When you live in China, every time you go to the U.S. you stock up on things that are hard or expensive to get in China. This means mostly fairly mundane food items for most Americans. When a box of Cheerios costs US$10, the local oatmeal starts to look better. Anyway, a recent Hawaii trip was no exception. We went there with 2 suitcases of stuff and 7 empty suitcases nested inside each other. After a big Costco trip (on everyone's Hawaiian tourist list - beach, luau, Costco), we showed up at the check-in counter with 9 bags, each maxed out on the 50 pound weight limit, 3 car seats and a bunch of carry-ons. It was obvious that people thought we were insane – did we each bring 100 swimsuits? One guy made a comment incorporating a reference to the kitchen sink. I had to fill him in on our living arrangements, which I think at 5:45am both clarified and confused things for the poor guy.
