This past week I was able to travel back to Nebraska. I hadn't left California since my internship began so I really looked forward to this trip and I really enjoyed it. I was in a friend's wedding, saw a lot of my family, and even scooped a little snow. Like I said, it was a great trip, but returning to California was weird.
There was such a stark contrast between my life in Nebraska and my life in California. It was 10degrees when I woke up in Nebraska and 75 when I got off the plane in California. When my grandparents drove me to the airport in Omaha we drove 30 miles without seeing a car; when Pastor Laherty picked me up at John Wayne International we got right onto the freeway with hundreds of cars. My brother was loading cattle when I left; people were coming home from their offices when I arrived. These are the observable contrasts, but more than the weather, the traffic, and commerce it just felt different.
When I arrived things seemed more tense, the people more distant, and everything more superficial. Despite being surrounded by 17 million people I felt more isolated. When I moved out in August I traveled four days and was able to transition slowly but traveling that distance in a matter of hours amplifies the impact. It feels like I got on a plane that traveled to a different dimension.
2 comments:
I'm glad you had some time at home. I love the pictures and the contrasting thoughts connected to them. Culture shock.
I know how you feel. We had a similar experience visiting Wyoming last summer. I told Sean that I missed open spaces. He replied, "Why, we never took advantage of them in Nebraska?" I think you summed it up pretty well.
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