Not As Weird As I Thought

So. I am back. I'm in the midwest. With my parents.

I thought it would be SO weird to be back in the States after 8 months of Europe. And I must say, it is disappointingly not that strange to be back. All the signs are in English, all I hear around me is English. I can joke around with cashiers and servers again, because I know the language well enough to do that. I have Burt's Bees chapstick again. I can watch Hulu again. All the money is one color and one size. Out of everything that is different in Europe, the 2 things that feel very strange now are the look of the money and the size of the power outlets.

Not that mindblowing. I'm going to chalk this up to reverse-reverse-upside-down and backwards culture shock. After living in San Francisco for 5 years, coming back to the midwest is always a bit of a shock. So there's that.

And being with my parents again is like hanging out in a time capsule. Their lives haven't changed at all, and they don't really get that mine has. I have seen and done and experienced so much, but they can't really comprehend that. It's like I'm telling them about a movie I saw....whether it's about California, Germany, or anywhere else in the world, it just isn't going to really affect them as it has affected me.

Also, I feel like I've moved around so much in the last 8 months that my head is still reeling. At this point, I feel lucky to be in a place long enough to unpack my bag. I have been getting used to new beds, kitchens, bathrooms and roomies for the last 8 months straight.

Europe seems like a dream--fuzzy and unreal. Maybe it'll hit me when I go back??? Who knows? This is definitely not what I expected...but then again, things aren't very fun when they go like you think they will, right?  :)