reverse culture shock

For the past few months, I've been thinking about whether I'll experience a reverse culture shock when I return to the Midwest. I wonder which aspects of Southern California were surprising to me at first but then eventually became commonplace and something I don't even think about anymore (like how people bring their dogs everywhere here, even into stores). 

One of the first things that comes to mind is open air shopping malls.   

Open air shopping malls fascinated me when I first came to California. This would never work in Minnesota, I thought. 

Above is the Irvine Spectrum, and below is Fashion Island. That's Drew sitting next to the fountain.

I was also fascinated with restaurants that had only outdoor seating. During the first few years of graduate school, I frequented Taco Mesa for Taco Tuesdays and it took me a while to get used to the fact that my friends and I could eat outside year round. One of my fondest memories is dining at Taco Rosa with a group of about 20 people, during my first year. We couldn't all fit inside, so we sat outside. I think it was the end of October, maybe the beginning of November. We were all transplants, so we thought the weather was beautiful, and in hindsight, we probably looked a little strange (remember that Californians consider temperatures below 60 degrees to be "cold").  

Not all of my observations are weather-related. Last weekend, at Fashion Island, I commented to Drew that we will soon live in a place where Macy's will be the nicest department store in the mall. Here, compared to Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, Macy's is on the "lower" end, at least at the malls closest to where we live. Some of my other observations are also class-related. I drive down the freeway amidst very fancy and expensive cars. I take yoga classes with people who wear nothing but Lululemon. I had a friend who pointed out that there are few places like Orange County, where the contrast between the rich and the poor is so stark, and I'm inclined to agree.  

Another thing I noticed right away when I moved here is that you can buy alcohol in Target. You can also buy alcohol on Sundays (I didn't figure this one out myself; somebody told me). I've never done either one of those things, but I like having the option. That's Drew there in Target, checking out the whiskey.   

    

I've also been thinking about what sorts of adjustments I'll make to fit in again in the Midwest. I'll have to stop saying "the" before the name of a freeway. I will be able to say "pop" again instead of "soda." Some of the less trivial changes I think I'll need to make when I live in Wisconsin are 1) be nice and 2) don't drive like a maniac. Whenever I go home, I always have to remind myself to be nice. I have to remind myself to excuse myself and apologize if I bump into somebody but even if I just almost bump into somebody. I also have to remind myself to drive less aggressively and avoid barreling through four-way stops and cutting people off on the freeway. I have to remind myself to drive Minnesota nice and not California cutthroat.