I am sitting here, in my beautiful house (in America), drinking some delightful Nepali coffee, beyond grateful to be HOME… Ahhh it feels soooo good after 11 months to have the comforts of home… to be in the same time zone as my friends and family…. to finally be alone (like truly alone – actually it is kinda weird and creepy)… But anyways I wanted to share some of my initial experiences in America:
-Everything is in USD. There is no conversion rate… there is no math to be done when buying a cup of
coffee in the airport.
-Taxes. What is this all about? If the price say $4.78, then that is what is should be. Not $5
something. I was really confused the first time I tried to buy something in the airport and the price
was higher than what it said on the board. Most places around the world taxes are already
included in the prices posted.
-Where does my toilet paper go? In the trash can or in the toilet… will the toilet paper clog up the toilet?
There is way too much thinking involved when going to the bathroom because I just spent 11 months of putting toilet paper in the trash can. It’s going to take a while to get use to this one.
-Convertors are Not needed to plug something in… Crazy you just plug your electronics into the wall and
no worries.
-Everyone speaks English… and everyone understands what you are saying. It is weird. I got off
the plane in LAX and an airport worker directed us to customs. He was of mixed decent, and I
was really thrown off when he had an American accent. I did a double take because there was
no foreign accent.
-My heart skipped a beat when I saw there was a Chickfila beside the Starbucks in the ALT airport. It’s
been 11 months… Ahhh comfort foods. But I saved my first trip to Chickfila for Monday to go with my
daddy back at home. And it was just as delightful as I remember it being. Chickfila is the best thing
ever invented.
-Americans are so large…. People watching in an airport is not the best idea, because you can count the number of people who are within a healthy weight limit or considered small by America standard. But the number of large people, you cannot count. I just came from the Philippines where everyone was tiny and it was completely normal.
-Sleeping on the floor of an American airport is still considered taboo especially if you are alone… it’s not
like I am homeless and the floors are carpeted and clean.
-Home appliances is a foreign concept to me – You see the toaster is new (since being gone 11
months) and confusing, all I want is a bagel toasted. The coffee maker is beyond spiffy with all
these buttons that I don’t understand. And we have a dishwasher… its crazy. And I don’t know
how to use all these home appliances that make life so much ‘easier’.
-TV remotes…. We have 3 for our entertainment system, it took me a solid 10 minutes to figure out how
to get the TV on and with what remote to use.
These are some things that I am experiencing. Life in America is different than what I am use to, but I am simply viewing America as my 12th country. Every month I had to figure things out – routine, ministry, life. I am going to have to do that again. And instead of 6 teammates, I have my beautiful family to help me get through this time. It will take some time to readjust, but I am beyond grateful to be home. I love my family and friends. Thanks for following me on this journey.
