First off, the video that makes me happy is coming right up at the front because a) I love Boyce Avenue and they shouldn't be put at the end of a post; and b) I listened to this song on repeat while writing this post. So here's the video:
So on to the good stuff. I've been back in the US for about 36 hours (30 of those in the DC-ish area) and I've thought a lot about the last three months and what I learned about myself. It was a great experience and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and try living somewhere new. However, it also taught me how much I love the United States and living in it. I know, that probably sounds like a cliché, but it's true. Only an extended period of time abroad really taught me that. (well, the time abroad and the crazy 3-week cross-country roadtrip I took in 2008...)
The knowledge that I was coming home was a very powerful force for me. There were a few moments of pain and frustration, some real and some very first world-y. I get it. I was living in Zambia and interacting with Zambians, but I'm still American and perhaps I would've done better if things like the randomly changing shower pressure and water temperature (the hotel apologized for any convenience these problems caused me...yes, convenience, not inconvenience) were accompanied by other things like pleases and thank yous.
It is something I noticed within my first week in Lusaka: waiters/waitresses/cashiers almost seemed embarrassed when I said "thank you." But I got used to it because I had to, and I limited somewhat how often I said it. On the plane back, though, it was amazingly refreshing to hear the flight attendant respond "you're welcome." Or in the airport in Atlanta, the cashier at the Chick-fil-A said "sorry" with a smile when telling me that their location doesn't do milkshakes (crazy...no milkshakes at such a popular location?!?!). Americans have a bad reputation for being rude, but I'm starting to think it's not rudeness at all but really just a different way of doing things. We're "rude" because we don't spend a few minutes greeting the other person up front, but we acknowledge the humanity of the other person with small words and phrases sprinkled into the conversation. Neither is bad, they're just different. And because I grew up in the American system, it's more natural to me and even after three months, I couldn't get the Zambian way (really, much of the world's way) to naturally roll off my tongue. It always felt foreign.
So I realize this post took a bit of a detour, but that was a major point of what I've been thinking about over the last 36 hours. Could I live overseas for 2-3 years? Yes, I'm positive I could. The better question, however, is do I want to? I think in the future that answer is a yes, but now is not the right time for me. There are other things in my life I want to work on and sort out without having to worry every day about whether I'm saying please and thank you too much. Some of this would've been made easier if I wasn't living in a hotel and had my own transportation, but no matter how much those external aspects change, the fundamentals of the location in which you live really don't change. And so, no, I don't think I would've wanted to do more than 3 months at this point in my life, and that's really good to know.
Now I'm back in Virginia and adjusting to life back in the United States. Future posts will probably be less travelogue and more run-of-the-mill stuff, I think. Who knows. The weather's warm and the sun shines. More adventures await!
So on to the good stuff. I've been back in the US for about 36 hours (30 of those in the DC-ish area) and I've thought a lot about the last three months and what I learned about myself. It was a great experience and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and try living somewhere new. However, it also taught me how much I love the United States and living in it. I know, that probably sounds like a cliché, but it's true. Only an extended period of time abroad really taught me that. (well, the time abroad and the crazy 3-week cross-country roadtrip I took in 2008...)
The knowledge that I was coming home was a very powerful force for me. There were a few moments of pain and frustration, some real and some very first world-y. I get it. I was living in Zambia and interacting with Zambians, but I'm still American and perhaps I would've done better if things like the randomly changing shower pressure and water temperature (the hotel apologized for any convenience these problems caused me...yes, convenience, not inconvenience) were accompanied by other things like pleases and thank yous.
It is something I noticed within my first week in Lusaka: waiters/waitresses/cashiers almost seemed embarrassed when I said "thank you." But I got used to it because I had to, and I limited somewhat how often I said it. On the plane back, though, it was amazingly refreshing to hear the flight attendant respond "you're welcome." Or in the airport in Atlanta, the cashier at the Chick-fil-A said "sorry" with a smile when telling me that their location doesn't do milkshakes (crazy...no milkshakes at such a popular location?!?!). Americans have a bad reputation for being rude, but I'm starting to think it's not rudeness at all but really just a different way of doing things. We're "rude" because we don't spend a few minutes greeting the other person up front, but we acknowledge the humanity of the other person with small words and phrases sprinkled into the conversation. Neither is bad, they're just different. And because I grew up in the American system, it's more natural to me and even after three months, I couldn't get the Zambian way (really, much of the world's way) to naturally roll off my tongue. It always felt foreign.
So I realize this post took a bit of a detour, but that was a major point of what I've been thinking about over the last 36 hours. Could I live overseas for 2-3 years? Yes, I'm positive I could. The better question, however, is do I want to? I think in the future that answer is a yes, but now is not the right time for me. There are other things in my life I want to work on and sort out without having to worry every day about whether I'm saying please and thank you too much. Some of this would've been made easier if I wasn't living in a hotel and had my own transportation, but no matter how much those external aspects change, the fundamentals of the location in which you live really don't change. And so, no, I don't think I would've wanted to do more than 3 months at this point in my life, and that's really good to know.
Now I'm back in Virginia and adjusting to life back in the United States. Future posts will probably be less travelogue and more run-of-the-mill stuff, I think. Who knows. The weather's warm and the sun shines. More adventures await!
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