Reverse culture shock?

I've been home for 18 days now - almost 3 weeks. It has flown by so quickly; I feel like I was in London only a week ago.

There was hardly any reverse culture shock, but missing London hit pretty hard. Harder than I was expecting. I went on a really long walk with the dog several days after coming home, 4 hours to be exact (2 hours to the beach, hung out at the beach for a bit, 2 hours back), and it was pretty disappointing. The streets looked really big and were stressful to cross, the scenery and skyline wasn't as fun, the sky wasn't as blue and clouds weren't as fluffy. However, it was beautiful arriving at the beach. That made up for the walk.

So I will say that, though I was slightly bummed at first, after 3 weeks of being home, after spending several days at beautiful LMU, after waking up and walking outside to wonderful mild weather, consistently blue skies, and clear breezes, I am falling in love with California all over again. And I really truly am glad to be home.

It doesn't hurt that I've had some help along the way. As I said, I went back to LMU to visit and to camp out during graduation weekend. Saw people that I missed and picked up right where we had left off. So that was comforting.

I also had to report for jury duty for the first time. I evaded it the first time, got called in while I was in London, and then was told I had to come in this time or else. Since I'm not working yet, I didn't mind going too much. I was pretty intrigued by the whole process and the possibility of witnessing a court session. Also, watching the introductory DVD on "the best judicial system in the world" and "the best country in the world" was interesting. Brought up mixed feelings of pride as well as doubt. In the end, I didn't have to serve on a jury.

It's also nice to be back to the US dollar instead of constantly converting and trying to budget. The only source of money I had when I was abroad were my parents. Now, I can go back to work (if Gap ever gives me hours as they said they would) or scrounge around (e.g. just babysat today for a couple of hours) as well as rely on my parents (not going to lie).

Movies have surprisingly helped. I've watched Sliding Doors which is set in London and a couple others with British actors. Everytime London is mentioned on TV, I can't help but give a little shout out. I'm looking forward to watching Mary Poppins and Spiceworld soon. Even seeing Simon Pegg (who plays a Scot, but is really a Brit) in Star Trek helped fill my London void.

All in all, coming home has been great. But I do feel different. In the first week especially, I had to remind myself that I was here and not there. I was here in LA, but my mind would wander back to London. I kept thinking about people I knew in London continuing on with their lives there. I couldn't help but walk through the streets of South Kensington which I could see so vividly. I had to tell myself to focus on conversations I was having with friends because it was harder to respond excitedly or appropriately.

I was worried about the questions that people were going to ask, but, surprisingly enough, the "How was it?" question hasn't been difficult to answer. It's my own inability to talk about my study abroad experience that has been difficult. Because I want to talk about the trip. I could theoretically talk and talk and talk. But when people do ask specific, interesting questions, it's hard for me to even begin. And you'd think that all this journaling and blogging that I've done would've helped! But I suppose, in the end, I've always been more of a writer than a talker. And for that reason, thank you to everyone who has read this blog for the past couple of months.

London is now a thing of the past. That college opportunity which had tickled my fancy in high school has been taken advantage of to the fullest. I have come back with new tastes to old favorites, with opened eyes and keener ears, and uprooted but excited visions. I am so grateful to have been able to go and I can't wait to go back...to visit/revisit!