The Grand Return

The air... it's the thing I've noticed the most. It actually TASTES delicious. Sweet. Fragrant. Like tea and doughnuts mixed with summer flowers.

All year I've been wondering what kind of reverse culture shock I'd experience when I got back to North America... what things I'd find strange and foreign in the place I've called home my whole life until this past year. I wondered if I'd have a hard time adjusting or if coming back would make me want to stay and not return to China, where things often don't make sense and I'm never anonymous with all the staring I receive as a foreigner. Although I talk to no one, it's like I'm constantly being scrutinized by every Chinese face that peers into mine. Maybe I'd miss the chaos, or maybe I'd realize how much I hated the chaos. Who knows!

But none of these things have really happened.

It's sometimes weird hearing English everywhere. And I catch myself getting ready to string together a sentence in Mandarin when in stores, or saying "Xie xie" to people as I leave places. I also tried speaking Mandarin to the flight attendants on my JAL flight back to Vancouver, only to realize that they looked at me like a crazy person (since they speak JAPANESE! I'm not too bright sometimes). Crossing the street at a crosswalk does not seem so perilous anymore, but actually waiting for the light to change instead of just walking when there's a break in traffic is a bit odd. And seatbelts. I haven't really worn a seatbelt all year, and I keep forgetting. Every time. And maybe talking about very personal things at normal volume on a bus is something that should be limited, since everyone can actually understand me again. I almost yelled out "Fu yuan!" when I was at a restaurant and needed some extra napkins. I probably spelled it wrong, but it's the equivalent of "waiter/waitress" which people yell out en masse when attention is needed in a restaurant. I know... weird. I would probably get slapped here.

One big difference is my ability to strike up conversations with random people all over. Sometimes, even when they're not strangers and have been introduced through friends, I'm quick to make plans with them (which I never really did before). And I've met some really cool people because of it. The one side effect of this is that I'm becoming much more busy trying to fit these new people into my day.

Whatever the case, I'm so excited to be home. My days are full of coffee and food and catching up and a few runs here and there and enjoying the oceans and stunning beauty of the west coast. I'm in Van until tomorrow, then off to Kelowna for some more fun. More to come in future days (and I'll try to come up with some fun stories as well)...

T