Culture Shock

I have been back in the United States for one week. Adjusting to living in my hometown again is more difficult than I expected. This is the first time in 6 years that I have been here without a definite date to leave again. Walking around our annual town festival on Saturday, an old friend and I remarked that it was like a bad family reunion. I continue to feel surprised by how many people I know. Some things have changed, and some have not.

Here are a few of the shocks I have experienced, things that are totally different from what I have become accustomed to:

• No one says "eh" 
• The rate of speech is much faster than I have been hearing for the past three months
• I don't sound like I have an accent anymore (well, to anyone not from the Chicagoland area, I have a definite accent)
• I went for a run Sunday morning and did not see a single other pedestrian, and the number of cars could be counted on one hand
• I got chased by a ferocious dog on my run
• Everything is big
• I don't hear noises from any neighbors when I am in my house
• No wireless internet at my house
• I recognized and could name most of the people at my church
• It's hot
• We have air conditioning
• There are screens on the windows and doors, and they must be used
• No mountains
• No ocean or sea
• No public transportation within a half hour of my house
• There are fireflies over the cornfields
• I wore a t-shirt and shorts to town without feeling under-dressed

I could go on and on because there are so many things that are different here. I have not yet braved a grocery store, but I'm sure that will be another adventure into the land of the unknown - or at least long-forgotten. I guess all of this change is good for enhancing my adaptability though. :)