Sat 19 Jul 2003
The Habits We Make
Posted by Sandi Atherton under germany, vacation
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The trip home was much easier than I had expected. The girls all did very well and even slept 3 hours (ok, I drugged them with Benadryl and that helped). It was more painful to go through security than the flight with the 3 girls. We arrived in Indy and were met by Tim, Kristen and Kameron. At the house, we discovered the rest of the gang. We had a small gathering that helped us stay awake until the magic hour of 9 pm.
We all did very well on the turn around for the time difference. The girls slept through the night but were up at 6 am. By the 3rd day however, they were sleeping normally.
While in Germany I kept wondering how things would be back “home”. I dreamed of the shopping, the restaurants, and the ease of life in Indy. Nothing could have compared me for the shock of my discoveries. tn Germany we have 5 different waste cans – no joke! Sorting trash is one of my biggest pet peeves, one of the things that I could NOT WAIT to leave behind. Yet on the first day
back in Indy I found myself sorting the paper from the plastic without thinking.
While driving the car, I discovered the automatic responses I had for driving a stick shift. I wondered why I could not get the keys out of the ignition- and discovered I had pulled the emergency brake and not put the car in park. There was also the motion of hitting the brake thinking it was the clutch. Now the BIGGEST adjustment in driving is the speed. I do fairly well in the city, because the speed limit in the city limits of Germany is a bit lower than here. The highway system is quite different. I found myself getting on the highway and merging at the speed of 55 then wanting to accelerate. We regularly drive at speeds of 60MPH outside of town but on highways we can reach speed of 120 MPH and travel consistently at that speed. I find it funny that at first driving those speeds made me sick, now they are a habit and 55MPH seems to crawl.
Going to the grocery st0re for the first time was an amazing feeling. lf you asked Kristen, she would tell you it was funny to watch. I oohed and ahhed over countless items that I had completely forgotten about. I stocked up on breakfast items such as Eggos, Toaster Struedels, and Pancakes.
I enjoyed the fact that I could read the labels and understand the directions without having a dictionary close by. The funniest (and most entertaining to Kristen) was the cookie aisle. I loaded the cart with EVERY flavor of Oreos on the shelf and there were tons of new ones that I had never tasted. I did however show restraint with the rest of the cookie aisle. After all, I do have a dress that I have to fit in next month. I told Ken that it was a good thing I was coming home about 4 weeks before him so that I could get this out of my system.
As of yet, I have not been out for my much awaited prime rib and ceaser salad, but the plans are in the works. Seeing friends and family has been a lot more emotional than I had originally thought. I knew I missed them but never realize how much until now. The time is flying by already and just as I am getting used to not sorting trash again it will be time to head back. The new habits I have learned and the old ones I just broke will have to be adjusted to again.
Local Tags: cultural differences, driving, germany, house, indianapolis, kameron case, ken, kristen case, park, tim cotton
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