A Kid In Candy Store

Up to the time when we moved to Ada, Oklahoma, the smallest place I ever lived in was Albuquerque, Mew Mexico.

Those days, I thought Houston and Austin, TX, were small. 
After all, the places I had lived in, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Edinburgh, and London, were all large cities. Shanghai had some six or seven million people when I was there. I think it has some twenty millions in Greater Shanghai now. Hong Kong has some eleven plus millions. I don't know about London, but it is in the many millions.
So, being in Ada was definitely a new experience. 

The other factor was, even in Edinburgh, people accepted me as who I was. In Shanghai or in London, you could be Purple or Green and people paid you no attention. 

I believe, Ada was integrated in 1965, one year before we came here. Those days, you seldom saw any colored people in town. By color, I mean Red, or Yellow, or Brown, or Black.
And you could not tell the Native Americans in Ada from the others - unlike in New Mexico, there are no reservations here. 
I did see cowboys, or people who dressed like cowboys and cowgirls.

In Ada, I guess I was a Novelty. 
I was on Main Street one day not long after we came to Ada, some lady came up to me, gingerly touched my arm, and softly asked me Where I was from and What was I doing in Ada?
I was sure she did not mean any malice.
Still she made me want to say, "I am from Mars."
I did not, of course. 
I just smiled and said, "I am from Albuquerque."
She did not know what to say to me after that.

Some days, people would come up to me and ask me if I were Japanese.
And you know how I feel about THAT!
My answer was a definite "No!"
And when I told them that I was originally from China. They wondered where that was. If I mentioned Hong Kong, they would be totally puzzled.
Most of them were surprised that I could speak English.
"Oh, you speak English," they would say. 
"Oh, you speak good English," other times they would say.
I tried not to make a big deal of it. 
Though in the beginning, Okie English was a bit difficult for me to understand. And the Adans had difficulties understanding my British English.
After being here for 48 years, I now speak Okie.
I learned to use "a little ways" and "I done told him" and similar phrases - depending on whom I am talking to.

When you are selling a ranch to the cowboy, you need to wear jeans and boots, Right?

Governor Henry Bellman gave us "Okie" certificates. That is the Truth. I have the certificates.

Most of the Scientists were from somewhere else. Some of them were also from much larger cities. Most of the wives were suffering from Cultural Shock, in various degrees.
(It just dawned on me that all the scientists at that time were men!)
We had a Wives Club and it helped all of us newcomers to adjust. We had Coffee regularly and talked about whatever we had encountered as Outsiders, trying to laugh off some of the situations.
Many of us had small children and we helped one another, trying to make This Change a bit easier for us.

Since we were in an area where Fishing and Hunting were the Norm for the men, a number of our husbands took up these activities as their new or renewed hobbies. Most of them loved being the Hunters and Fishermen they had dreamed to be. 
And there were some of the Experts to lead the way. 

MY husband, in particular, thought that he had "died and gone to heaven" so to speak, when he found that he could go fishing and hunting in this part of the country a lot of the times. 
He began collecting guns, joined the Skeet Club, and
did skeet-shooting for competition.
He went hunting, doves in particular.
He went fishing. 
He even bought a boat later. 
He bought all kinds of gadgets and learned how to tie fish lures and reloading shots.

What can I say? 

It mattered not at all to him that I had no interest whatsoever in any of that.
I did tell him that I would not clean any fish or doves. I had barely conquered my fear in handling chicken or pork or beef, that came from the stores. I compromised and did cook his "catches" after they were cleaned. 
One time, I had to cook rabbit! I was almost sick. I never did it again.

He was in "seventh heaven."

A kid in Candy Store.