And I'm back...

I've gotten a few messages from people encouraging me to update everyone on my homecoming, and while things have been pretty busy around here (even when I'm doing nothing, it just feels busy... I can't explain it), but I have a free moment now, so I'll do my best.

The homecoming was, well, I guess just strange.  June 15th was such a huge, looming date in my head that I couldn't ever think of life after it.  My mom and I joked on June 16th that we didn't actually expect there ever to be a June 16th at all.  The thing that has hit me the hardest as far as readjustment shock is concerned is the amount of water that a shower here uses.  When I first turned on my shower, I was stunned at the huge quantity that poured out, and I actually shut the valve off instantly the first time.  It was hard to reconcile.  Everything else though has sort of been just a changed version of what I remember.  My phone's older than I remember.  My bed's smaller.  Some of my friends aren't as close, but as a trade-off, I now have new close friends.

The hardest thing has been this massive pile of people I'm supposed to "catch up" with.  It seems like an insurmountable task to give everyone the attention they all individually deserve, but then again, my first experience with this taught me a lot.  I went out for lunch with my friend Kelsy in the city, and we just kind of sat there smiling, her saying, "I can't believe you're really back," and me saying, "I can't believe I'm really here."  No stories about the time I climbed a volcano, or worked security for a concert, or found hidden Jews in Portugal.  It was just like, "So, who do you keep up with?" and she responded, "Ummm... well, there's Liz and Andrew... I guess you don't really know them."

But I'm back, and I'm clean, and I'm well-fed, which means that the search for a career and a meaningful rest of my life has begun in earnest.  What to do after seeing so much and having so much freedom for a year?  Everyone keeps asking me about my culture shock and my reacclimatization, expecting a reaction or some insight on what they should know about their own lives based on what I missed for a year.  Well, the secret to life is that it goes on.  Even after June 15th.