Thoughts on Re-entry

As we begin our second stint in the land of Oz, I have spent some time considering how and to what extent our arrival this past Wednesday differs from last July.  Missing this time was the considerable excitement, the exhileration that comes with a completely novel experience.  If we did in fact go through a honeymoon phase, that is decidedly over.  On the other hand, also missing is the intense frustration over every single aspect of daily life requiring learning and adjustment.   I can jump into the car, for example, and arrive at the desired destination without taking my life and the lives of my passengers into imminent danger.  That surely is a plus.

Last July our first week was spent unpacking and figuring out how to feed a family of six.  Driving back and forth to the local grocery was my big accomplishment, and for quite some time it was the one place to which I felt any degree of comfort going.   Mastering its many unfamiliar products proved to be as frustrating as it was interesting, while the finicky stove top and oven in my new kitchen caused me much grief.  We had prepared ourselves for cooler weather, but I had neglected to consider the impact of winter's short days.  We found ourselves with little motivation to stay up past 6pm, making the jetlag last that much longer.

This time around we landed feeling not quite like natives exactly but at least experienced novices.  Immigration, luggage collection, and customs were not the difficult ordeals of last July, and within short order we were en route to a house that has become a home.  One child could barely contain her exuberance, while another continued his adamant refusals to admit to anything positive about living in Australia.  When he made several negative comments to the enquiries of the friendly immigration officials, we his parents changed tactics from ignoring him to ordering him to come up with a supply of two or three positive things to say in future encounters.  Thus far he has complied.

This time around we refused to allow jetlag to determine our schedule.  We ignored the suitcases and laundry on our second day back, and instead headed off for an all day trip along Australia's magnificent southern coastline.  The beautiful sunny summer days have aided us immensely in more ways than one, most notably by drastically reducing the effort required on our part to adjust to a new time zone.  They have been a balm to our souls, as have been the friends who have greeted us warmly and have seemed genuinely pleased to see us again.  Walking into church this morning caused unexpected waves of emotion and joy within, and I realized that as hard as the leave-taking was on the 27th, I could honestly say that in that moment, I was glad to be right where I was.

I have also been musing over the blessing that this blog has been to me, and I think it is accurate to say, to our whole family in spite of their occasional complaints over the amount of time I spend at the computer.  I am ever so grateful for my readers and those who have not only willingly shared our experiences with us, but who have occasionally, and without expectation on my part, expressed pleasure over the opportunity.  We were fully prepared for the possibility that when we returned to the U.S. our family and friends might not be as willing to hear as many details of the past five months as we were desiring to share.  This is a fairly common experience of returning expats, we have been told, and can take them by surprise.  I was careful therefore to caution my children, especially the more talkative of the bunch, to be sensitive of the reactions of their listeners. Instead, however, we found the opposite to be true.  We were not only welcomed back warmly, but found ourselves agreeably approached from every side by those who wanted even more details and further explanations.  I felt keenly aware that we did not deserve this, we who had voluntarily abandoned our family and friends for the opportunity of a lifetime, but felt gratified nonetheless.

My next pleasant-though-difficult task will be to sort through the several hundred pictures I have taken on our sightseeing ventures over the past few days to choose ones to share in the next post.  I have grudgingly given the suitcases some attention as no elves appeared to unpack them for me, and while I have completely lost track of the number of loads of laundry completed, I can report that only two suitcases of the original eleven remain to accuse me every time I walk through the dining room (it is the room I enter the fewest amount of times per day).  Tomorrow will be Ross's last day of the Christmas break, and while we do not know exactly yet what we will be doing, we plan to fully enjoy it with him.

Comments

[Shanda]

" I could honestly say that in that moment, I was glad to be right where I was."
This was my favorite line from this post. I read it several times over. I love it!