So Much for the Afterglow – notes on reverse culture shock

Home sweet home. I couldn’t wait to get back to all the familiar sights and sounds and places and everything associated with home. My initial shock of reentering American life has proven to be interesting and entertaining (well, at least for me).

As my plane took off in the Dresden airport, I felt strangely numb. No excitement, no relief, no sadness, no nostalgia, just “ok let’s get on with this, keep moving, got a long flight ahead.” I was surprised to feel so little emotion, but I guess I withdrew myself from the situation long enough ago for it not to stun or shock me one way or the other when the day finally came. I just couldn’t wait to get on with it and get home.

My plane from Frankfurt to Atlanta was delayed two hours on the way home, making the total time spent on planes approximately 13.5 hours and total transit time, including security and standing in lines and coming and going, 18 hours. Yuck.

When we broke the cloud cover in Atlanta, the first thing I noticed was smog and the brown layer of sky.

Getting off the Lufthansa plane, listening to the announcements in German, and saying “auf wiedersehen, tschuess” to the flight attendants, I realized that was the last German I will hear or speak for probably a long time. Honestly, it was a pretty good feeling. I never got over the discomfort of speaking German as my primary communication, even though I am fluent and have no problems in using the language – German just doesn’t fit me as well as English does. I now understand why Ricky Ricardo always yells at Lucy in Spanish.

Anyway, back to the story. While standing in Line Number One of customs they brought the dogs around to sniff people’s bags. Stupid Robin forgot to eat her orange she brought as a snack for the plane, and bringing citrus into the country is outlawed, so the dog caught it and the guy had to stop me and make a note on my customs form. Rather than being gruff and rude about it, like would have happened Over There, the guy was all smiles and completely relaxed, let me pet the dog, and said “oh it’s no big deal, don’t worry about it! I just have to make a note on your form, that’s all, and it’s fine!” I breathed a big sigh of relief.

Line Number Two of customs they confiscated my orange, but there were no funny stories there. Line Number Three I had to go through security again, just in case passengers acquired any deadly weapons between when we got on the plane and when we got off, and I forgot to take my laptop out of my bag. They caught it when it went through the scanner, and I immediately exclaimed “oh no! I am so sorry! I just forgot, I’m so sorry!” The guards smiled and said “aw honey, don’t worry about it, just take it back and send it through the machine again, it’s ok!” It was nice not to have anyone yell at me or be rude to me, and actually smile!

(Meanwhile, the airport was burning hot to me – after being in consistent below-freezing temperatures, the 50-degrees of Atlanta was sweltering. By the time I got to the end of the lines I had taken off my socks and shoes and was glad I had a pair of flip flops in my backpack, and had only a t-shirt on my upper half (no more jackets and sweaters and scarves).)

Success – I made it through customs in one piece, and could finally go meet Chris on the other side of the gate! The poor thing had been waiting for three hours because of the plane delays and the long customs lines. We got my suitcases, went to the parking lot, and got in his gigantic car. Definitely one of the biggest cars I’d seen since I had been in Europe, but hey, this is America! It was 6:00pm, and had I been in Germany, by the looks of the sky I would have guessed the time to be 4:20. So glad it’s not pitch black by 4:30 anymore!

Most of the ride home I was speechless, just staring out the windows and looking around. It’s silly, really, because I know what Atlanta looks like and know how it is different from where I have been, but I was floored by the sheer size and sprawl of it all. The city was huge, the highways were expansive, the buildings were so far apart…it was definitely home, but such a contrast to what I had been living in before.

Dinner that night was, of course, barbecue at Pete’s. Chris laughed at my excitement every time my glass of sweet tea was refilled (hey, free refills are still a novelty for me) and my big smiles every time Chef Pete came to the table to check on us and say hi.

The next morning we woke up and got right in the car to drive to Raleigh. We had to drive separately until Charlotte, which meant I had to get behind the wheel for the first time since I left the country – in the pouring rain for a three hour drive. What they say about driving is true – it’s just like riding a bike, and you never forget how. The only problem I had was actually remembering I had to concentrate and pay attention the whole time, unlike riding a train when you can zone out or go to sleep. No, I didn’t zone out or go to sleep, of course, but I had to keep it in my conscious mind because it wasn’t totally natural yet.

We stopped at B0jangles somewhere in South Carolina just to use the bathroom (so happy to have free bathrooms!), and I walked out of my stall to see a gigantic woman about three times the size of me washing her hands. Probably the biggest sized person I have seen since I left the country. Whoa.

I requested that day’s lunch to be Wendy’s greasy fast food. It was glorious.

The next interesting event was my first time back in Wa|mart, and I’m sure I don’t have to elaborate much for you to imagine why it was crazy for me. I’ll just say that the little foyer where they keep the grocery carts is the size of the largest grocery store I’d been in in Germany.

I’m also having to re-learn how to dress for this climate. No more sweaters, heavy coats, scarves, hats, and boots – but how much has my body acclimated to cold weather? I’m still trying to figure it out.

Each day gets a little more normal for me, but I am trying return to this life without forgetting what I have learned since I’ve been gone, and find a balance between the two.