Reverse Culture Shock

I moved back home last Friday after house-sitting on my own for the past seven weeks. The boxes of books outnumbered the boxes of real-life-stuff 2:1, but it was all moved back home safe and sound in a single trip.

It's good to be living with my family again, but the past few days have been an adjustment, some easier than others.

There was expected reorientation. For example, the kitchen is still mom's domain, so I no longer think about "What am I cooking for dinner? And how much do I cook so that I don't have to cook for another three days?" The bathroom is also no longer solely my own, so negotiations take place when people needing bathrooms outnumber the bathrooms available.

But there was unexpected disorientation: Has the bathroom counter always been yellow? The small plates are in which kitchen cabinet? If I need to leave a phone message for someone, where do I put it so that they find it?.

But what I miss most is the independence to live my life on my own schedule. Dinner with the family is at what time? I know that I left my book on the kitchen table; who moved it?? What do you mean that I can't play the piano at midnight?

Ahh, the independence of living on my own again. Talk about an incentive to get moving on my thesis!