This year's culture shock

Every time we come back to the US I seem to experience a new level of reverse culture shock. It's mostly because I have forgotten (or never noticed before) something about my American life. Once it was my feeling ambushed by the Twilight explosion in popularity, another time it was the price of gasoline, and, as is the case with many, my first trip to a grocery store. This time, however, I was shocked watching television, specifically the commercials.


Watching football at my sisters' house, I could not stop laughing at some of the ads, particularly those with Peyton Manning in them. I apologized to Kate, reminding her that it was the first time I had seen them.

However, for some reason the real shockers to me were some of the car commercials. For some reason the commercials really surprised me. For an industry that is in trouble (with some of the manufacturers seeking government bail-out money), the commercials seem so---expensive. Certainly, many are toned down, just listing the features of the new model with some lease special, but some are still a little elaborate, like little tv episodes. It seems so excessive compared to the state of that industry.