Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Homegoing

I've always been a pensive person and I constantly have all sorts of thoughts running through my mind. Maybe that's how I found blogging so therapeutic back when I was younger...it helped me to sort out the clutter in my brain, in a way. I kind of wish I still had the time and motivation to write more regularly nowadays.

So I've officially been in Japan for three years now. I touched on this subject briefly before, but it feels like it's been much longer. I think it's because I've found my niche here. I love my job and the city where I live. I have an awesome group of friends out here, and wonderful, supportive relatives only a train ride away. And while I'll always be the same person deep down, I've done a lot of growing up, especially in a psychological sense.

It was weird going back to California in December. It will always be my home, but it was a strange feeling being somewhere so familiar yet so foreign. Everything was the same, but everything was different. I can't really explain it. Overall though, I was happy to be back, even if it was just for two weeks. I was able to see most of the people I had hoped to see, and go to most of the places I had planned to go. I barely had enough time to properly sleep at night, I was so busy running around and having fun.

However, there were so many small things I had forgotten about since I don't experience them on a daily basis here in Japan. There is litter everywhere you go in America, even with trashcans on every corner. Public transportation is smelly and full of crazy people. American food, even the "ethnic" stuff, is greasy and super salty or sugary. Americans really are friendly and loud; I don't think it's a stereotype. And everything is so....big.

I don't mean to sound like I'm putting down America because that's not my intention at all. I love my country and am proud to be an American. I just think it's interesting how the place that's supposed to my home was almost like an alien planet, and I was a visitor just passing by.

I'm not sure when I'll next visit, but when I do, hopefully this reverse culture shock won't be as strong. One thing's for sure though: I don't think I can live in California again.