Reverse Culture Shock I: Who's that on the bill?

It’s been two years and three months since I was last in the United States. I’ve been back in the states since last Thursday and am experiencing big-time what expats who’ve lived overseas for long periods of time call “reverse culture shock.” That’s when one has become so accustomed to life overseas that one finds life in the old country to be all strange and different.

The first day I was home, for example, I was given a stark reminder of how absolutely and pathetically parochial and uninformed most ordinary Americans are about the broader world. My folks picked me up at San Francisco International Airport and drove me back to their home town of Clovis, CA, which is located just east of the larger and better known city of Fresno.

Just before getting home, we stopped off at my bank to deposit a chunk of cash I had brought back to the states from China. As the teller was counting the American money, I asked her if she’d like to look at some Chinese money—I had taken all my RMB with me, as I didn’t want to leave any cash in my apartment. When I showed her a 100 RMB bill, she asked me “who is that on the bill?” Of course, like 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 RMB notes, 100 RMB notes have the facial portrait of the Great Helmsman, Chairman Mao, on the front of the bill. Indeed, since the 100 RMB notes are red-colored and have Mao’s picture on them, we laowai call them a “Red Mao.”

To be sure, Mao died some 30+ years ago. Yet whatever one thinks about him, everyone would have to agree that he was one of the 20th century’s most influential figures. Due to his impact in changing the course of Chinese history, one could also argue that Mao did more than anyone else to alter the course of world history during his lifetime. And this teller wasn’t the only one who couldn’t identify who was on the front of Chinese money. Clerks at several other stores drew a blank, until one fellow at REI—I stopped there to buy some hiking boots, as I anticipate using them in future trekking in Sichuan and Yunan’s mountains—said, “Oh, that’s Chairman Mao!” (His co-worker thought it was Zhou En Lai.)

This ignorance extends beyond ordinary Americans right up to the country’s leading statesman. For example, during the recent presidential election, McCain started blathering on about the Zapatistas in Mexico when someone asked him on a Spanish language radio station about his views regarding Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister, José Luis Zapatero.

Well, as that oldie and baddie 1950’s pop song went, “Don’t know much about history/don’t know much about geography …”