Final Thoughts and ReEntry

Note to self: when you will be leaving a bunch of loved ones for quite some time, and be saying goodbyes with tight and long hugs…don’t get your back and shoulders sunburned the day before!

Well, I am officially back in the states. I have passed through border control and customs, rechecked my bags, and now await my final leg of this trip, which will go from Newark to Los Angeles. Before I left, I started making a mental list of things I expect to miss and those I am looking forward to:

I know I will miss:

• Of course the number one thing is the people I’ve met and bonded with.
• The bus ride from my apartment to campus
• The feeling of success everyday things brought: ordering coffee, finding my way to an intended destination, asking when the next bus will arrive
• Israeli pita bread and salads
• Congregational worship in Hebrew
• Hiking the Israel National Trail, and the friends I made along the way
• Signing in ISL and working hard to suppress ASL code-switching in the process
• The reading group in the lab and all the great discussions it brought
• Shopping at the Shuk (outdoor market)
• Walking alone at night, safely
• Israeli directness – (what a different species Israeli guys are from American guys!)
• The view of the mountain and sea from almost anywhere in Haifa
• Listening to strangers’ conversations and being proud just to recognize words here and there
• Israeli accents

What I am looking forward to upon returning:

• The way American dogs act like pets
• Smoking laws
• People considering my first name common and readily recognizable
• Customer service in a highly capitalist society :-p
• Signing ASL fluently with long-loved friends and coworkers
• Mexican food
• Mexican accents
• Drying my clothes in a machine
• Congregational worship through songs in English
• Seeing Steph’s studio
• ASL worship at SAC
• Blending into a crowd, blonde hair and all
• Stores with clothes I find appealing
• Browsing the web instantly, by means of my cell
• Running shoes at 1/3 the prices
• The upcoming Summer Linguistic Institute, my friend’s wedding, 4^th of July with family, beginning my doctoral program
• and of course, the people.

Now I’ve begun a new mental list of things I was surprised to be surprised by since returning:

• Starbucks – I hadn’t realized I haven’t seen one in 11 months, and it was a kind of shock when it loomed up before me in the airport…and yet was an immediate, “Of course”. How can it feel like I haven’t been here in ages, and yet like I never left both at the same time? I feel like Dorothy or Alice waking up at the end of the movie.
• Jamba Juice – Having reached the gate for my connecting flight, confirmed its time, and visited the bathroom, I went in search of a meal. Wasn’t sure what I was in the mood for until I saw the sign, sighed, and actually said the name allowed quietly…before realizing I only have shekels on me. Now to find a currency exchange place.
• Everything is in English! – Of course I expected this, and while in Israel most everything is also in English as well as Hebrew, and often Arabic, but I guess I’d shifted to sounding out the Hebrew first, always, before turning to the translation. Being able to simply sight-read every sign is a little overstimulating…and simultaneously sadly boring.
• Recycling! – I went to throw something away in the airport, and not only could I recycle plastic, but tin, glass…all kinds of things! :-D