Day Six of our Great American Adventure. They say that for every time zone crossed in travel, it takes one day for a person's body to adjust -- thus, the six hours of time difference between Amsterdam and the Eastern United States should translate to six days of jet lag before our bodies feel normal again. And while this seems to be true for Marci, Elliot, and Cor -- I'm not so sure how the rule-of-thumb applies to me and Olivia.  Ah well.  One of these days we should all be back to normal (and let it be said that I am eagerly anticipating that day!).  Our laptop computer's screen was damaged during travel, so I haven't been able to blog as much as I would like (somehow, writing things down in this space helps me to process the events for myself). But borrowing some time on a friend's computer is allowing me to check in here and now -- and though I can't write for very long, I thought I would share some interesting (though rather random) observations of cultural adjustment

I'm finding it difficult to train myself to not use the word WC ("vay-say") to refer to the restroom facilities.  I constantly feel tempted to ask "Where is the WC?" or to excuse myself from a room with an explanation like "I need to go use the WC."  And though I'm sure no one really cares if I use the Dutch/English word for the toilet, I find it important for myself to make the cultural adaptation (still working on it)

Elliot has "forgotten" how to speak Dutch already, less than a week into our visit to the USA.  People will ask him, "What's the Dutch word for ______?" and he will invariably reply that he can't remember.  Even when I talk to him one-on-one (initiating in Dutch), he will say that he can't or won't speak Dutch -- "because the people here can't understand it."  I'm surprised that his cultural perception is so acute.  But then again, it makes sense.  I guess he just doesn't want to be the weird European kid or some kind of performing circus monkey.  And frankly, I can completely identify with him.  So we're still figuring our way out here in our "homeland."

I always used to hear European people complaining about Americans asking "How are you?" without expecting (or even being prepared for) a sincere reply -- but I never really understood it (at least not on the felt level) until this trip to America.  Especially in the Southeast part of the United States (where we've been visiting up to this point), "How're you?" is not really a question as much as a salutation.  In a post office in Virginia I heard one person answer the "question" of "How're you?" with a response of "How're you?"  Very odd indeed.

Perhaps I will be able to add more observations later.  But for now my blogging time is up.  I'm off to the next great experience in this Great American Adventure.