Here are some things I love about living in the U.S. that I took for granted before my three months abroad.
1. Comfortable temperatures year-round, in the form of central heating and air conditioning. When I am getting dressed in the morning, I am now focused more on what will look good rather than what clothing I must wear to survive winter.
2. Ease of transportation. No waiting at the bus stop in inclement weather, no searching for a taxi, no praying that the taxi driver will understand me and not rip me off or praying that I'll have the right change to give him, no worrying about bus tickets or bus fare, just get in the car, drive straight there, (in climate control), park in a big parking space (lots of those, unlike anywhere else), get out, and walk ten feet to where I'm going. Amazing!
3. Big-box stores. They're really ugly on the outside, really convenient on the inside. I know exactly where to find what I need.
4. My network of connections. Wow, I know a lot of people in Indiana, and it is nice to have a large number of people to be friends with! And now I'm in the same time zone as they are and can do things with them!
5. Variety of food. The options on one corner overwhelm me, let alone the whole city.
6. I can go out in my exercise clothes and not feel ashamed or underdressed.
What I miss so far from living abroad:
1. No market with handmade crafts and handmade clothes available, except Global Gifts, which feels so small after the huge markets I'm used to.
2. Food is all processed and preservative-laden, organic fresh food is very hard to come by here.
3. Hardly anyone speaks more than two languages here, unlike most of the people I met abroad. Makes life seem a little flatter.
4. Historic buildings. The midwest just doesn't have ancient Roman ruins.
5. I still hate how extremely over-commercialized Christmas is here. Santas, irritating songs that never change, stress over gifts, ugly yard ornaments, ugh. Being in a country with no Christmas is depressing, but being in a country with too much Commercial-mas is almost worse.
6. No Italian designer labels (or knockoffs) everywhere--just slobby American clothes in most places.
I'm going through reverse culture shock (obviously), but things here feel so NORMAL. I'm just like, oh yeah, that's how this goes. I find myself fighting to remember that life is different elsewhere, that it's not usually like this. I'm afraid of falling back into the same-old complacency, and forgetting the global things I've seen and learned.
