Reverse culture shock

My first full day back on Canadian soil, I was awake at 4 AM.  (A pox on you, jetlag!) So I went for a run.

And it was still dark. 

Say what?

A couple days ago, I was in a check-out line at a store.  They opened up a new line, and I booted it over, beating out the guy who had been originally in front of me.  

The cashier wanted to serve him first.

I was embarrassed.

Many times, I've been almost scared to cross the road ... until the cars have slowed down, the drivers have caught my eye and waved me across.

Oh, right. Pedestrians have the right of way here.

When hanging out with a friend in a fast-food joint, I actually said, "I'm not sure if I should clear my own table here ..."

Her response was, "If they didn't put it down, they won't take it away."   

I need to remember that.

Yesterday, I was served a meal by a couple of Asians and was compelled to ask, "you can jing zhi ma?"  (Do you have napkins?)

Napkins were placed on my tray before I got the words out of my mouth. I didn't need to ask for them.

Whoa....

I asked a friend to knit something for me. She said, "give me a price" and didn't haggle when I did.

I didn't quite know how to handle that.

Last night, I had the opportunity to share about my time in China, and focused a lot on cultural differences.  Someone piped up and made the following observation:

"I wonder how immigrants who come here put up with the differences. Maybe that's why they isolate themselves and form their own communities."

Call me slow, but all of a sudden, the existence of Toronto's Chinatown makes a lot of sense.