The Homecoming

It may not have felt good physically to be back in America since I had only slept a couple hours and my feet were swollen, it sure did feel comfortable to be once again among my countrymen, non-slanted outlets, familiar accents (or lack there of), and seeing the word organized spelled with a 'z' instead of an 's'.  Immediately though, I did notice things were different than my adopted college country.  It didn't seem just like the same old same old but more like somewhere with an identity.  A few initial observations about people in America's airports:
- People, particularly strangers grasping for something to talk about, talk A LOT about their occupations.  I feel it definitely comes up in conversation in NZ but I never heard anyone carry a 30 minute conversation about, "oh what do you do there?", "we were involved in a great project", "we're looking to expand".  Maybe my views will change once I'm in the work force but I think the kiwis might be on to something when they talk more about life outside of the office.
-Busy people.  Where do people have to be and why do they have to be there so gosh darn quick?  When I worked at the nursery and there was nothing to do, me and my co-workers would often walk around doing nothing in particular but always walking quickly and with a busy face on.  We did this to avoid getting sent home for lack of things to do.  People I saw in America right off the bat were wearing their busy faces in full force that extra long Thursday and were wearing them seriously.
-"Why isn't this up to the standards I think I deserve?"  On numerous occasions, people didn't think the service they received was up to snuff and let someone know about it.  One lady waited around and confronted the pilot about a joke he had made on the intercom. Another lady made the person at a restaurant kiosk remove the lettuce she didn't order from her burger.  Take off your own damn lettuce! People make mistakes.  Several people were terse, frustrated, or downright angry at the people representing the airlines for check-in and checking bags.   Anyway, a lot of people expect things to be perfect for them. What does the world owe you, my friend?  And what have you done for it lately?
-Diversity.  I mean this in the most appreciative way possible, but it was great to see black people again. NZ's isolation doesn't exactly create the most racially and culturally diverse environment.  Sure I'll miss the kiwis and the maori, but I think the airports in America really showcase the different backgrounds, lifestyles, and ideas you get depending on where you go in the country.  This makes for fantastic people watching.
-Sarcasm at its finest.  There's just this certain sense of humor I found time an time again with the people in on the plane, selling food, or working security that verges on cynical but I just find it so funny sometimes.
-Mexican food.  Hard to come by in NZ.
-Cute girls in sun dresses.  Gotta love summer.  A welcome sight to my winter wearied eyes.
-There was definitely a lot more chatter on the planes in New Zealand.  Not sure why but it was kindof nice.  Although the young lad in front of me had his ear talked off by some crazy man all the way from Dunedin to Auckland.   Not always a good thing.
-Friendly mid-westerners.

Now some favorite things about home:
-Family
-Friends
-A warm house
-Good smelling towels.
-A stocked pantry
-Front yards and back yards.
-Baseball
-Reuniting with my blanky.
-Cereal and Cheez-its (not necessarily together).
-Beautiful fields.  I really enjoyed my drive from Omaha to Ames last saturday.  Maybe I've taken these amber waves of grain for granted.
-Barbeques and corn on the cob and root beer.
-Playing drums again.
-Riding my bike.
-Did I mention friends and family?

It's safe to say I'm really really enjoying being home.  More than I thought I would.  I don't think that speaks of the inferiority of New Zealand, it's a beautiful place with beautiful people, but rather to how great the things I have going for me are here.  In the coming days and months I'm bound to see things I appreciate more and see other things where I would like to introduce something I learned in NZ.  Why do we do things this way?  I do think I am a different person.  Different because I believe I've learned things about myself.  Ideally the end of each day would be a death of the person I was before and my awakening the birth of a new person closer to the better person I someday hope to be.  This process I believe is just easier to see in a 4 month span in a foreign place with new experiences.  However as my friend Pete told me, I have only really found myself in my New Zealand setting.  How my trip will affect who I will become at home has yet to be discovered.  This might call for another blog, we'll see.  For now, I'll be signing of from the witty, Pulitzer deserving New Land, New Zeal.   While this blog has been mainly about me, the beautiful thing about me being home is that we can now communicate face to face and you can tell me about what's been going on in your life for the last four months*.  I would love to tell you about my experiences but I would also love to hear about yours.  So lets shake the dust of this crummy little blog and get together.  We have so much more to share than stories.  Thanks for reading and I love you all.

--Daniel --


*Thanks again Peter.