Being back home here in Vancouver, WA is a lot different than being in the countryside of Japan. There is a lot to adjust to and some of the wacky American cultural differences can get to you after awhile.....just like some of the wacky Japanese cultural differences can also drive you plain loco!
Some of the bonuses about being in the States are the roads. I don't know if you have ever been to Japan before, but the roads in N.America are wide and fast! I remember that the speed limit for most of the open roads in Japan is about 40mph! So it takes a lot time to get from A to B. However, the plus side is that you were never really bored driving because you are always surrounded by Japan's natural beauty. Since Japan is so small, it always feels like you're in the heart of Japan. On the contrary to Japan, the US roads are long, straight, and very boring. The only plus is that you can blaze about 60mph - 70mph on them so you can travel great distance as long as you can stay awake. Ever try driving from Portland to Seattle via I-5? Zzzzzzzz
Another great plus about being back home is going to live shows. You've got the random live bands at bars and clubs along with a list of all different concerts and venues at your disposal. There is nothing better than seeing your favorite musicians perform live on stage in full glory and in front of a crowd of people who all share the same love of music. After being back a week, I took a trip to visit my favorite person in the whole entire world in Vancouver, BC...Yumez! We did camping, surfing, and got to check out Jack Johnson all in one weekend! It was awesome and I can't think of a better way to return back to N.America after 5 years. Thanks Yumez!
Being away for college and living in Japan has stolen quite a chunk out of my family time away from me. It was like everyone back home just grew up all at once in a blink of an eye. Culturally speaking, there wasn't a big huge adjustment for me moving back here. Reverse cultural shock never even set foot upon my door. Life just smoothly continues without any sort of abrupt interjections. It was like ...onne night, I close my tired eyes in Japan and the next moment I wake refreshed in America.
While I haven't suffered from culture shock, there still hasn't been a day that has gone by that I'm not surprised that I have new family members. COUSINS! For the first time in my life I find myself surrounded by young cousins I never had while growing up. The only blood cousin I had was my younger cousin, Diem, who is 4 years younger than me. Now, she's on her 3rd kid! My uncle has three kids himself, Heidi 11, Helen 8, and Hannah 4. Of course, they have cousins too so I have new cousin's by marriage and basically an extended family I'm just starting to get to know.
Family is still the same.....family, but now there is just more of them. So please say hello to a few of my cousins.
