Subtle Differences

I've been home for over a week now. Reality of living in Athens is setting in as I look for places to live and make decisions. Through all of this I have noticed some differences and just the beginnings of reverse culture shock setting in. I thought I would share a few of them.

It stays light outside forever!!! In Hong Kong it gets dark around 7. I'm still having trouble adjusting to it being light outside until around 9. I cannot imagine how Sara and Christine handle it since they live in the mid-west.

The light switches are in the bathrooms here. I noticed this when looking at apartments and condos and duplexes over the last week. Many times I begin looking for the light switch outside the bathroom door where they are located in Hong Kong. Needless to say they are not there.

US coins are lightweight. I barely recognize a quarter and typically check to make sure it is a quarter before using it. Dimes and nickels are not as bad but I don't use change very much yet. That is probably because I still have several currencies in my change pouch and I don't want to have to dig through to find US coins.

The sun is really bright. I can tell the difference in elevation just by the sun. The first few days home, I really struggled with the sunlight. I think that was for two reasons: 1) being closer to the sun and it being stronger and 2) I hadn't really seen the sun in a month when I arrived because it had rained so much. Although, I am loving the weather we are having in GA. I just wish it would rain a little each day to help with the drought.

Well that's all I can think of right now but I was sure there were more. I'll post them if more come up or if I remember the others.

I have enjoyed my first week home. I missed Vincent a lot and am very glad he is home from Ecuador. I am glad he went but his trip just confirmed to me how much I really want to visit Ecuador. I'll have to move it up higher on my list. I have almost made a decision as far as living arrangements go in Athens. I'll post about it when more is finalized. I leave Thursday for Oregon to visit Ken and Joyce!!!! I'm very excited about my trip out West.

Oh yeah, last week I also had my intake session at Clarke County. I have now signed my contract!!! Although, I knew I had been hired I like having the contract to make it official. I spent all day Wednesday in meetings and signing a lot of paper work. The contract was the last thing I signed, even after receiving my laptop. I still have to fill out the paper work for the insurance and such but I need to look at it a little more to fully understand the differences in the plans before I make those decisions. Clarke County's benefits are great! It made me realize how little my insurance in Hong Kong really covered.

I also found out last week that my landlady from Hong Kong is trying to take a lot out of my security deposit. Many of the "damages" are to items that according to our contract she is required to fix and it should not be deducted from us. Also, there are a few items that we are unsure of why she is claiming them. For example, she says a door handle is fixed. Neither Emily or I know of any door handle that was broken. She also says that the curtains we left (the originals that she told us we could take down) could not be hung back up. They are Velcro with a few strings to tie up to make the curtains puff out. I am very frustrated with everything and also frustrated because I don't feel like anyone at ICS is standing up for Emily or I in helping us resolve the matter while we are both overseas. If you would please pray that all of this will be resolved quickly.

I think that is all of the news in my life for the last week. Vincent and Patrick were both very sick this weekend. Vincent is much better and Patrick is improving. Please pray that Patrick will continue to improve. I don't like it when my brothers are sick. It doesn't happen often so I don't have to deal with it much which I am grateful for.

Happy Fourth of July! I'm not sure if I'll post again until after the holiday. This year I'll actually be in the United States but not in Blairsville!