I’m back in the US for about 10 days.   Some fun differences in living style, habits, and culture that smacked me in the face within twelve hours of arriving in the US:

• At Hong Kong airport, walking to the gate for the first plane on the journey to Seattle.   I swear I hear the announcer call for boarding for business class ticket holders.   So, I look at the gate, there are two long lines about 3-5 feet away from the check-in point.   Someone just went through but no one else is moving.   So, doing the only normal thing for someone in China to do, I walk directly up to the check-in point when a cantankerous old American traveler barks at me, “Hey!   Git in line like the rest of us!”   “Didn’t they just call business class?”   “Yeah, but (stumble for more angry words as I walk to the back of the line).”   In China, if there’s a line that far away and there’s nobody moving, then there’s no line.   (Most of the travelers in this line were Americans.)
• Cars stop if I’m just standing on the sidewalk facing the road even with no intention of crossing.   Those who know me well know this is my #1 pet peeve about the Seattle area – pedestrians can stop traffic.   I’m resisting the urge to go off on how ludicrous of an idea this county law is.   I find it funny that in China you can easily find thirty people lined up along the double yellow lines waiting to pass between moving traffic.
• I went to get a breakfast bagel at Noah’s in Kirkland right after opening.   I told the manager that, according to their hours posted, they opened one hour late.   She went off to fix the sign instructing one of the young lady staff members to take care of me before she went to her car to get some personal item.   As the manager walked off, I noticed out of the corner of my eye the girl making an angry face behind the manager’s back and the eyeroll at another coworker.   “Not a big fan of the manager, eh?” “Well, <sigh> sometimes…”   I have not seen anything remotely close to that in China, just the opposite.   And they don’t work for tips there either.   That’s right, tipping is not a custom in China.   But, while I was in Xi’an last weekend, I did see some oblivious tourists tipping bellboys for carrying their bags out to the busses.   Stop!

Lines in the west…and in China:

Courtesy of this website.