After many melancholy good-byes and the final night out in Hongdae with my closest friends, I found myself back in "The America." The initial onslaught of culture shock, was at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. For the first time in a year, I was able to follow the majority of conversations around me and I felt like I easily blended in to my surroundings. Furthermore, I finally see why all foreign nations say "America is fat," and we need to stop eating at McDonald's and hop on treadmills.
I arrived into Chicago at 9:00am on Friday, September 4th. Being that I had almost four hours until my flight home, it was time to eat a Real Cheeseburger at Chili's. With my carry-on items, I scooted up to the bar and was able to properly convey to the server exactly what I wanted without using gestures. To my right was an elderly couple. As they each ordered a sandwich, the waitress barked at them and said that the sandwiches are too big for each of them to have their own. After they were so graciously instructed by the attendant with fried locks the color of cherry kool-aide, they couple shared a club sandwich. Maybe Kool-aide hair had a bad experience with forgotten dentures post-meal or another run-in I didn't know about it. Darn hasty she was though.
After my glutenous, American meal (Delicious), I shuffled over to my gate to board my flight to Cleveland, Ohio. Oddly enough, my seat mate from Tokyo to Chicago was on this flight as well. Shinske was from Osaka. He had the eccentric Japanese style going on with his bright orange New Balance tennis shoes, mauve cargo shorts and bright pink shirt with a full red apple on the front and the same apple was eaten to the core on the back. I knew Shinske was an M.D. as on the Tokyo to Chicago flight, a doctor's presence was requested over the intercom as a passenger had briefly gone unconscious and Shinske offered his services. Although his English was not entirely advanced, Shinske and I had a nice conversation as to why he was taking a transnational adventure to Ohio (In all honesty, I don't think I would have made such a trek if that were not my home). He was headed to Akron, Ohio for a mere three days. A rockstar party awaited this Japanese fellow on Saturday, followed by a 70's rock concert on Sunday and Monday. Shinske was to return to Osaka to resume his medical duties on Tuesday. After the hour flight, we found our luggage and parted ways. Shinske taught me to work hard and play hard...even if it means fly to a far away land to get my party on for 48 hours.
Post-Korean adventure, I am taking a rest in my little American house, in a little American town by the name of Wooster. Part of me feels as though I've never left and the other part of me feels as though I am now in another universe. I see Amish buggies driving to the local market and the leaves are beginning to fall in the colors of autumn. I am now at home, but each day I feel empathy for the people I see in this rural town who have never left and have no hope to ever leave, or to experience anything other than this predominantly white, comfortable, English-speaking town. For me, escaping my comfort zone challenged me to re-evaluate the way I view the world and the different people I interact with each day. For my experience as living as a pelirroja (red head) in Asia, I am tremendously grateful. It now seems as though "uncomfortable," for me is most comfortable and I thrive on it because it is where I learn the most about myself and the awesome world that surrounds me.
I arrived into Chicago at 9:00am on Friday, September 4th. Being that I had almost four hours until my flight home, it was time to eat a Real Cheeseburger at Chili's. With my carry-on items, I scooted up to the bar and was able to properly convey to the server exactly what I wanted without using gestures. To my right was an elderly couple. As they each ordered a sandwich, the waitress barked at them and said that the sandwiches are too big for each of them to have their own. After they were so graciously instructed by the attendant with fried locks the color of cherry kool-aide, they couple shared a club sandwich. Maybe Kool-aide hair had a bad experience with forgotten dentures post-meal or another run-in I didn't know about it. Darn hasty she was though.
After my glutenous, American meal (Delicious), I shuffled over to my gate to board my flight to Cleveland, Ohio. Oddly enough, my seat mate from Tokyo to Chicago was on this flight as well. Shinske was from Osaka. He had the eccentric Japanese style going on with his bright orange New Balance tennis shoes, mauve cargo shorts and bright pink shirt with a full red apple on the front and the same apple was eaten to the core on the back. I knew Shinske was an M.D. as on the Tokyo to Chicago flight, a doctor's presence was requested over the intercom as a passenger had briefly gone unconscious and Shinske offered his services. Although his English was not entirely advanced, Shinske and I had a nice conversation as to why he was taking a transnational adventure to Ohio (In all honesty, I don't think I would have made such a trek if that were not my home). He was headed to Akron, Ohio for a mere three days. A rockstar party awaited this Japanese fellow on Saturday, followed by a 70's rock concert on Sunday and Monday. Shinske was to return to Osaka to resume his medical duties on Tuesday. After the hour flight, we found our luggage and parted ways. Shinske taught me to work hard and play hard...even if it means fly to a far away land to get my party on for 48 hours.
Post-Korean adventure, I am taking a rest in my little American house, in a little American town by the name of Wooster. Part of me feels as though I've never left and the other part of me feels as though I am now in another universe. I see Amish buggies driving to the local market and the leaves are beginning to fall in the colors of autumn. I am now at home, but each day I feel empathy for the people I see in this rural town who have never left and have no hope to ever leave, or to experience anything other than this predominantly white, comfortable, English-speaking town. For me, escaping my comfort zone challenged me to re-evaluate the way I view the world and the different people I interact with each day. For my experience as living as a pelirroja (red head) in Asia, I am tremendously grateful. It now seems as though "uncomfortable," for me is most comfortable and I thrive on it because it is where I learn the most about myself and the awesome world that surrounds me.
1 comment:
glad you made it back safely Meredith! Hope you keep bloggin!
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