Friday, November 02, 2007

Hat nap amerikában

So it’s Friday, and in less than 12 hours I’ll be boarding a plane, which will take me to a plane which will take me to another plane, which will take me back to Hungary. After six days back here, these are the things I still haven’t gotten comfortable with:

- Being the thinnest person in the room/store/area. Really, it was flattering at first, but it’s becoming disturbing.

- Waking up at 6 or 4 or 2 am, to a pitch black sky, and feeling as refreshed as if I slept til noon.

- Commercials on TV. It’s the same as the fat people everywhere: I don’t see them in Hungary, and they both fascinate and disgust me.

- Is it just my house, or are light-switches and doorknobs much lower in America?

- I never, ever, EVER thought I’d say or even think this but... I miss house slippers. Even in my parent’s fully-carpeted house, I miss my flip-flops and slip-ons.

- Dial-up internet. Seriously, in this day and age.... how can anyone live like this???

- People always smiling at you and asking how you are. It’s creepy. And on the other hand, if I’m in a store and ask something like “Excuse me, can you please tell me where....” they look at me like I’m being sickeningly polite. Have I lost my scale of American manners?

- The crappy radio stations here.

- My family. That’s a whole ’nother post, I guess.

- Everything being in extremes. There’s too much or too little of everything: too many people, too many cars, too much open space, too much consumerism, too much stress, too many things to do, too many people to see, too many things I want. And on the other hand, I have too little time, too little money, and too little patience to deal with it all. And I have no place anymore. In the end, I guess what I find the most upsetting is the lack of control I have on my own life here. Everyone told me it was foolish to come back for just a week, and they were all right, although maybe not in the way they thought: a week here was just enough to upset my life in Szolnok, without giving me any of the benefits of being here.

3 comments:

Ex-Restaurant Manager said...

I'm not sure if you enjoyed your visit back, or were ready to get back to Hungary. Either way, nice post.

mirrmurr said...

really interesting experiences there! reading your thoughts is fun as always - and trust me there are several people outthere reading your stuff other than those right around you!
anyway, what about your family?? ya keepin us in the dark!

Anonymous said...

Roomstore is a chain of furniture stores. Roomstore operates its on-line sales through the domain RoomStore.com. The company is one of the leading Web's furniture stores. THE ROOMSTORE has numerous warehouses and locations to provide fast quality delivery and good customer service. However, there are many customers who are not satisfied with the company. I learned about this on this great site www.pissedconsumer.com, where I read the complaints.