Monday, January 9, 2012

Culture Shock

Just two more days and I can say that I have been home for a month. I've been delaying, but I guess it's finally time to update my blog.

So, do I have culture shock?
Yes, I think I do...not that it's terribly bad....but I am still getting acquainted with some aspects of American culture, and avoiding (at all costs) other aspects.














My sister asked me "Why does it bother you? You've lived twenty-two and a half years with these things and you were only gone for eleven months...It's not like it's new to you."

She has a point, it's not like I have never experienced a Starbucks being open on Christmas day before, or never jumped in the car to drive half a mile away. I have heard the question "Small, medium, or large?" But while I used to order a large drink and devour it in ten minutes, it now takes me twenty minutes to finish a small.

And there are some cultural changes that have happened here...while I was learning to live a more simple life, American kept pushing forward. And I'm not just talking about space phones that can do everything imaginable to mankind.

For example, in Arizona we now have dine-in movie theaters.














And apparently it's now quite popular for girls to purposefully have dark roots
with blood hair.

Actually, I never knew how stylish I was at 15...
Way ahead of my time, really. 



















Yes, America has advanced greatly. 

Although, I can't help but recognized that I am seeing things through new eyes.  

I can't help but wonder, what is it that they put in a loaf of bread that makes it last so long? You know, in other countries, people buy or make fresh bread everyday. They don't slice it, bag it, and save it for weeks. 

Please, don't misunderstand me...I am happy to be home. I'm different and home is different, but I am still in God's hands, confident that I am right where He wants me to be. I'm not distraught or having an identity crisis, just taking one day at a time.