A foreigner at home

When I come to the U.S., I try to notice things that seem unusual to foreign eyes. I think it is important to do this as an exercise in understanding how newcomers feel. I take my camera everywhere, looking for those points of confusion. But many of them are hard to convey in text or pictures: the traffic patterns; the body language as people relate to each other; the different sounds and smells.

My skills of observation are especially dulled since I was just here a few months ago. Perhaps if I were in the CIA I would do better (note to the FSB: I'm NOT a spy!).

It seems too much like stalking to take pictures of people, and I'm too shy to ask.

So I'm left with random shots of the highway taken out the car window....

When you live in another country, you notice things like where the horizon is and what decorates it.





...how many lanes there are and what kinds of car people drive





...what is growing by the side of the road.





I also have random shots of wildlife, like when I was trying to find the resident snake and stumbled across a toad...





And just some unique places. Being ready to tell their story is good.


There are a million other things, like the heaviness of the air; the way the showerhead works; the way products are categorized at the grocery store. Little things...that aren't really a problem, but take energy to figure out.