Nine months ago I was speaking two different languages, eating different food and taking different forms of transportation. Nine months ago I lived a completely different lifestlye. Nine months ago I saw my host family and nine months ago I was in Kyrgyzstan. Nine months later I am in America, readjusting to life here, hearing only English and dealing with American consumerism. Nine months later I have found full time work and begun a new chapter in my life. Nine months later I find myself in Winston-Salem, NC; a place that never registered on my initial job hunting radar.
Nine months has given me a lot of transistion, changes and emotions. I've had good days and bad but at times nine months seems like yesterday and at other times it seems like a completely different life. My time in Kyrgystan really helped me evolve into a better, more understanding and open minded person. These last nine months have been a time of transition and culture shock and change. I have once more taken another step toward more growth and wonder where the next nine months will lead.
It's strange to think, though, in three short months I will have been back for one year. I look back and wonder what have I done? How is my life bettering others? Why do I miss Kyrgystan so much? What are my next steps? These are all thoughts that have proceeded through my brain and as my one year mark approaches will continue to surface. Nine months has been a time of longing and growth. Of ups and downs and good times and bad. It is a been a unique set of nine months and now I feel I am once again discovering myself. Let's bring in the next nine months!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Separate Worlds
This holiday season was the first I have spent in the States in three years. For the past three years I have spent holidays abroad, in Kyrgyzstan, Russia or Kazakhstan. So this year was a big new step for me; it was a step I knew would have to occur sometime and I think it went well overall. However I have realized that my holidays abroad and my holidays here are very different.
The weather, cutstomes, attitudes, foods, people are all different. That's not to say one is better than the other just that I'm different in both. The holiday fanaticsim here is crazy and hard to handle now and the simplicity of the holidays abroad is appealing but each place is unique and separate. As I was coming back recently from the movies recently I saw landscapes that reminded me of Kyrgyzstan while others was vastly different. This made me realize that nothing can ever be fully integrated. I am one way there and another here. They are separate worlds. Worlds where I know how to act and survive and worlds that are missed and unique in their own ways.
As the holiday season is now over and I look ahead to my next chapter I wonder now where that road leads and how much more of a separate place it will appear.
The weather, cutstomes, attitudes, foods, people are all different. That's not to say one is better than the other just that I'm different in both. The holiday fanaticsim here is crazy and hard to handle now and the simplicity of the holidays abroad is appealing but each place is unique and separate. As I was coming back recently from the movies recently I saw landscapes that reminded me of Kyrgyzstan while others was vastly different. This made me realize that nothing can ever be fully integrated. I am one way there and another here. They are separate worlds. Worlds where I know how to act and survive and worlds that are missed and unique in their own ways.
As the holiday season is now over and I look ahead to my next chapter I wonder now where that road leads and how much more of a separate place it will appear.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)