I'm finally home

texasjohn · Aug 12, 2007

Welcome back and Thanks!

Yep, everybody expects the culture shock when going to a different country and staying there for a while...

BUT, the surprise is all the culture/changes that occur while you are away for an extended time... an amazing amount of tiny things... the labels on various products, new signs in town, clothes are different, shoes different, slang changes, jokes sometimes don't make sense because you missed the event that everybody else knows about... and, these all add up to feeling like a "stranger in a strange land!"

Tractors4u · Aug 12, 2007

You really hit the nail on the head. Where I live we are going through a big housing boom and new restaurants and businesses are building in the nearby town. That has come as some what of an expected shock. There are a lot of little things. The other day my daughter and I were out feeding the horses and I saw what looked like a domestic rabbit beside the barn munching on grass. I was so excited about this discovery and my 10 year old says, "yeah he just showed up about a month ago". It is amazing what something as simple as a stray rabbit showing up seems like. You think you have kept up with everything going on. When we landed in Gulfport MS and were riding through the city heading to the base everyone was pointing out restaurants and new car dealerships like they had never seen them before.

I also discovered tonight that Wendy's has vanilla Frosty's.

texasjohn said:
Welcome back and Thanks!

Yep, everybody expects the culture shock when going to a different country and staying there for a while...

BUT, the surprise is all the culture/changes that occur while you are away for an extended time... an amazing amount of tiny things... the labels on various products, new signs in town, clothes are different, shoes different, slang changes, jokes sometimes don't make sense because you missed the event that everybody else knows about... and, these all add up to feeling like a "stranger in a strange land!"

texasjohn · Aug 12, 2007

Yep, all these hit you at once... and are totally unexpected.

I'll bet that the next thing that hits you, if it hasn't already, is the "case of I almost know you!"

You'll catch a glimpse of someone, front, side, walking, sitting, whatever... and you will instantly "know" that person from where you have been and be increduluous that "they" are there. You will take a second and a third look and can just about convince yourself that it IS the person you knew... but there is about a 4% difference that is just enough to stop you from making a fool of yourself... I don't understand it... but it seems to be a factor in the genetic makeup of MAN. The same physical characteristics, walk, hair color, height, face shape, gestures, etc. seem to pop up in widely separated places on earth... at least that's what I've experienced on returning from a long stay away from the US.

It really leaves a funny feeling in the tummy when this happens.. and it happened to me a number of times.

Tractors4u · Aug 12, 2007

You are all over it. I have the tendancey to think everyone looks familiar. yesterday at an antique tractor show I saw a guy that looked familiar and the first person I thought of was a major that I knew over there. I knew in an instant that it was not him, but again, I thought he looked familiar.

texasjohn said:
Yep, all these hit you at once... and are totally unexpected.

I'll bet that the next thing that hits you, if it hasn't already, is the "case of I almost know you!"

You'll catch a glimpse of someone, front, side, walking, sitting, whatever... and you will instantly "know" that person from where you have been and be increduluous that "they" are there. You will take a second and a third look and can just about convince yourself that it IS the person you knew... but there is about a 4% difference that is just enough to stop you from making a fool of yourself... I don't understand it... but it seems to be a factor in the genetic makeup of MAN. The same physical characteristics, walk, hair color, height, face shape, gestures, etc. seem to pop up in widely separated places on earth... at least that's what I've experienced on returning from a long stay away from the US.

It really leaves a funny feeling in the tummy when this happens.. and it happened to me a number of times.

texasjohn · Aug 13, 2007

Welcome back... when gone, "home" stays frozen in our minds... but it really moves and changes at a previously unappreciated rate. It takes a while to catch up and return the expectations to normal... first month is the worst.. after about 6 months the "surprises" are very few.