One day I’m in the Philippines surrounded by my wonderful squad of 36 people, the next day I’m in America at Santa Land with my mom, two sisters, and three nieces (two of whom I just met!). Quite a change and I’m not talking about just the weather. Fortunately, Santa Land and all its elves helped me out with my re-entry.
Santa Land, as we like to call it, is a display depicting “A Day in the Life of an Elf.” This display is up every year (although until 4 years ago the display changed annually) on the 8th floor of Macy’s in Minneapolis. People take their kids (or their college friends) to walk through this short display and at the end, if you’re lucky, you get to see Santa.
So my first full day back in the wonderful state of Minnesota, I went with all the females in my family to explore Santa Land. I saw this display with some friends three years ago, so I knew what to except. But I had no idea that these elves’ lives were going to take me back to my life on race.
Me, Brittany (sister), Collins (neice), Cali (neice), and Lindsay (sister) at Santa Land (my other neice Piper was sleeping in her stroller so she missed out on our picture)
When I first walked in, I turned to the left and saw the elves in their sleeping quarters. And what did they sleep in you ask? Bunk beds. That seems familiar, probably because half my time on the race was spend sleeping in a bunk bed.
As we walked a little farther, we were brought to the elves kitchen. And what was running across the floor of that kitchen? A mouse of course. I saw quite a few mice this year including at least one who ran right below my feet while I was eating. Let’s just say, I had sympathy for that poor elf in the kitchen.
My oldest niece Cali in Santa Land
Continuing our journey through Santa Land we came upon a big tree. And tied from that tree to another was a clothes line complete with drying elf clothes. Boy can I relate to that. My clothes only got dried in a dryer 3 times during my 11 months on the field. And I promise I washed my clothes many more times than that.
If you know me well, you know that I have a love of elves. If you know me extremely well, you know that for the majority of my life, I had dreams of being an elf. First, a Christmas elf and later an elf from the Lord of the Rings (almost any kind would due). So the fact that my World Race life was so comparable to the life of elf was quite exciting. And even though those three things are not among my most positive race memories, it was oddly comforting to be reminded of them.
Aside from the elves, my family has done a wonderful job reminding me of my life on the race. With sisters who live within 20 minutes of my parents’ house and their 3 kids, I’m rarely alone and it’s quite loud. Definitely like my last 11 months.
But more seriously, it’s kind of weird to be back. Don’t get me wrong, I am more than excited to be home, it’s just different that I thought it would be. And I don’t really know how to explain it. Part of me feels like I never left home, but the other part feels like I should still be out there. Fortunately, God’s got it under control and if He helped me survive the World Race, I know He will help me survive re-entry.
