OK, not really, at least I hope not, BUT - I have noticed some attitudes and behaviors creeping into my way of being that alarm me. These are things that I know are wrong/annoying/indefensible...but I still kind of think/do them anyway.
Extreme, biased, cherry-picked comparisons. The weather here (in the US) is so nice! Because it's 120 at home. On the other hand, grr, fresh juice is so hard to find here and so expensive when you do! Because it's 5dhs/500mL at home. Get the idea?
Why can't everyone just come see us? Sometimes it's hard to realize that even after spending the greater part of 24 hours on planes to get to the US, we still have to drive around a whole bunch to see the people we care about. Sigh. Can we establish some kind of system where we hold court in some neutral location and everyone comes to us? No? Oh well. See also: we paid the most to be here and we came the farthest, so everyone else schedule their vacations around us, mmmkay? Ugh, I hate myself.
Who are these people? And by "these people," I mean "my countrymen." Look, there are annoying, public-space-taking-up, stupid-opinion-having people EVERYWHERE. It's just easier to bust out the righteous indignation when you're on vacation in the Motherland.
I'm not weird, OK? Oh no, of course not. I just pronounce words a little off and act like a tourist in the grocery store and drive too aggressively and am completely out of touch with the latest basic strategies of living in the US, such as how to shop around for the best gas price.
I will turn up my nose at you for turning up your nose at me, for eating low-brow American food and loving it. Look, these days I am positively enchanted by Oreos, hot dogs, Lucky Charms, and ham lunchmeat. DON'T JUDGE ME.
I will constantly talk about how cheap everything is. Food, clothes - it's like this country is just giving it all away!
In Dubai, blah blah blah. I know I probably say this a lot - sorry!
Did I get everything? Maybe I don't want to know if I missed anything. I feel especially bad about the second item on this list, because that is a super snotty attitude to have. And yet, it still creeps up on me if I don't consciously keep it in check. I know that summers of endless travel is something we signed up for when we moved overseas, but that doesn't make it any easier to live out of an increasingly disorganized suitcase for 4+ weeks and sleep in seven different locations over the same time period, all with kids in tow.
Of course, the stress is mitigated by the fact that between binge-packing sessions, our families show us a pretty good time. And that's what keeps us coming back.
