Post graduation, move from Denver, trip to Europe, and car crash upon my return to Iowa, I've noticed some stuff about America and myself. Here's what I've noticed and what I've been up to:
-In Europe, I got so used to people only speaking English to me that upon my return, I thought people around me, talking on their cell phones or to their friends, were always addressing me. So, of course, I'd become startled at the things they would say. One construction worker in Denver said "You're so lazy!" to his friend and I just turned around and stared, wondering how I could deserve such a scolding from a stranger, only to realize that people speak English to other people aside from me here.
-Speaking of English, mine is just terrible. After months of listening to other languages and using more simplified English in attempts at being understood, my own English vocab is shot. I'm just not as articulate or eloquent anymore and formulating a well written thought at the level I used to takes ages. Blarg!
-Personal space. I have personal space!
-I've been indulging in the news. I read the local Iowa City newspaper, the bing newspaper that's on my computer, yahoo (regular and celeb), along with a stupid amount of articles posted by friends on facebook. I just can't get enough, it's like candy.
-I've also been reading loads of magazines. Entertainment Weekly, Harpers Bazaar, Esquire, Cosmo, gimme gimme gimme. Also candy.
-I'm a sleep machine and I don't even care.
-I've been taking my time at everything and am only forcing myself to get one thing accomplished each day. An accomplishment could be any number of small achievements. Hang out with a friend, get my teeth cleaned, go climbing, send neglected thank you notes, binge on the Kardashian's, e-mail prospective grad school programs, transfer photos. The list goes on and on. But I'm trying to keep things manageable so as not to totally flip my lid about being unemployed, broke, and without any sort of concrete direction.
-America rules. We've got our shit, that is for sure. But I'm convinced that we are the most diverse and uniquely complex country in the whole world and our mess, our struggle to get along between race/class/you name it is an absolute privilege. I love complaining about this country. I will always complain and expect better of this country, but every time I travel I become more and more thankful for the USA.
-We can die at anytime. Sorry for the quick shift, but....I could have died on I-80 a couple of weeks ago if everything didn't go as they did that night. I could have been all the way dead. Gone. And that would have been that. The day after the accident, I sprawled out in the grass of my childhood home and just looked up at the sky. The sun warmed my face and the grass cooled my back and I just lied there with the grass and thought about being alive. I came to no grand conclusions, but I've felt different ever since.
Okay, well, that was one helluva random list. But that is the way of my brain as of late, and I thought I may as well chronicle maybe the biggest transition of mah liiiiife! The world is my oyster, our oyster! Let's hang out, friends!
-In Europe, I got so used to people only speaking English to me that upon my return, I thought people around me, talking on their cell phones or to their friends, were always addressing me. So, of course, I'd become startled at the things they would say. One construction worker in Denver said "You're so lazy!" to his friend and I just turned around and stared, wondering how I could deserve such a scolding from a stranger, only to realize that people speak English to other people aside from me here.
-Speaking of English, mine is just terrible. After months of listening to other languages and using more simplified English in attempts at being understood, my own English vocab is shot. I'm just not as articulate or eloquent anymore and formulating a well written thought at the level I used to takes ages. Blarg!
-Personal space. I have personal space!
-I've been indulging in the news. I read the local Iowa City newspaper, the bing newspaper that's on my computer, yahoo (regular and celeb), along with a stupid amount of articles posted by friends on facebook. I just can't get enough, it's like candy.
-I've also been reading loads of magazines. Entertainment Weekly, Harpers Bazaar, Esquire, Cosmo, gimme gimme gimme. Also candy.
-I'm a sleep machine and I don't even care.
-I've been taking my time at everything and am only forcing myself to get one thing accomplished each day. An accomplishment could be any number of small achievements. Hang out with a friend, get my teeth cleaned, go climbing, send neglected thank you notes, binge on the Kardashian's, e-mail prospective grad school programs, transfer photos. The list goes on and on. But I'm trying to keep things manageable so as not to totally flip my lid about being unemployed, broke, and without any sort of concrete direction.
-America rules. We've got our shit, that is for sure. But I'm convinced that we are the most diverse and uniquely complex country in the whole world and our mess, our struggle to get along between race/class/you name it is an absolute privilege. I love complaining about this country. I will always complain and expect better of this country, but every time I travel I become more and more thankful for the USA.
-We can die at anytime. Sorry for the quick shift, but....I could have died on I-80 a couple of weeks ago if everything didn't go as they did that night. I could have been all the way dead. Gone. And that would have been that. The day after the accident, I sprawled out in the grass of my childhood home and just looked up at the sky. The sun warmed my face and the grass cooled my back and I just lied there with the grass and thought about being alive. I came to no grand conclusions, but I've felt different ever since.
Okay, well, that was one helluva random list. But that is the way of my brain as of late, and I thought I may as well chronicle maybe the biggest transition of mah liiiiife! The world is my oyster, our oyster! Let's hang out, friends!
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