Friday, September 01, 2006

Nothing Familiar

Part of what is difficult about this transition is clearly the lack of family and familiar people (perhaps that's most difficult). However, the heightened state of arousal from struggling with another language and constantly figuring things out and providing my full attention alleviates this somewhat by simply dominating my consciousness... and that's why the evenings thus far have been a bit depressing -- because the stimulation has subsided along with the personal contact, leaving me with only my thoughts and memories of people in the U.S.

I always expected it would be tough to leave friends and have to start anew alone, but what never occurred to me was how different daily life would feel. The very sensation of being. Because there are no preexisting schemas for the way things look, traffic patterns, or expectations as one meets people on the street, they all remain in a seperate category governed mostly by the heightened arousal. The sensation is difficult to describe, as is that while riding this inclined escalator at the supermarket:

[similarly, the shopping carts that accompany this device have grooves in the wheels and slightly raised feet which catch in the corresponding grooves of the escalator, preventing it from moving in transit. Incidentally, all the wheels on these carts are free moving (unlike ours, where the back two do not spin), making manuvering a full body workout with completely differnt motions.]

3 Comments:

Blogger the Everyday Anthropologist said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

12:25 AM  
Blogger the Everyday Anthropologist said...

Hey Andrew! Finally got a moment to check out your blog. Your apprehension at throwing yourself into an entirely new and unfamiliar environment is definitely understandable. Your musings remind me of my own experience abroad, although England was deceptively similar enough to the U.S. to delay culture shock for a week or two after my arrival. Eventually, though, it hit like a brick wall. But a week or two later I was through it, and after that it was one of the best experiences of my life to date (right up there with putting on Echoes :-), and I'm confident that you, too, will soon find your bearings enough to start having a blast. I am looking forward to remaining posted on your Germanic adventures via this blog, and know that there is a curly-haired aspiring writer in Seattle rooting for you at all times. Best,

Elizabeth

12:26 AM  
Blogger David E. said...

Ah, yes, I see that the old blog is up and running. Sometimes its tough to update it, though, as mine attests.

11:39 AM  

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