate. I did end up with a lot of plastic containers, though.

The portions are smaller, but there’s also room to eat more food. So there’s more of a variety of food when you’re having a meal in China. I could walk into a restaurant and order two or three dishes. The restaurant people wouldn’t think anything of it. But they would warn me if a meal was bigger than when I thought it was.

The table manners are a complete 180 to what I’m used to in the States. Open-mouthed chewing is standard, as well as talking with your mouth full of food. I’ve been told by locals many times how weird it was I ate so quietly.

And then the finances

The cost of living in both places is different. I’m currently living in a small town in Northern Michigan, and I feel like a lot of things have a similar cost to Beijing. The cost of food is more expensive in America than in China, but the shampoo and some phone brands are cheaper in America than in China.

However, bills in America are more expensive than in China. I paid my electric bill once every spring, and that was it. I didn’t spend more than five dollars on running water either. My phone bill was cheaper in China than in America, too.

If I were living in an American city, I’d feel the difference when it came to the cost of living. In China, I was able to live comfortably on one job. I was able to afford to travel whenever I wanted and go out whenever I wanted. Living in Beijing was more convenient than living in Northern Michigan. Maybe the convenience of Beijing made it cheaper than Northern Michigan.

Adjusting is a process

It doesn’t matter if you’re moving to a new home or going on vacation, adjusting in any place is hard. It’s a process, but it’s the same in any country you go to. Give yourself at least a week, and anyone can adapt to a new place.

If you want to hear from me more, sign up for my email list here!