Posts
The U.S.A chant began on the jet way in Hong Kong. The flight attendant noted, “Wow, your
excited.” Yep. On my 14-hour flight, I
woke up often from my prescription drug induced haze to remind myself that at
the end of that torture, I would be home.
I nearly skipped through the U.S. citizen channel at immigration. If felt so good to not be considered a
“visitor.”
With great fervor I began eating favorite meals, seeing
favorite people and packing in as much “‘Merica” as I could. I got behind the wheel of a car and did my
own laundry for the first time in 10 months.
Thus began the surprisingly tricky process of becoming reacquainted with
my home.
I found myself often saying, “That’s weird.” But I guess
that was my simplistic way of saying, “Whoa.
I know this is a normal situation/thing and no one else is acting like
this is a strange situation/thing, but really, this feels foreign to me.”
A week after I returned, I traveled with a group of friends
to southern Missouri for a camping and canoeing trip. Talk about culture shock. If you have ever been on the Niangua River on
a Saturday in the summer, you will understand what I am talking about. For those who haven’t, imagine spring break
on a river with significantly more country music and chewing tobacco. Now I love camping, canoeing and campfires, but
after having spent an entire year in a country that is so NOT like southern
Missouri… It was a little overwhelming.
I was also shocked about my reaction to things I saw in the
news. I went on a rant one evening after
seeing a story about a shooting at a local swimming pool. I know there is crime
in Shekou. I’m sure there is violence of
some type, but I haven’t seen it and I’m fairly certain it doesn’t involve
shootings at swimming pools. Besides
dealing with drunken expat businessmen, I have never felt unsafe in
Shekou. To be honest, I was a little
pissed off that I felt so unsafe in my own city. This incident combined with the raging hatred
that was spewed after the Supreme Court decision on healthcare made me a little
angry with and ashamed of America.
To be honest, the first couple weeks were rough.
I’m not sure when it was, but at some point I stopped
looking at my home country as some kind of freak show and remembered how great
and wonderful it really is.
I mean… the US has roller derby.
And 4th of July parades with Shriners and John
Deere tractors.
And bar trivia.
And delicious finely crafted Boulevard Beer (and coozies to
keep that beer cold).
And Bluegrass music at open mic nights.
And Jacob’s Well Church, among others.
And a free and unfiltered Internet.
It is pretty great, isn’t it?
{I purposefully decided not to write my blog while I was in
the US. It just didn’t seem right. I feel like being here, ironically, gives me freedom
to really express what I am thinking and feeling. Distance makes me a bit
bolder I guess. I saw many of you this
summer and several of you told me that you read this and enjoy it. Thank you. I am so glad you do.}
