To say that our last two weeks have been psycho would be an understatement. There was weighing 12 suitcases that hovered at 49.8 pounds each and clearing out junk drawers we didn’t know we had and enduring a house inspection with a Asian lady that wanted to charge us for everything. There were two days in a hotel that proved a very necessary breather, and then there was a 36-hour travel marathon that felt a little like water torture — a slow kind of misery that eventually breaks even the best of souls.
And now, here we’ve landed, like Alice through that hole, back into a whole new world.
And I will write about this transition– all its confusing fallout and glorious hope– I will, but for now, I thought it fitting to re-post a funny article I wrote last summer, when I came back to the States for the first time. I reckon the observations all still ring fairly true . . .
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I’ve been back in the States now for two weeks, after more than a year living outside its borders. Call it reverse-culture-shock, but here’s what I’ve observed about my homeland that I didn’t quite notice before:
1. Subway has too many choices. It’s confusing. And it’s hard to read the menu. And when you stammer about what you want while the lady with the hat and gloves keeps raising her eyebrows like, “Come on lady, seriously, decide. It’s a sandwich,” this can prove an embarrassing situation that blindsides you on a normal Tuesday.
2. America is really clean. I haven’t seen a rat yet on the street. And the public bathrooms kinda remind me of a spa. And the sidewalks are straight and white and even.
3. America is really, really nice. Like houses and bathrooms and cars and couches and refrigerators and carpets– all really, really schwanky. Though I never really thought that before I left.
4. The people in America {sometimes} complain about stupid things. {Oh, wait, that’s just people. Oh, wait, again, that’s just me.}
5. On average, kids have it pretty easy here {and, yes, that’s mine included}. And maybe there are good things and bad things that come with easier. And maybe that’s true in more ways than one.
6. My friends are awesomer than I remembered. And Community is water to a thirsty heart. And I am drinking it up.
7. Americans may be rich {comparatively}, but they can also be incredibly, overwhelmingly generous. Absolutely.
8. The Rockies are breathtaking. And I never appreciated them enough when I drove past them everyday for four years.
9. Problems in the West don’t meet you on the street as much, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t still there in people’s lives. God works through struggles and breathes transformation in wealthy places and in poor,
All. the. Time.
Everywhere.
10. Walmart is insane. Insane, I tell you. You could literally live the rest of your life there and be just fine, I think.
- Originally posted June, 2011
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Okay, so fellow travelers, when you’ve re-entered the States {or your home country} after a week or a few years, what has struck you most? Thoughts on “reverse culture shock” and how to handle it?
LauraParkerBlog.com.
