50 shades of "normality"
- akosvath
- Jul 29, 2015
- 2 min read
"You're being very American."
I had the fan on and was tucked in under the covers. It was the first cool night during this summer's heat wave in Geneva, and I just wanted to be under the covers for once! Actually, this thought process didn't even occur to me at the time – I'm only justifying myself now because my Spanish boyfriend called me an "American" for wasting electricity.
It's not the first time he's said that, and unfortunately for me, he wasn't wrong.
The first time was when we were living in France and I was doing the dishes… with the water running. I'd never even questioned that (even though I do pride myself on turning off the tap while brushing my teeth!). So I was stunned when my boyfriend accused me of being "too American" because I was wasting water. And then it hit me. He actually was right!
It's true! I hadn't even realized. I even scolded my parents for washing the dishes with the tap running the next time I went home. Since then, I've been once again priding myself on my energy-saving habits… including living in an un-airconditioned apartment (not by choice), but hey, something has to make me feel better about sweating out this heat wave.
So I was stunned when my boyfriend wanted to deny me of the pleasure of cocooning myself in sheets, something I hadn't been able to do for weeks. But it's true – there was absolutely no need to have the fan on if I was going to be under the covers.
I hate to admit it but I think growing up in America taught me not to think much about the day-to-day choices I made … but living in Europe slaps me with the reality that it's wrong to have the air conditioning blasting in summer or the heat on full in winter… or to leave the water on while doing the dishes. Many European countries are known for their passion for recycling (Switzerland is one[1]) and it's likely that in America they had to invent "single-stream recycling" (how effective is that, anyway?[2] [3]) because most of us are too lazy to sort our own trash.
I guess my point is that this is reason # 763482039 that living in a different country (especially dating someone from a different culture!) not only opens your eyes to how other people live (a cliché, but true) but more importantly makes you question your own habits. I'm finding that what's "normal" to me is totally barbaric to a European, and vice versa (I'm sorry but what sort of person would eat horse meat, for example?!). I'll never accept absolutely everything they do on this side of the pond, but there are many things I am learning from, and gradually becoming a richer person for it.
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