My friend Miss Colleen, who, as some of you might know, is living and teaching in the Czech Republic (a medium-length train ride from Prague, in Kolín.) She has written some thoughts on second-wave culture shock - a state at which I never arrived, being in Prague for only a few months. (Click on the above link to find her article.)
It made me think about the smaller, subtler culture adjustments I've made to living in Seattle - always greeting bus drivers, and expecting to be greeted, practicing being polite without being 'invasive' or starting a conversation. I don't dress like a Seattleite - and I didn't notice it until I went back east and realized how much I still dress like an east coaster. Or maybe I just dress like a small townie in the middle of a city.
The skyline has begun to look familiar, even when I'm not looking at the Space Needle. The drive home from the airport feels like coming home. And mostly, when I'm traveling and people ask me where I'm from, I say here. Seattle. Western Washington, King County. Land of huckleberries and salmon.
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