5000 miles and 10 hours later...
Sitting on the Heartland Flyer last night as the sun faded into the West in a typically beautiful Southwestern sunset, I reflected on the strange experience of being thrown from one culture to an entirely different one in a short amount of time.
Coming back, I realized, is interesting in that as soon as I get out of the airplane, comfort and familiarity flood in on a conscious and subconscious level, and part of me is so excited to be home, where everything feels, smells, looks familiar and comfortable. I love home!
And then, I hear obnoxious people talking, I drive through the sprawling unstoppable cancer of Dallas/Ft. Worth, I see miles of strip malls, and all the flaws start seeping in. And then I remember that the grass really isn't greener on the other side.
Its a slight disappointment, but then I don't resent it. It just puts everything back into perspective and makes me appreciate the good points about the US and Britain both more. And it reminds me that changing location is not a remedy for any sort of unhappiness, or discomfort that I feel when I'm on one side or the other.
Sam says he knows exactly what I mean, and that the more he goes back & forth the more he's able to see the good & the bad all together all the time. Its easy at first to just think about the things you miss, instead of the things that are really annoying.
But, I have to say that I'm definitely starting to regard the UK as home in a sense and am more bound to both countries. It's a weird feeling, but I'm glad to have 2 homes, and glad to be married to Sam who has 2 homes, too.
Coming back, I realized, is interesting in that as soon as I get out of the airplane, comfort and familiarity flood in on a conscious and subconscious level, and part of me is so excited to be home, where everything feels, smells, looks familiar and comfortable. I love home!
And then, I hear obnoxious people talking, I drive through the sprawling unstoppable cancer of Dallas/Ft. Worth, I see miles of strip malls, and all the flaws start seeping in. And then I remember that the grass really isn't greener on the other side.
Its a slight disappointment, but then I don't resent it. It just puts everything back into perspective and makes me appreciate the good points about the US and Britain both more. And it reminds me that changing location is not a remedy for any sort of unhappiness, or discomfort that I feel when I'm on one side or the other.
Sam says he knows exactly what I mean, and that the more he goes back & forth the more he's able to see the good & the bad all together all the time. Its easy at first to just think about the things you miss, instead of the things that are really annoying.
But, I have to say that I'm definitely starting to regard the UK as home in a sense and am more bound to both countries. It's a weird feeling, but I'm glad to have 2 homes, and glad to be married to Sam who has 2 homes, too.
posted by Laura Negus at 9:41 AM
1 Comments:
Chubby, is this at all what it was like when you were traveling with the gypsies? I mean it's like you NEVER had a real home then. Just the tents and the market villages...
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