En route
I've been away from the TFP for a long time. Probably the longest that I've ever been away. And I will probably remain away for quite a while yet, due to our schedule in the next 2 months. I apologize for my absence--but in a way, I think it has been a very good thing to be generally away from the internet.
We left Iceland on Dec 21 and ktsp successfully immigrated into the US at JFK airport (yay, no more special-visitor registration for him!!... Lebanon was on the list of "special countries of which the citizens must register every time they enter and depart the US"), and we arrived in Seattle the next day. Massive snowstorm... had us housebound until well after Christmas, but it was a good way to re-enter American culture since we couldn't spend much time at the mall.
My initial reverse-culture shock reactions have been, in general, that Americans talk too damn much (especially with strangers), there are too many people and cars and buildings everywhere (it feels crowded after the emptiness of Iceland--didn't help that we just flew down to Vegas for New Year's, yikes!), but that I am grateful to speak English again, have good affordable beer within reach, and to have the rich ethnic diversity of Seattle all around us... I've missed all of that, and more. So there are positives and negatives, as usual. I'm giving myself 6 months to adjust and feel comfortable again in the US, so no rush there.
Fact is, though, we're taking off again shortly to fly back east (meeting with my doctoral committee peeps) and then continue on over the pond and Europe to visit the in-laws in Lebanon for a couple of weeks... before continuing east again to Thailand for 3 weeks, and then continuing east again over the Pacific back to Seattle again. So, literally around the world, not really on vacation but doing much-needed family visiting (that's what happens when we have 5 countries of family between the two of us). I haven't been to Thailand in 10+ years, so it is a long overdue visit to my extended family there. We'll have brief stopovers in London, Frankfurt, Doha (Qatar), and Seoul, and I assume I won't have extended internet access (other than cafes, etc) until we return to Seattle at the end of February.
By March-April, we should definitely be more settled in and finding our own place and jobs here (instead of just crashing at my mom's place, as we are currently doing), but in the meantime it will be massive movement-and-transition time. We're making the most of our time "off" from a regular work schedule, before ktsp in particular gets slotted into the usual American 10-15 days off a year (such a shock, after the 24 days min. in Iceland), which will probably mostly be spent in Lebanon. And we'll most likely start popping out kids in a couple of years, so this is our last chance to take a big trip to visit everyone before life catches up with us.
We're very grateful that we were able to spend the first two years of our marriage in quiet Iceland, building our relationship and intimacy together, before coming back here. I think that in the future, as our lives get increasingly more chaotic (I have no doubt about that fact), there will be times when we'll wish that we could go back to Iceland. And that's okay. It's a place that means a lot to both of us, so it's to be expected that we'll miss it in some ways. But for now, it's time to come up to speed with real life.
We left Iceland on Dec 21 and ktsp successfully immigrated into the US at JFK airport (yay, no more special-visitor registration for him!!... Lebanon was on the list of "special countries of which the citizens must register every time they enter and depart the US"), and we arrived in Seattle the next day. Massive snowstorm... had us housebound until well after Christmas, but it was a good way to re-enter American culture since we couldn't spend much time at the mall.
My initial reverse-culture shock reactions have been, in general, that Americans talk too damn much (especially with strangers), there are too many people and cars and buildings everywhere (it feels crowded after the emptiness of Iceland--didn't help that we just flew down to Vegas for New Year's, yikes!), but that I am grateful to speak English again, have good affordable beer within reach, and to have the rich ethnic diversity of Seattle all around us... I've missed all of that, and more. So there are positives and negatives, as usual. I'm giving myself 6 months to adjust and feel comfortable again in the US, so no rush there.
Fact is, though, we're taking off again shortly to fly back east (meeting with my doctoral committee peeps) and then continue on over the pond and Europe to visit the in-laws in Lebanon for a couple of weeks... before continuing east again to Thailand for 3 weeks, and then continuing east again over the Pacific back to Seattle again. So, literally around the world, not really on vacation but doing much-needed family visiting (that's what happens when we have 5 countries of family between the two of us). I haven't been to Thailand in 10+ years, so it is a long overdue visit to my extended family there. We'll have brief stopovers in London, Frankfurt, Doha (Qatar), and Seoul, and I assume I won't have extended internet access (other than cafes, etc) until we return to Seattle at the end of February.
By March-April, we should definitely be more settled in and finding our own place and jobs here (instead of just crashing at my mom's place, as we are currently doing), but in the meantime it will be massive movement-and-transition time. We're making the most of our time "off" from a regular work schedule, before ktsp in particular gets slotted into the usual American 10-15 days off a year (such a shock, after the 24 days min. in Iceland), which will probably mostly be spent in Lebanon. And we'll most likely start popping out kids in a couple of years, so this is our last chance to take a big trip to visit everyone before life catches up with us.
We're very grateful that we were able to spend the first two years of our marriage in quiet Iceland, building our relationship and intimacy together, before coming back here. I think that in the future, as our lives get increasingly more chaotic (I have no doubt about that fact), there will be times when we'll wish that we could go back to Iceland. And that's okay. It's a place that means a lot to both of us, so it's to be expected that we'll miss it in some ways. But for now, it's time to come up to speed with real life.
Total Comments 7
Comments
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Thanks for the update; it's good to hear from you. Good luck with your plans, and remember, the TFP is always here, no matter how far you wander, or for how long.Posted 01-03-2009 at 01:24 PM by snowy
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It sounds like your living a full life. Good for both of you!Posted 01-03-2009 at 04:57 PM by fresnelly
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well if you're in Doha, you at least deserve a stopover in Dubai also! Dubai kicks Dohas ass bigtime. trust me.
if you decide to re-schedule, you're more than welcome to meet the Lishs' in Dubai. we'd love to have you guys.Posted 01-03-2009 at 05:14 PM by dlish
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wow. there are advantages to being able to spread this transition across an intermediate phase of traveling i think...it both marks a separation in your lives of one sequence from another and enables you to stay away from entering the chaos sphere of the american economy until march/april, by which point one would hope that at least some things are clearer, more coherent.
enjoy the experience.
you folk are, of course, missed in our little teacup.
look forward to seeing you around again once the new situation begins to take shape.
be well. acquire music during your travels.Posted 01-04-2009 at 08:45 AM by roachboy
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Thanks Snowy, Fresnelly, dlish, and rb, for your kind words.
Dlish, you know we would have loved to stop in Dubai, but it was way cheaper to fly though Doha (ktsp can't even leave the airport in Doha, incidentally). We shall meet another time, I'm sure!
rb, you hit the nail on the head... as weird as it feels to be traveling until March, it feels good to know that we don't have to fully settle in (to America) just yet... we need the moving time, both literally and figuratively. It will be quite the adventure, as always.Posted 01-04-2009 at 06:05 PM by abaya
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keep a running journal in notepad or something that you can post when you get a chance
best of luck and much fun on your journeys!Posted 01-05-2009 at 01:37 PM by guccilvr
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magic journey you're on... that's great! Life doesn't have many of those aside for the main event journey.Posted 01-05-2009 at 08:29 PM by Cynthetiq
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