Enfin, je suis arrivée chez moi! After a stressful day of traveling on Sunday, and after being awake for 26 hours straight, I hit the pillow on my own bed in my own room on Sunday night and fell instantly asleep. Three days later I am still feeling the effects of le décalage horaire, but gradually I am getting used to being seven hours behind the clocks in Aix.
It’s been disorienting being back in the United States. When I first arrived in France, I felt like Alice in Wonderland after she eats the biscuit that says “Eat Me” on it: she grows to the size of a giant and everything else appears miniature. Upon my arrival back to the US, however, I felt like Alice after she drinks the bottle with “Drink Me” on it: she shrinks to the size of a mouse and everything else becomes enormous! There’s no better way to describe my re-assimilation into American culture. On the first morning after I arrived, I took an oatmeal bowl out of the cupboard and realized it was three times the size of my cereal bowl in Aix. And when I went to pour myself a glass of milk, I pulled out a gallon container so large it would have taken up my French host mother’s entire refrigerator!
Probably the most important part about coming back home from living in a foreign country for four months is keeping an open mind. I had mentally prepared myself before arriving in France that things would be different, but the same is true now: it’s going to take a few days or weeks to get used to the wide-open spaces, the enormity, and all the English. I have to restrain myself from saying “merci, au revoir!” when leaving stores and from calling everyone “Madame” or “Monsieur.” When I do get used to it, however, it might be a little sad to realize that that part of my life is over. For now, though, I’m just glad to be home, and fortunate that I’ve had the chance to go to France, le pays qui restera dans mon coeur.
It’s been disorienting being back in the United States. When I first arrived in France, I felt like Alice in Wonderland after she eats the biscuit that says “Eat Me” on it: she grows to the size of a giant and everything else appears miniature. Upon my arrival back to the US, however, I felt like Alice after she drinks the bottle with “Drink Me” on it: she shrinks to the size of a mouse and everything else becomes enormous! There’s no better way to describe my re-assimilation into American culture. On the first morning after I arrived, I took an oatmeal bowl out of the cupboard and realized it was three times the size of my cereal bowl in Aix. And when I went to pour myself a glass of milk, I pulled out a gallon container so large it would have taken up my French host mother’s entire refrigerator!
Probably the most important part about coming back home from living in a foreign country for four months is keeping an open mind. I had mentally prepared myself before arriving in France that things would be different, but the same is true now: it’s going to take a few days or weeks to get used to the wide-open spaces, the enormity, and all the English. I have to restrain myself from saying “merci, au revoir!” when leaving stores and from calling everyone “Madame” or “Monsieur.” When I do get used to it, however, it might be a little sad to realize that that part of my life is over. For now, though, I’m just glad to be home, and fortunate that I’ve had the chance to go to France, le pays qui restera dans mon coeur.
Enfin, je suis arrivée chez moi: Finally, I have arrived home
le décalage horaire: jet lag
le pays qui restera dans mon coeur: the country that will stay in my heart