June 30, 2010: Life Right Now

I am in the US for the summer now, and I notice that I seem to write more on my blog when I am away from Kuwait. I think that is for many reasons like starting a new job, but perhaps the biggest one is that I am just now coming out of a culture shock daze. The funny thing is I haven't experienced culture shock for the reasons that most people would expect of an American living in the Middle East. It is the day-to-day stuff that hits me most: driving, common courtesies differences, communication style differences, employee/employer expectations, etc.

It is not my intention to expound on the many ways that life has changed, is challenging or difficult, or to illustrate these points with many images of the absurdities of my life. This would only feed into the common misconception that 'they' are different from 'us' theories. What is more interesting to me is the level of acceptance and peace that I have arrived at today. Make no mistake, I am still frustrated on a daily basis about the aforementioned issues, but after the dust of the frenetic first few years has finally settled and a pattern of life has emerged and crystallized, I have to admit that there are many benefits of living in the Middle East that surpass living in the US.
And I can honestly say now that my decision to go there with my family has proved to be a good one.