One year. July 26, 2010. On Monday I will have been back in the States for 1 year. I guess I can't use culture shock as an excuse anymore. I can't say I'm re-acclimated either.
Has it really been a year since I've been back in America? So many seemingly concrete things have marked the passage of time, yet the moments have held so much more. It's been a good year, yet nothing like what I was planning last summer as I boarded that plane. This year has held some unexpected surprises, moments that cause me to gasp. Moments when I find myself smiling for no apparent reason. Moments that want me make me pinch myself to make sure it's really happening.
This year held so many of those moments...playing in the snow, dinners with housemates, classes where I soaked in information. Moments of seeing friends again after too many years of being parted, making ice cream with Danny, or seeing my family excited to go to church. Moments of couples vowing their love to each other, of reunited families, of good food and much laughter. Moments of seeing the first rhubarb of spring, of noticing the first bud on my chili pepper plant or seeing violets bloom again. Moments of anguish and sorrow. Moments of nervousness and fear. Moments of mistakes and corrections. Moments of anticipation and hope.
It's been quite a year; I eagerly look forward to the next.
