Culture shock

1.  Empty.  There are no people.  Or there are few people.  On the roads driving.  On the streets walking.  Inside the stores.  We keep finding ourselves saying, "Look!  On this whole block there is only one person!"  This is 800K vs. 22M.
2.  Traffic.  I drove yesterday because LiLi had a dentist appointment.  It felt like a movie.  It has been a year so of course I can still drive.  But watching traffic and checking intersections...it felt very surreal and quite scary.  Today was much better but still:  at some friends' for dinner tonight I declined wine.  I figured driving home in the dark on SF's hills would be tough enough, I hadn't oughta be adding alcohol to the impairment mix of jetlag and culture shock.
3.  Seeing friends.  I find myself declining invitations and even LiLi says no to playdates and uses the phrase, "I'm feeling overwhelmed."  We're taking it slowly and seeing only one family at a time.  I have nothing to say and also so much to say.  My brain is fuzzy.  I'm profoundly inarticulate.  I need to be around people who are patient and forgiving.
4.  My house.  I'm still in love with my soft bed and great view, and am still annoyed with the long list of broken things from the tenants:  the special red chair half eaten by their dog; two shower curtain rods, two!; two floor lamps; my desk chair; pantry shelf; bathroom doorknob; wrecked finish on the antique Chinese bench coffee table; dog toe nail pock marks in my fir floors; food encrusted pots and pans; nonworking burners on the gas stove...etc etc.  It's all small stuff but like a friend says, a list you'd expect after a decade, not six months.
5.  Jet lag.  Last night was my first slept-through-the-night and a BFF called and came over early, two hours before our new normal wake up time.  We didn't nap this afternoon though we both wanted to.  Tonight I hope we both sleep through---knock wood.
6.  English.  Everyone speaks it here.  We heard Cantonese at a home store but haven't been out enough yet to hear Spanish and Chinese.  That will come.
7.  Sticker shock.  Fruit at US$7.50 a pint.  Cheapo casual lunch at US$17.00.  Plastic trash bin US$14.55 (made in China no doubt.)
8.  Two hands.  In China it is polite to hand passports, credit cards, money, with two hands.  While I was paying for something today, LiLi said, "Mama, you don't have to DO THAT here!!!!!"
9.  Breathing.  The air is so so so clean here.  I am still breathing it in and noticing.  I suspect in a week I will have forgotten.