Reverse Culture Shock and Transition

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My re-introduction to the United States was nothing short of a whirlwind. After flying home for about a day, I landed in Boston at around 6:30 pm on June 30. Mom and Duncan picked me up from the airport, and we drove home to two extremely happy dogs. I spent the night unpacking from Budapest and re-packing for Block Island. I went to bed, woke up, went to Target, helped Dad pack the car, and left with mom for the ferry to Block Island. We were on the 1:00 boat, which means we left at 10:30 to get there. You do the math for how long I was on mainland USA.

Now, you may be thinking, "Umm...you've been coming home for Christmas. Why would there be culture shock?" Good question. When I came home for Christmas, I mostly stayed holed up in the house. I saw family and friends but rarely went out in public. So I always had culture shock to an extent, but nothing crazy.

Dad and Duncan and the Dogs met us at the boat, and we sailed 13 miles to Block Island. When we got off, I immediately got on a bike and went to my new job as a server at the Atlantic Inn to meet the boss and fill out paperwork. Then I biked the 4 miles to the north point to see my family and be back at the house.

The next day was the 1st. I went into work and trained. By the end of the night I had taken a table. Brad, my boss, had told me it was really good timing when I came because one of his servers had recently sprained his ankle and couldn't work. The next night was fireworks night, which the restaurant is crazy busy. I was on the floor taking tables.

To summarize: June 30: Fly home from Budapest. July 1: Go to Block Island. July 2: Train. July 3: Work.

I had two jobs all summer. I was a waitress 6 or 7 nights a week at the Atlantic Inn, and I worked at the Block Island Trading Company--a high-end gift store--5 days a week. With my time off, I colored, read, and went to the beach. I lived with my mom in various rentals, dad came out on the weekends, and Jeff (my youngest brother) came out in the middle of August to work in the kitchen.

Reverse culture shock hits you in the strangest ways. All of a sudden, i was able to understand EVERYONE. When you work in the service industry, people like to pretend you don't have ears and aren't a human. Some of the conversations I overheard were mundane, others were astounding. Now that I've been here for a few months, I've learned to tune it out again. The thing that still freaks me out is that children can speak in complete sentences in English. I'm used to small children speaking broken English. It was my job every day for 2 years to hang out with these kids. So hearing kids, even now, that have communication skills in English is crazy.

The beauty of Block Island (besides the obvious natural beauty) is that it's really small. There are only so many people who work on the island, so when you do work out there, you know everyone. I very rarely had to pay full price for anything, and I was always bound to run into someone I know. It's also a bubble because when you work out there, you don't leave. The maximum speed limit is 25 mph, and the island is only 15 miles around.

So basically, I worked and worked and went out to bars and worked and sometimes went to the beach. It was a good summer. Here are some of the highlights:

1. I went skydiving. I tandem-jumped 10,000 ft from a plane onto Block Island.

2. There was a really cool meteor shower where Duncan (my middle brother) and I saw about 40 shooting stars in a half hour. They were different colors too.

3. I spent the summer with the dogs. They followed me everywhere.

4. Beachbeachbeachbeachbeach

5. There was this one wedding where we worked the rehearsal dinner, reception, and brunch. Each server made $1000 for that weekend.

6. A nor'easter shut down the boats for 3 days. Everyone was stranded. The waves were wicked cool.

It's a small island. It was really quiet between Labor Day and Columbus Day weekend. That was my favorite time to be out there. I left the day after Columbus Day because everything shut down for the most part. I went back to Westborough, MA and spent the next 2 weeks getting ready. This entailed going to the doctor a lot and spending a lot of money on gear and things. But I met my financial goal for the summer, which makes me feel really good about leaving.

On Thursday October 29, I flew (back) to Denver. I spent the weekend adjusting to altitude, drinking really good beer, and seeing all of my people from college. I did a night out in Boulder and a hike in Boulder. It was a perfect weekend. Although I think I'll never take the local Denver buses again. So sketchy. Uber is much better.

My flight to Korea leaves on Monday at 12:10. It is a 12.5 hour flight to Tokyo, and then 3 hours more to Seoul. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm getting to Brett's flat from the airport, but that's where adventures happen!

In hindsight, I realized I never announced this next thing. I got a job in New Zealand working on a vineyard for 6 weeks starting in the middle of March 2016. I am spending a week in Seoul with college friends, 8 days in Taiwan with Budapest friends, and 3 days in Ho Chi Minh city by myself (over my birthday). From there, I have no plan. I have the internet, a guidebook, a passport, and a backpack. I have 4.5 months to make my way down through Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Maybe after this trip I'll finally feel like I've conquered the world.



...not likely.

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