Back in the USA

Back in the USA (Cleveland) for a conference about how business can benefit society, I've realised how much of American life had slipped my mind. Ever since my previous American experiences, including working in Southern Ohio, I have long championed USA as a great place, full of friendly, hard-working people -and tried to convince people that USA is not what you think it is. I believe most other Westerners THINK they know what USA is, and that is the problem. Plus of course the USA is a continent rather than a country -and so diverse in itself it is incredible.

So what did I forget?
-How fat the really fat people are
-How many restaurants are EVERYWHERE (and how 90% of them are chain restaurants, and how 75% of the food they serve is the same -burgers, steaks and maybe some salad or pasta)
-How much space there is everywhere
-How everyone's houses have lawns, garages and just 1 or 2 storeys
-How great the service is (and how credit cards are accepted everywhere)
-How big all the stupid cars are.. sorry, not cars -there are no cars anymore in this country, just trucks and Mini-vans!
-How nice it is to have desserts, salads and tap water

And what has changed?
-People seem to be more aware of food issues (organic, healthy) and exercise; though not enough people evidently get involved in both
-Shops have already started to put up Xmas decorations.. instead of waiting until after Thanksgiving (or indeed, after Halloween)
-The food has got even weirder and more man-made "the better it tastes, the more un-natural it is"
-More terrorism threats every week (successfully removed by fantastic government) "intended to keep us scared, and 'confident' of the government"
-My accent apparently, according to people here who last spoke to me 2-3 years ago ("less English")

It was a little weird back in January going to Belgium.. and being a foreigner yet looking somewhat like a local. So although I feel like a foreigner, no-one treats me like one. It is the same in the USA of course, which is just not what I am used to in China. What is weirder is hearing so many American accents everywhere (on street, in malls etc); normally I would turn around to see who the American is (in China, or maybe even in Europe) since they are kinda rare.. and normally Americans overseas are interesting to talk to (apart from the tourist groups) -but of course here, everyone has american accents. It was pretty cool seeing some cultural diversity at Chicago airport (none really in China, compared to number of Chinese people!), and then weirder still seeing absolutely no cultural diversity in suburban Cleveland.

I just read some of the local paper (the 'plain dealer') and discovered that more fast food chains (e.g. dunkin' donuts) are expanding even more (is there even a market for more?) in the USA, meanwhile I have to spend another 8 days in the country where Cider does not have alocohol, biscuits are hard scones, cookies are biscuits, chips are crisps and of course soccer is football. What the?