Reflections Back at Home

BACK HOME

We had heard stories of reverse culture shock from friends who studied or lived abroad, or who did short term international missions. We weren’t sure two weeks was enough to garner any American culture shock coming home, but sure enough, a few things surprised us:

-seeing blue water, not brown!

-seeing green money

-people talking to themselves (on cell phone headsets)

-not making eye contact with everyone you pass

-flushing our toilet paper!

-how dry and chafed our lips and skin felt in low humidity

-blue skies all day, and no rain in the afternoons

-having to do chores and cook for ourselves again!

The trip was truly amazing. We are still unpacking the memories as we attempt to sort through photos and stories. It’s hard to answer when people ask us for details – only because there are so many! How do you share all of this without going on for an hour? When we first came back, we talked about other places we would like to go next. Generally, we both would rather see something new than return to a place we have been. It’s a big world, and a short life! But the longer I am home, the more I hope I get to return to Thailand. There is so much we didn’t see, and so much I would want to see again!

We also can see a difference in our lives at home because of the trip. We both are trying to move slower, to savor the details about our lives instead of hurrying through it all (although, the busy-ness is winning in that battle currently!). We both want to travel more. But we also learned a lot about depending on each other on this trip. We learned how to communicate and how to put each other’s needs first. It’s a little easier to be selfish back at home, where there are so many conveniences that we forget about taking care of each other. But I think our awareness has broadened and we are enjoying the after-effects of our big adventure!