Once again America has proved she is number one. We are officially the best at spreading the coronavirus (or at the very least, the winners of most people with COViD 19) in the world. Go us!
As the old saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas – and while that is probably true, after living in Europe for a few years, I’ll delicately extend that to the rest of the US. This is the longest I’ve been home for a while, and I have to say, it is more comfortable this time. Whenever I come back for just a few weeks, I feel like I am trying to squeeze everything in. It’s rushed and there’s always so much eating! That’s probably why I always come away feeling repugnant for a fortnight of over indulgence. (logically so)
That being said, it is still weird and there are still things that bother me. It’s funny how living outside of your culture (assuming you’ve always grown up as an insider to your home culture, like I have) makes the weirdness of each of those lifestyles, attitudes, and philosophies more apparent. Gotta love juxtaposition!
I am trying not be a woke, hipster millennial that is wringing out pompous Europeanisms on whomever she deems uncultured. But it is SO hard not to compare everything. Oh, in Slovakia we do this or that, blah blah blah. I find myself doing this literally everytime I’m back. (but again, this is just the 4th time I’ve been ”back” since the move. This time though, I feel like I am present here. In my home country. With enough stability and time to actually take in ”America.” But that again is probably insufficient. I’m homebound, some what I am actually assimilating to is the ”Cramer culture.”
That is strange too. I know I’ve changed in the last few years, and my parents, they’ve aged, they’ve grown as people, they’ve seen some real hardship, and come out the other side different. It’s always a funny thing to come back to your home as an adult. That was always a bizarre for me when I was at uni, and it’s even more pronounced now. Overall though, after these last 4 weeks, I am starting to feel like I have a stronger sense of myself here. There is still the occasional blind fury that reverse culture shock sends me into, point and case: Costco – but everything is starting to feel a bit more normal and less like walking around in a dream.
I did actually start writing this to talk about Costco, and I’ve accidentally derailed myself, so let’s return! America loves shopping. that is literally how our economy works, when we had the recession, the government sent out checks to people so they would go by things and restart up our economy. Mmmmhhhh, people who bought things they didn’t need and couldn’t afford, being asked to continue buying things they don’t need and can’t afford (this is one of my big frustrations with this country). That being said, we are once again in a state of United crisis, and the answer is suddenly NOT about buying things. But for some reason, our knee jerk reaction is to still go spend money.
No store quite encapsulates this as much as Costco – it’s a store that sells things in bulk. It’s actually a wonderful store that is prime for shopping for long term hibernation. But, there is still something that is uncomfortable about it’s excess.
The smallest container of eggs was 5 dozen. And my dad is grabbing frozen pizza (of which you must buy in packs of 4)
Imagine a store of freaked-out Americans all pushing ELEPHANTINE carts filled to the brim. There was just something so creepy about it. We went at an off time, but even still the was a line going into the store.
This was one of my first trips out in public for a few weeks, and it truly was a strange atmosphere.
Though the thoughts we’re disorganized, frankly that’s how I’m feeling these days. Slowly recalibrating to my home culture, trying to maintain teaching through the internet with a 9 hour time difference, and wholeheartedly enjoying the smell of the Juniper trees, cooking with my mom, laughing with my brother, discussing theology and politics with my dad, and getting a bit of r&r.
Absolutely a strange time to be alive!
Randall's Sandals 