How Time Flies

It's hard to believe it has been just over a month since having returned home from Germany/Austria. I still remember how happy I was after getting off the plane and seeing my parents at the front of the crowd of people (along with also feeling happy my luggage had made it all the way back to Texas with me). After having picked me up they took me out to dinner. I recall that I was torn between ordering a water (just to feel the acceptance from the waiter that I wanted plain, simple American water) or an ice tea (which was what I really wanted). Since my parents were already ordering waters, I felt satisfied in hearing them order it while I ordered a glass of ice tea and just a small, simple salad (I was definitely NOT in the mood for meat). Afterwards we headed home where I got to hug my two dogs and three cats and I fell asleep to 'The Sound of Music'.
The first week was the toughest. Luckily my Mondays only have one class in the afternoon, so the school aspect wasn't difficult to get accustomed to. My issues came from food and sleeping habits. After having come home from Germany I was kind of tired of eating meat and had thought about all the wonderful food I would eat once I returned to America. When I got home I realized many of the things I had always enjoyed were mostly made of, you guessed it, meat! Probably up until Friday I was very picky about what foods I was wanting to eat (which is usually not me), but definitely by week two I was back to eating burgers and chicken tenders like my typical old self.
Sleep was my other big issue. Monday I was still tired from the fourteen hour plane ride back so it didn't take much to convince me to conk out when I got home. But Tuesday through Thursday I found I HAD to go to sleep by 8pm and found myself waking up around 2 or 3am. Friday it was only by hanging out with friends that I could break the cycle. The following week, after having a few days of normal American sleeping habits, I found myself having reverted back to German sleeping time again. I followed up with same process to "cure" it and finally I snapped out of German time completely.
Upon coming back to America I still feel the significant cultural differences. While Germans tend to walk everywhere or take a rail, it took some getting used to having to drive everywhere again. While in Europe I would sometimes miss driving my car around, feeling that I was free to do what I wanted. When I came home, I finally understood a comment that I had once heard where people seemed less sociable because they drive cars. While in Europe a person could meet and talk to a random stranger, even if just briefly, by sitting next to them on a train In America where a majority of us drive our cars we have lost that connection with others.
Another cultural difference concerns probably the more obvious one, that of alcohol. In Europe, especially Germany, they saw ordering beer as a typical drink order and they tended to drink it responsively. Here, especially in a college town, it seems alcohol is viewed not really as a responsible social thing but more for the celebrating sense. I have found that I tend to drink a little more now that before the trip (before I might have a beer once every other month). Luckily being 21 I am allowed to rights of alcohol here (though finding better tasting beer that's still reasonably priced here is still a problem, for the cheap beers here just taste like nasty water).
Sometimes I have to remind myself I was even there; having a bratwurst from a street vender, listening to the German language from people passing by, or having just taking a good swig of beer from a large glass mug. Yet the memories are still there, from that first morning of getting to watch an open heart surgery to our last night's celebratory dinner. I can't deny that I miss the walking around, exploring the cities and learning about the medical history that happened there. After all these weeks, though, I know I love my country, even with all its differences and faults. I now know it is that love that drives me to travel so that I can realize what not only makes my country so great, but to see how other country's are just as uniquely amazing.