So it ends where it all began...

in Boston...

Just a week has passed since I have returned and already it feels like I never left the United States. Everyday, I'm nostalgic for the incredible excitement and also uncertainty that I experienced while I was abroad. Just a month ago, everyday was a new experience for me. Nothing was predictable and everything was so new. It's nice to be back in a familiar environment where I know how the public transportation system and the mathematical logical side of my brain can have a rest now that I don't have to keep converting foreign currencies back into US Dollars or Hong Kong Dollars. However, I also long for the interesting conversations that I had with strangers that I had to approach when I was abroad for all forms of help from how to get to places to sometimes how much certain things should cost. Already, I wish that I had updated my blog and written in my journal more frequently, because I can already feel my memories slipping away from me so quickly that I can barely remember many of the smaller insignificant frustrations/experiences that I had, such as worrying about being late for class in China because I had forgotten to reset my alarm clock to the correct timezone. I just feel so fortunate to at least have had an education and to be literate, because at least this way, there is some way that I can document my experiences, especially since I am no artist.

So, given that I cannot go back into the past and "re-remember" the experiences that I had, I can at least give you a sense of the realizations that I've had since returning to the United States. Some may call it reverse-culture-shock. But for me, I think that whenever you're away from a place for a significant period of time, you always return with a greater appreciation and awareness of the differences between where you were and where you just returned to.

Here are some of my realizations...

• The roads are so wide and the cars actually stay in their lanes. I was just so accustomed to the chaotic yet efficient way that the cars and various other modes of transport of all sizes and shapes were on the road that on the way back from the airport, I couldn't help but feel that everything was so predictable on the read. In India, it's almost like a game of Tetris turned on its side with the transportation fitting together in whatever way was possible whenever there was a red light or during rush hour traffic (rush hour probably equals all daylight hours in Bangalore and sometimes even at 9pm!).
• I can definitely feel the difference in population density between the United States and the two most populous countries in the world, India and China. While in the subway/the T, there were actually seats available inside the underground train and there was so much space while I was waiting for the train at the platform. In China, you are usually shoulder-to-shoulder with the people around you and you really need to react quickly to figure out where you're going before you're swept away by the ground. This reminds me of an ocean current, except a "current" of people. There is actually a Chinese saying "ren shan ren hai," which describes how there are mountains and oceans of people.
• Boston is such a literate city. While I was sitting in the subway, there were so many people reading the newspaper or a book, or doing their homework. Boston truly is a college city and it's amazing how many people know how to read. I think that it's definitely something that we take for granted and it's interesting how there is instead a pressure to obtain some form of tertiary education. This just shows how much society's standards keep rising and how, in some ways, this is contributing to the gap in literary globally. This experience has definitely given me a greater sense of appreciation for being in college and for having an abundance of opportunities at the tips of my fingertips. However, I also feel a greater sense of urgency to help those who don't have the same opportunities that I have.
  
• Technology is everywhere and there is definitely a big sense of safety in Boston. When I heard the subway for the first time, the sound of metal-against-metal when the train was approaching was so sharp and shrill to my ears. Only then did I realize how accustomed I had grown to the sounds of cars honking with chickens clucking in India and the sound of bicycles in China. Also, people were listening to songs on their mp3 players/iPod. If this had happened in South Africa, your music player would probably have been taken by some invisible hand by the time your first song was over. I suddenly felt like I didn't have to be so on-guard all the time, as I was in South Africa, and constantly watching the people around me. It's strange to relax your sense of awareness of your surroundings after being on "high-alert" for a month.