Sun, sun, sun here it comes (California)

As I write this blog post, I am sitting on the slowest mode of transport known to man: the Caltrain.   Actually, there's an even slower form of transportation called the lightrail which I accidentally took the other day that made my journey between mountainview and San Jose a total of 3 hours (a distance of about 20 miles...).    

But there's one thing that I seriously appreciate about California after a China: the sun.   In Chengdu, I noticed a serious lack of "qing tian" (sunny days).   California is beautiful and the wide open space is lovely, though I still hate relying on cars.   I really do love the sun though - it makes everything better.   I just visited Facebook HQ and you can work outside pretty much year round on their outdoor tables, it seems like!

Another thing that I've been appreciating about 'merica is the diversity.   At one point in my aunt and uncle's house I was listening to two languages that I don't understand at once - my family speaking Hindi and the housekeeper speaking Spanish.   Also, my aunt had a biggg Bollywood wedding last week and no one seemed concerned by the 40+ members of my family walking down the street in Indian garb.  (It helps that the bay area is a whopping 23 percent Asian-American as of the 2010 census.)   I visited the Castro district in San Francisco yesterday, the center of the LGBT community, and was hopeful for the future of of America and the world when it comes to tolerance.

That isn't to say that I don't miss China, however.  I definitely experienced reverse culture shock and wanted to shout "fuwuyuan" (waiter!!) when I went to an American restaurant.   I even went to Boston Chinatown for dimsum already ;).   And more than that, I miss the friendly shop keepers, students, and pretty much everyone.

I think that my travels abroad this summer definitely altered my thinking in significant ways.   For one thing, I'm much more aware of the bubble in which I live.  Should I visit my friends at Facebook or Dropbox tomorrow and eat unlimited free food?   Tough life choices.   

During this past school year, and especially this summer, I've travelled internationally and by plane more than I have over the entire course of my life.   My parents moved away from where I grew up and to the beautiful sunny Caribbean, and so I found myself calling several places, from the Caribbean to my snowy dorm room, home.   Now sitting at my aunt's house in California, I feel equally at home.   During the wedding last week, I was with my parents and my huge extended family.  I have my laptop, family and friends around.   One of the consequences of being a college student and traveling around a lot is that my definition of home has broadened significantly.   Home is where the laptop is... I mean, where my family and friends are :)

So naturally, the way to fight off my reverse culture shock is to...go to a mountain town in Japan for two weeks and teach high school students?   Sounds about right.   Let the adventures continue!