Yes, I am home, and it feels great. I touched down here in the DC Metro Area last Monday, and I've spent a good three days catching up on sleep and seeing all of my family/friends.
Nothing has changed here that much. Many of my friends are still locked in with many of their gigs that they were doing throughout the year, with the exception of a few getting engaged, one getting a new house, one getting a new job, and one having a baby.
I have been officially gone for almost a year, and its amazing I am back. I can't believe a year went by that fast. Sometimes, when I look back at the past year and coming back home, it feels like I never left. My whole experience in Korea...it feels like a dream to me.
I am slowly getting re-energized. I'm just sleeping in, spending time and joking with my friends, spending time with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and spending time with my parents. I am watching American TV (American Idol is still kicking it), using the computer, and taking care of business such as paying my dues to Uncle Sam.
I also got a PlayStation 3 today, which was awesome. I hardly buy big purchases, but after finishing a long year in Korea, I figured I award myself today with some entertainment and one of the top videogame systems in the world. The system rocks.
I visited my church, First Baptist Church of Waldorf last night. Everything still seems to be intact, yet with new changes in store. They have begun building a new sanctuary near the worship center, which has been a long time coming. The whole church is excited to have a permanent home to worship in and continue to grow and outreach throughout the burgeoning Waldorf suburb.
Coming back home after such a long stay away does bring "re-entry culture shock." The term being self-explanatory, there are some things that I found to be "weird" in coming back to my home country:
1. I can speak English at full speed! As an ESL teacher, I have been conditioned to speak at a slower rate to not confuse my students and teachers alike, and also conditioned not to use too many big words. This can take a toll on the verbal arsenal because I end up talking more slower than expected. Yet it was a great relief to have real, intelligent conversations at all corners with my family, friends, and with employees who help me out at stores.
2. Where are the Koreans? This one is a funny one. Its really funny that after staring at a populace that is homogeneous for most of the year (with the exception of Dave, James, and other foreigners in my circle), my visual contact has been accustomed to Asian people. Now being back again, my eyes are bouncing around to see whites, blacks, Latinos, oh my! Where I am from in Southern Maryland, the Asian population is quite small. Its kind of nice actually to see diversity around this area, the beauty of people's tones that makes our America.
3. Going to the Store/Bank/Restaurant - "I can understand them!" Ha, after a full year of immersing myself in a language learning environment where no one helps you and hardly no one speaks English, its nice to come back and be understood by everyone. However, I really enjoyed my time in Korea where I had to take care of business such as shopping and banking, all in Korean. Those kinds of situations only made me refine my Korean skills and learn from my mistakes. I learned how to order in Korean at restaurants through my mistakes, and I learned new vocabulary by bumbling at the bank or shopping. Yet, it was so cool today to talk to a representative at the bank and have a full-fledged conversation without stopping for understanding. Yea, it was cool.
4. Jokes - American Humor Inside humor is the best. Among one's circles, the jokes come out and you can really let yourself become you when you are around your best friends. Seeing my friends Jon, my brother Sean, Jordan, and my other friend Jon, we can really bring out the Humor Archives of some of the best and worst of our lives, but have a good laugh about them. My body felt so much better as I got to laugh about the memories of the past with my homies.
5. The Politics of America We have a huge election coming up. Its most likely going to be Senator Barack Obama vs. Senator John McCain. This election is not just an election of who is going to lead this country, but the election of the man (or woman) who is going to put trust back to the system. I really believe many of our citizens are fed up with the politics that we see today and the way we are combating the ills of our society (such as poverty, health care issues, and overall direction of our country) and the ills of our world (terrorism, global poverty, AIDS, and economic issues). Well, however you feel on the issues, I see a more resolve and fiery action among the citizenry to become more involved. Its nice to be in America, to follow the news and local events that are crucial for the upcoming elections. Take your pick!
6. Sports I love me some NBA Basketball. Shaq to the Suns, Bibby to the Hawks, Kidd to the Mavericks. Its becoming crazy in the Western Conference. Last night I watched my first NBA live game on TV, and it was Shaquille O'Neal's debut with the Suns no less, as they lost to the more dominant Kobe Bryant/Pau Gasol-led L.A. Lakers. It was an awesome battle and fun to watch from my couch upstairs, late at night with my friend Jordan.
7. Home Simply put, its my house. We've been living there since 2002, and many memories were made there. Its been really cool to be home and just revive my spirit.
Though my time is limited here, I think it will be the right amount of time to gather my thoughts, prepare for the upcoming year, and spiritually get my act together. In some ways, this is true vacation.
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