The Pultizer-worthy chapter entitled Returning Home of The Rough Guide to First-Time Around the World nails it:
Honeymoon, crisis, recovery, readjustment.
The Honeymoon phase is obvious: Hugging and catching up with people I missed... Getting my MINI out of storage and managing to get it home without killing anyone or myself... And going to yoga class to begin the lengthy process of re-aligning my back (mis-aligned due to four months of sleeping on a wide array of low- and lower-quality beds/benches/trains/boats/earth/couches.
Crisis probably began during my much-anticipated pedicure. I wound up sitting in a chair between three of Orange County's finest who were all discussing facelifts, Botox and the nannies who take care of duties while they are out beautifying themselves and playing tennis... and then switching gears when one picked up the Ellen Degeneres/Portia de Rossi People magazine and starting a gay-bashing session.
Sitting stuck in this crossfire of intolerance and superficiality was in all honesty the hardest culture shock of the entire trip. This type of display always annoyed me prior to the trip, but really made me boil with rage after returning from Cambodia and having conversations with people missing three limbs due to landmines... and sharing my dinner with neighborhood kids working all day to fund a basic education and try and support their siblings. Crisis phase continued with the RNC speeches ripping on community organizers and - heaven forbid - "European ideas."
Thankfully modern technology exists and I was able to get a temporary phone working soon enough to get to vent to friends, and I got internet working to watch the Jon Stewart clips and the rest of LOST (which was trippy and awesome). The wheels of Recovery phase began to turn and as a result I am still in Orange County and not on a plane back to Asia. I had a breakfast burrito at my favorite hippie/surf restaurant, watched American football (Packers won), and got my sneakers out of storage (I lost mine to Chinese flood) and had some proper workout sessions at the gym.
I also found my "Rough Guide" and read the Returning Home chapter and got to laugh about my rough first week.
The book had a few good tips for returning home, including treating your own home like a travel destination and getting involved in the countries you visited. Fortunately my date to the Sydney Opera House was in town completing his travels, and we spent a few days being Orange County tourists with Disneyland, an Angels game, sea kayaking, and the OC nightlife varying from Huntington Beach surf bars with electric-blue jello shots to the posh Newport Beach cougar dens. I'm also in the process of researching Landmine organizations and figuring out the best way to help the people I met and kids I fell in love with, which will likely end up being a combination of writing to my legislators about policy and getting involved in raising money to clear minefields.
So for Readjustment Phase... I start tomorrow. I am beginning the job search process, am getting back in touch with all my friends and extended family (I'll write or call soon - promise!), and am working on completing my photo album. I'm getting excited about the possibilities and will keep you posted. :)
