Friday, October 5, 2012

Expectations vs. Reality

So, before you travel abroad, everybody and everybody's mom are like, "THIS IS HOW YOUR LIFE WILL BE BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT EVERYONE EXPERIENCES."

And I'm like, "lol, you forgot to take into consideration how I tend to be the exception to your silly rules of society."

And that's how it went down.

Everybody says that you'll cry at the airport when you leave your family. Not my style, bro. Peace out, I'll be back in four months. This trip has a set limit of time. I have no reservations about being here. I, quite frankly, do not care that I've left my family and friends. (Not that I don't love you all. I do. Here, I got you a less than three: <3.) It would be a different situation if I had come here with no defined end date. Then I might be a bit upset about saying goodbye to everyone. But I have very clear plans of returning home in December. So, excepting the end of the world or death, I'll see everyone next year.

Then everyone says that you'll experience culture shock, even if your host culture is similar to that of your home culture. And I'm like, "lol, culture shock?" Seriously, did I even leave the USA? The most shocking thing thus far has been determining where the road signs are. Really, where are they? Half the time I still can't find them. They're always posted on a fence or a wall or not at all. I suppose I kind of had the honeymooning phase of culture shock, but that was really more of, "DUDE THERE'S A SEA RIGHT HERE I CAN GO LOOK AT THE SEA LOOK IT'S A SEA LET'S LOOK AT IT WATER." Because, you know how I roll: I really like water. It's kind of my jam. But, really, I kind of feel like I've lived here forever. There is no adjustment to this.

The biggest adjustment is my lack of car. And I figured out how to work public transportation after about three seconds. But, still, my car. Public transportation means that I have to plan in advance. That is just far too much work. I don't like having to think ahead. I am impulsive. I like to do things whenever I think of them. But with these buses and trains and what have you, I have to actually think about how I'm going to get to my intended destination. Then I have to follow the public transportation schedule which is a giant bummer.

Oh, and they neglect to tell you that a child will bite your bum while you're teaching. What?

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