Home

Well, I am indeed back in Canada, specifically, 'The Peg' as we call it here. I have been home since April 13th and had to endure the painful process of looking for employment (just to tide me over until I start school), re-establishing myself amongst my groups of friends, getting re-acquainted with the family, and not always being as independent as I would like. There are two things that stand out as being harder than the rest of the challenges, one is, of course, doing the distance thing with Jason, my boyfriend who is now in the States, and fitting in. When a person goes away for a couple weeks or a month, they generally have experiences that can be recounted within a short period of time after their trip. I have not been home for longer than a month in FOUR YEARS!! Since I left, my friends have married, become engaged or pregnant. They have bought houses, rented apartment and put on additions. Some of them even have careers. It definitely is a challenge to try and relate to these new lifestyles that I still feel are not too soon in my future. Thus begins the reverse culture shock. Being adaptable to other cultures is one thing, but to re-adapt to your own is another. Things are more expensive here than in Mexico, bars in Winnipeg don't stay open as later as they did in Seoul, it's not as easy to get around with public transportation as Paris. So what do I do? Tell stories about these things...but after a while, people stop wanting to hear them too. Now, is it their fault because they don't want to hear about my tenth story that starts..."One time, in..." or is it my fault for wanting to share my experiences with these people. I think it's neither's fault, just both have to make the effort to realize the other has changed. It doesn't make them better or worse, just different and we should appreciate each other for their own separate growth. It's hard coming home, and the longer I stay in places, the harder it is to leave them.