Dear Family and Friends,
It’s been almost a year since I have last seen you and I have only gotten to talk with some of you a couple of times. In a couple days I am coming back home, I want to let you all know that it might take me a while to settle down and become adjusted to your lifestyle. After all, I have spent the last 11 months
-washing clothes by hand,
-throwing my toilet paper in the trash can,
-brushing my teeth using the water in my water bottle,
-doing mental math to convert currency,
-picking bones out of all my meat,
-wondering what did I just order,
-and speaking to people who don’t always understand English.
Living in America will be a ‘new’ experience for me.
-I will have to adjust to a different currency,
-driving on the other (but right) side of the road,
-wearing my seatbelt, eating different food,
-everyone speaking the same language,
-living in a ‘new’ environment,
-and having Wi-Fi/cellphone data 24/7.
All these things are ‘new’ to me, yes I have experienced all this before but it is still ‘new’ to me. While I am sure that I will get used to everything, it might take me a couple days or weeks to adjust back into the States.
I am leaving behind my family, 23 awesome, amazing people who I have spent countless hours with, making memories and laughing at the little things. 23 people who have lived life with me, who know how much I’ve changed, how much I’ve grown. They know my good days and my bad days. They know me. They encourage me and love me. They are family.
I am the same person. New perspective. New likes and dislikes. I have learned so much about myself. God has broken chains and lies that I used to believe about myself. He has replaced these lies with truth. I am still Caleb Jeremiah, but I have a new sense of who I am and what my God given purpose is. I have seen and experienced so much more than South Dakota can offer. I am expecting to go home and continue to broaden my perspective. This includes food. I might not ‘love’ Chinese food, but I can enjoy it. I can and will eat new foods that used to be foreign, but now taste delicious. I may even take you to try new food, after I get my fill on good ‘old American food.
It may take me a couple days to catch up on sleep. I leave Bali at 1:30am on the 22nd and land in Seattle at 8:00am the same day, however I have over 18 hours of flights in between. I may be trying to fight jet lag, but I want to engage with you. I want to hear stories from the past year of your life. I want interact with you as though we both just happened not to see each other for a year, which we did, but I want to hear how your year was. What happened to you?
There are hundreds of stories from the past year, I couldn’t share them all in an hour, in a day, in a week, or even a month. It will take time to hear all my stories and I want you to respect that time. I don’t want to try to sum up the past year in one word or sentence or even one story. Please don’t ask what’s your favorite month or country or food… that’s like asking me who’s your favorite child or what’s your favorite year of your entire life? How can you possibly choose just one? I can’t wait to share stories and pictures and memories from the past year.
I am so excited to see you all in the next couple days and weeks. I have missed all of you.
Love you and can’t wait to see you,
Caleb Jeremiah
