The adventure has ended.
Our travel was long (we left the student flat at 6:15 a.m. British Time and arrived in the Twin Cities at 7 p.m. Central, which is the equivalent of 1 a.m. the next day, British Time), but uneventful. Jet lag is definitely catching up with us, but we've had worse. We'll spend a few days with our daughter and son-in-law here to recover.
The first order of business will be to get a car, as mass transit doesn't work as well here as in Europe. Next we need a house, since we've been "homeless people" while in England. Then there are all the little things, such as phones, internet access, cable TV, and the other necessities of First World, 21st Century life. There will be a few more posts over the next month about these adjustments.
Reverse culture shock occurs after returning from a long time away. These have been subtle little revelations that last only an instant before the conscious mind says, "Of course!": Coming to a stop sign and looking for traffic to come from the right instead of from the left (!). Reaching for the plug of an appliance and being surprised to find that it's a small, two-pronged plug instead of the big, honking 3-prong British variety (!). Hearing people speaking on the street and thinking to oneself, "they must be Americans" (!). I'm sure there will be other, more profound observations in the days ahead.
Do we miss England? Yes. Are we glad to be home? Yes to that, too.
1 comment:
One culture shock moment for me upon returning from Nottingham was sales tax. I was briefly shocked to hear the cashier announce a price that was about 5% higher than what was listed on the menu board at a Dairy Queen! I quickly consoled myself that at least I wasn't paying the 17% VAT any more.
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