Culture Shock

Admittedly, we'd only left the country for about 8 months.

Still, there's been subtle tweeks we've had to make to readjust to American lifestyle.

The first couple of days, I kept cracking up at Arun's observations.

On our roadtrip to Nashville, Arun couldn't get over how packed the restaurants were.

"Look at all the PEOPLE!" he marveled at the Cracker Barrel.

"Our water has ICE in it!" he said excitedly, when the waitress dropped off our drinks.

"I didn't even have to ask for a STRAW!"

Hilarious.

Admittedly, even I've had to get used to wait staff coming by every few minutes to check on us.

"You doing ok?"

"You need anything else?"

"Can I get anything for you?"

It all feels very foreign after the very hands-off approach in Ukraine.

On the other hand, boy do I miss the table-clearing efficiency!

For me, it's been a different kind of adjustment.

In order to send out Mother's Day cards, I asked the front desk of our hotel (Hilton, of course!) where the nearest post office was. Being car-less, I decided to walk the 4 blocks... afterall, what's four blocks? While walking, it quickly dawned on me that I was the ONLY one walking. I felt rather self-conscious- something I would have never felt in Odessa.

When I couldn't find the building I approached a man getting out of his car in the parking lot.

Now, my Russian got 'passable' in Ukraine... but it never came to me as second-nature.

So what that means is- I would have to think through what I wanted to say, before saying it- essentially, formulating the sentence in my head prior to making any faux-pas.

So when I got to the guy, I realized I didn't need to USE my prepared "Izvinitya- gde Pochta?" And on one hand, it was a relief to just ask, "Excuse me, where's the post office?" but on the other hand, I felt rather disappointed.

Finally- tv. I have yet to adjust to the fact that I can watch all my favorite shows in REAL time instead of on You Tube after some merciful poster uploads the latest Make Me a Supermodel (yes, I admit it- guilty pleasure) or Grey's Anatomy or The Office. Sigh. Happiness.

I will say, that we are very lucky to have such a soft landing back in the US.

In many ways, we've been sheltered from sticker-shock because Raytheon's very generous relocation package has made the adjustment to American prices, that much easier.

More fun transition stories.... soon!