Because I don’t live in the U.S. full time but only visit for a couple months during anime convention season, I notice things about my country that those living here full time might not. For example, I notice, or think I notice, when prices for goods rise more than normal residents might because it’s not a gradual thing for me. Also, I’m sensitive to new phrases that become popular in the U.S., like the summer every service employee was calling me “boss” (“sure thing, boss!”), or the current trend of using “thank you so much” as the exclusive way to thank someone after making a transaction. And kombucha, what’s up with that? That stuff is suddenly everywhere.
This year, rather than just stay in California, I traveled to Annapolis to visit family and my father’s grave, then brought my daughter to New York City for sightseeing, so I opened myself up to more surprises and culture shock than I’d normally have. We had a blast, visiting all the best museums and historical sites, and walking all over the city. Here are some things we learned…
- I’ve been to New York several times in the past, so I knew to get the tourist-ey stuff out of the way quickly and move on to the more meaningful things. I’m a card-carrying fan of Atlas Obscura, which guides you to obscure historical sites of interest, like the legendary wooden escalators of Macy’s department store.
- New York is great for visiting your favorite movie sites. We had to hit all our favorite filming locations from Enchanted and Avengers.
- My daughter is terrified of cockroaches and was sure she’d see many on the street while we walked, which happens a lot in California. Happily, we didn’t see any. I think we just got lucky.
- I learned that in the summer there are extremely localized rain showers you need to be careful of when walking in NYC.
- There are so many cool old buildings to admire the architecture of. And they make them in LEGO now.
- The phrase “dip your credit card” was new to us. It still feels odd.
- Taxis in NYC have really improved, which they obviously need to do to compete against the likes of Uber. I liked the Curb app that let you pre-pay for a ride while in the cab, saving time for everyone.
- The level of George Washington and Alexander Hamilton worship in the city was impressive. And I approve.
- Compared to California, there are a lot of smokers in New York, usually doing aruki-tabako (smoking while walking on the street).
- It’s fun learning the etymology of the place names in New York.
So now it’s time to head back to Japan, and bear the rest of the horrid summer heat and humidity I know will be waiting for me. I know everything will look super clean and organized, all the food and drink portions will be ridiculously small. I’ll get used to it soon, I’m sure.
Goodbye New York, and hello Japan!
