Sometimes it feels surreal

When you visit a foreign country everything feels exciting and anything can be a souvenir.  When we went to Germany I recall taking a sugar packet home with me because it had the name of a restaurant on it.  When we first visited China a couple of years ago we wanted to eat, see, and do things that were "really Chinese".  A foreign friend told me where to get good "American like" t-shirts and I thought "Why would I want to buy that kind of stuff?"  But, when you live in a foreign country your mentality can easily go from feeling loathe to return home, to longing for it in every way.  Now every little thing you have from your home country becomes the souvenir.  From my Dr. Pepper chapstick to packets of Emergen-C, what once was common place is now a special treat that reminds me of home.  If you happen to use one of these small items from "home" around a Chinese person it only amplifies the feeling.  They absolutely love to see the words "Made in the U.S.A" on a product.  This is a dangerous feeling to succumb to if you are trying to enjoy your new home.  Longing for home or feeling that where you were before was a better place will not let you fully enjoy your current surroundings.  I like to remind myself that I spent 30 years in America and in all likelihood I will end up spending more time there in the future so why not treasure every moment I have abroad?  I know someday I will look back on this time and wish I could do it again.  Today I walked outside, looked around, and thought "This is China.  I am living in China and speaking Chinese.......that's pretty cool."