Ok. So I've been back in Massachusetts for almost a month now. It's been really good to be back. I've made some observations that I'd like to share. Here are a few things about my re-entry adjustment:
Things That Are Nice About Being Back:
Fast Internet. I can watch streaming video. I've watched like 4 hours of SNL sketches and a few episodes of The Office.
Family: It's been really nice to spend time with family and old friends. It's crazy to be only an hour's drive from the house I grew up in.
English: Do you realize that most people here speak my mother tongue? It's such a shock to say something and have it understood right away. I was taken totally by surprise when I was taking the bus from NYC to Northampton and the lady sitting near the bathroom told me there was someone in the bathroom and he was in there a long time. And I understood it all...
Real Doctors: I've gone to see several doctors and been tested for everything you can think of. Their offices are so clean! They even let you go into your own examining room. And when you tell them something about how you're feeling, they actually listen.Clean Restrooms: It is so nice to go into a public restroom and
be able to breath without a scented tissue over my face. You probably think they're nasty, but they are so, so clean! I could go into a lot of detail about how much cleaner these public bathrooms are, but I'll leave it at that.Restrooms Everywhere: Seriously. I can drink coffee, tea, and water all day and almost never have to worry. Every restaurant, coffee shop, gas station, and public building has a bathroom. And they're free! And clean!
Tap Water: Did you know you can drink water out of the tap here?? Not only that, but you can also rinse out your coffee cup and make hot chocolate in it without drying the mug out first.
A Few Things That Are Hard To Adjust To:
Crossing the Street: These laws about yielding to pedestrians are just annoying. I'm used to crossing 4 lane streets lane by lane. I've waited at the yellow line for as long as 5 minutes before, with trucks and buses driving by on both sides. I like to step out into the street and calculate the velocity of the vehicles and the trajectory of our respective paths. It's actually a lot more confusing here when cars actually stop to let you go. I think they're going to make the turn, but they stop mid-stream and yield to me. In my confusion I skip a few beats, and now everyone's late. If you'd just kept driving, you could be down the road by now, and I'd have made it to the other side.Central Heating: It's cold outside and hot inside. What the heck? You're not supposed to wear a T-shirt inside in the winter. For the last 3 years, I spent my winters bundled in multiple layers of long-underwear and fleeces. When I was indoors, I wrapped myself in a fleece blanket
like a strapless wraparound prom dress over the rest of my clothes. When I was outside, the sun was shining enough that just the 2 layers of long undies, fleece top and fleece jacket were enough to keep me warm. Here I can wear a T-shirt indoors, but I need a thick winter coat and hat and gloves outside. It's really hard to adjust to the temperature changes I undergo in the course of just a few minutes.Expensive: Everything here is wicked expensive. Since when is a cup of coffee $1.70? I'm spending $20 on what used to cost me 3. Or $10 on what used to be 25 cents. My monthly rent for a room in a boarding house is more than 6 months rent for my 3 bedroom apartment in Asia, which had a utility room, kitchen, bathroom, and little sun room type deal. And that included landscaping for the outside.
Nifty Things I Forgot About:
Leaves: The floor of the woods is covered in brown leaves that fell off the trees. I forgot about that space of time between Fall and the first snowfall when there are brown leaves everywhere. The landscape has a neat tint of gray and brown. It's kind of a depressing color scheme, but it's kind of neat, too.
Fallen Trees: In the woods around here, sometimes trees fall over and uproot themselves. The roots end up forming this neat little round dirt wall. It's really kind of cool. You don't see that everywhere.
Stones: There are a lot of rocks around here. Big ones. There are huge ones by the sides of the roads. And stone walls everywhere. They're pretty cool, too.
Cranberries: Cranberries are like the best ... They're not very common worldwide, you know. You should be more thankful for cranberries.
