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| An epiphany! |
When back in Australia in September 2012 I was asked "Is the US home now or is Australia?" and I couldn't bring myself to say the US was home and neither could I say "Australia is still home"... to be honest, I felt like I was betraying either country no matter what answer I gave.
It wasn't until I returned to the US and went back to work (the very next day) that I had my epiphany (or mood swing.. who knows :P). It was a gorgeous sunny day. I went and got lunch at my "local" food haunt. I was walking back to work and I realised that I felt comfortable. I like my job, I like where I live (most of the time), I like our house and of course my husband and our furry children (2 dogs).
Other immigrants will understand how welcome that feeling is. A lot of the time immigrants (I'm generalising here but I read this a lot on my immigration site) feel out of place about the strangest things. Someone once said she walked out of her house one day and realised she had no idea how to send a letter... and that's so true! You don't know where anything is, you don't know the processes. It's bizarre!
So that's where my ephiphany comes in, I realised that where I am is home. It's not the US, it's not Australia... it's where I am that's home. I finally feel comfortable enough here that I can say "I'm home"... but I still call Australia my "home country". Technicalities I suppose but where I am is my niche in life, not a country, and right now where I am is in small town Iowa, USA. This isn't meant as an insult to Australia, I simply mean, I'm finally at a place in my adjustment here where I'm comfortable enough to feel home and not like the alien I am :P
On a funnier note, being back in Australia was definitely weird, after two years (almost to the day actually) being back there was very different and I definitely noticed some things I hadn't noticed before.
On the observation front though (bear in mind I live in small town Iowa, and in Australia I lived in the Grampians so a lot of these things are related to where I'm from and where I am now):
- Driving down the highway in Iowa (not the backroads, the highways) the trees are off in the fields and farther from the road. Driving down the Western Highway in Aus I was lucky to see the fields BEHIND the trees. Lots and lots of trees, and eucalpyts to boot, right up almost butting up to the road;
- Hills versus flat lands. You can't see for a very long distance in my area of Aus because of the hills, but in Iowa it's just land and corn and soy beans as far as the eye can see;
- Speaking of corn and soy beans, we grow canola in my area of Aus;
- I saw NO shingled roofs... which is all there is here (that I've noticed). In Aus there was either tiled or tin;
- Houses in Aus are made of brick or wood, but in the US they also have aluminum siding, which is what our house is;
- Out shopping there was a sale on the Creamy Soda I love (Kirks), 4 for $10. In the US this can mean that they're $2.50 each so you can get 6 or 2 or 1 or whatever and you get the saving (usually). In Aus however you must buy the amount listed to get the saving, otherwise it's the original price;
- Cable TV... oh how I love thee! I know that in Aus you can get pay-TV but it's so insanely expensive when here in the US everyone has cable or satellite. There are different sized cable/satellite plans, the more you pay the more channels you have, but going back to Aus most TV's only have 6 channels on regular TV;
- When mum was here visiting she noticed that the toilets here tend to fill up more before then flushing down. She had a minor panic the first couple of times worrying the toilet was going to overflow;
- When I first landed in Aus it was really glarey out. I was shocked to see so few people wearing sunnies... here in the states almost everyone wears them... could be because they're so cheap here;
- While shopping in a more major town than my mum lives in, I saw a restaurant called "chequers"... yep that's right Americans, the restaurant "Checkers" spelt with a Q. I thought it was weird because it's a shop name so why change it? I likened it to calling "Subway", "Train Station" :-P; and
- One thing that I noticed as soon as I was back on US soil is that I love my phone (and US cellular plans). I love having unlimited data, a good signal most of the time, unlimited texting, a smart phone and enough minutes that I never have to worry about over-paying (unless I call Aus that is). I think Australia is getting better at this but when I was last living there (2009) these smart phones weren't as prevalent (iPhone or blackberry were your choices), data plans sucked and calls cost a small fortune. I use my phone (an HTC Incredible 2) pretty much all the time now and love it (well not recently.. I'm having battery problems :P)!
I love the comparisons! Some I have noticed are is how friendly Americans are to strangers. Walking up to a stranger and just talking to them would make you seem crazy in Australia! Also, how many people here in the states dine out for breakfast. And, Americans don't seem to butter their bread for sandwiches! So many more things, especially with words and terms. People don't realize just how different our two countries are. It's the small things!
ReplyDeleteI noticed so many of the same things in the US!!! THE ROOF TOPS! I didn't see one made of tiles during my whole stay.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came to food prices, actually most prices in general were so much more affordable in the US.
I can't believe your mum noticed the toilet too! I was very surprised there is such a high level of water in them, they also flush in the opposite direction.
I don't know how you felt but honestly I had never in my life had people treat me so kindly as I did in the US. in retrospect aussies may seem a lot more anti social or would be a little freaked out if randoms approached and started babbling but it feels like people are so warm and welcoming over there, especially in seattle. I met some of the most lovely people ive ever encountered and I was so appreciative to have them put themselves aside for the time I was there and treat me to so many nice outings.
I miss it there so much I can't wait to come back.
Another thing worth mentioning is how aware people are of organic foods. Most people there were shocked that we don't have cheap organic food available here. It seemed so alien to them that we aren't as ahead regarding food science.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about thw views as well, over there it's as if they go on forever and they are breathtaking. I remember looking out at the huge snow coverex mountains away in the distance, their tops hid above the clouds. It was like a dream, I'd never seen anything so amazing.