coffee cupdate: reverse culture shock

If we were to sit down for a cup of coffee I would have a lot to tell you.

First I'd share with you that I've been in America for one full week now, and am still laughing at myself for little cultural mixups that have been happening to me.

I'd tell you, perhaps with a hint of frustration, that everytime I get into my mom's Explorer, my left foot searches relentlessly for the clutch, and my right hand automatically reaches down for the shifter ... but either one has yet to find it because my mom's Explorer is an automatic!

I'd mention how strange it is for me now to throw everything away in the same trashcan, and how yesterday when my mom asked me to bring in the garbage can I couldn't believe how BIG the can was!

I'd shake my head in shame as I confess to you how much pop - namely root beer - I've consumed in the past week and the weight I've probably gained because of it.

I'd confess that I have a love/hate relationship with air conditioning. I love it when I'm trying to sleep at night and the humidity is so thick it can be cut with a butter knife, but I hate it when I'm in the middle of church/a theater/a restaurant/a grocery store and can't stop shivering!

I'd ask you if you've ever experienced culture shock, or even reverse culture shock upon returning to America. What would you tell me?