Hello everybody!
I realized yesterday that we’ll be back in the good ol’ USA in 31 days. Wha? Really?
I guess the days just fell away like the hairs on my head. You’ll see what I’m talking about when I get home. One day you’re looking good and then the next, you try to shave your head with your favorite razor setting and realize you need to shave closer -because the usual setting makes you look like you have mange.
Anyway just needed to vent a bit, since I guess I have a problem with expressing my concerns the older I get, or so I’ve been told. With that said, I’m a little worried about going home. Just about everyone keeps telling me: “Oh man, are you ready, ready for the culture shock?” or “It’s not safe over there(USA) the culture is crazy” or “I’m not gonna get to ride my bike because it’s not a bike culture” or “enjoy it (Europe/Germany) while you can” - basically what I can deduce from all this nay-saying is that somehow in the last three years that we’ve been gone - everything turned to poop in the U.S. …
And I began to remember about how I was when I first got here(Germany) and how I wanted to get my hands on a Sonor drum set and then having a German friend point out or rather, saying, “The grass ist allvays greener on dee other side of dee vall.” I said, do you mean fence? He said, vhat?
Which made me take a closer look at Germany – well not just Germany but any place that I’ve visited here in Europe – I can’t say the idea of something “greener on the other side of the fence” never crept into my head, but that is not the point, it was more about this ‘same but different’ idea, not better or worst, because one can always find the better or worst no matter where one is, but for me, it is this ‘different sameness’ thing I think has always been a part of me. Anyway, most of the time I just want to learn more about a place and how different or the same people are in different countries. But I now believe one can’t go to another country saying, “This is better than that.” it just won’t do.
Back to what I was talking about…
But come on, to assume that I will somehow be shocked about my home ground seems, ridículo. Here’s why, I didn’t visit my birth town for about nine years – Plenty of time for “things” to change don’t you think? And I don’t remember experiencing any culture shock. However, what did shock me, was seeing my younger cousins taller and my uncles greyer. Which I believe is not culture shock, unless aging is some form of culture I don’t comprehend.
I believe I’ve changed more than anything and I firmly think it has to do with my ability to adapt or in this case assimilate to my surroundings, believe me I have much practice in both of these studies - all my life kind of practice. As for experiencing any kind of shock…all I can say is, shelve it buddy. Things change – adapt, accept it and live.
Back to the real subject.
See you all soon.
Hugs,
M&L
p.s. much of my ramblings stem from a conversation I had with big bird, julia child and yoda-san.
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