haggis, bagpipes, claymores, and kilts.

Guess who’s in Boston?

Okay, technically I’m staying in a suburb just outside.  But here I am, back in America, feeling weird about it but not weird enough. I commented yesterday to the friend I’m staying with that part of the weirdness is not feeling *completely* weird. It feels strange to be back, but it also feels quite normal. As in, almost too normal. So normal but off. Which makes it extra weird.

It makes sense that it would feel normal. After all, I’ve been in the US for 20+ years and in Edinburgh for only nine months.  Still, the strength of differences in the experience demand the adjustments that now must be unmade.  I think another piece of the “too normal” is the similarities.  Edinburgh and the UK are a halfway house, maybe. If I had been to China for a year, coming back might feel much weirder and not too normal at all.  I might know how to deal with that in a more straightforward manner.  But this mixed familiarity… it will be awhile I’m sure before things begin to sink in much, and I’m sure I’ll begin to feel strangest when I spend time in downtown Chicago or Boston again.  For now I’m just chillin in a good old American suburb and getting reaquainted to the smell and taste of Bostonian air.

Keep the kettle on; I’ll be in Chicago next week.