It's been 3 full months since I've been in the beautiful Asia, and guess what? The boxed milk is starting to taste like normal milk. This, my friends, is a feat that I though would never happen. Some people hit a big bump somewhere between 4-8 months of being out of their home country. For me, I feel like I hit the bump head on.... on arrival. I suppose that's what happens when not one single thing reminds you of home.
The locals celebrate their New Year on the second week of April. And what a better New Years tradition than soaking all your friends with loads and loads of water???? Today, I went to my first New Years party. I had so much fun being a kid and getting drenched. If only I'd had the foreknowledge to NOT wear nicer clothes to the party... Oh well, hindsight! I danced, ate, and toasted with locals all while in a sopping wet skirt. How beautiful?
When I first arrived here, if bugged the mess out of me that people could just sit around and relax most of the time. My American mentality says that time is money! Money is time! I gotta go, go, go right now, now, now! Now, I've come to see that such a relaxed mentality might not be all bad. In fact, it's simply different. I've noticed something pleasant about being so relaxed: people here are happy. They may lack the s@v*or, but they are happy.
What on earth was missing from my previously busy world? Was I happy? Some of my darkest times happened while I had a relationship with JC. Now, I have joy, which goes much deeper than happiness. But, I think I was missing something before that I love seeing now through a new culture. That something would be the aspect of a thriving community. Simply enjoying the presence of my brothers, sisters, and neighbors for a while and getting so many positive vibes from that interaction that I lose track of time in such good community. Wow, maybe I can learn something from all the new, different, challenging, and head bursting moments I have here.
One of my professors told me in college that I'd be like a square head in the middle of a sea of round heads. So different, so against the grain of those around me. And he told me that after being overseas for a while, I'd start to lose some of my corners and become this really strange octagon: half square, half round. He also said that some of the corners would be painfully shaved down and chipped away. Sir, you were so so right in saying this. I'm signing out today with a humbled mindset. MY home culture is not the best, most-correct, superior culture in the whole wide world. Maybe it's just different. The differences may make no logical sense in this thick Southern American skull of mine, but they are slowly but surely being given generous consideration and exploration these days.
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