Feeling Foreign...

Over the past (almost) 3 years, Brian and I have experienced the highs and lows of being expats... And what an absolutely amazing adventure it's been! Now that our time in Germany is nearing an end, we're looking ahead to our move back home... But, after spending three years abroad, our feelings towards home aren't quite the same as they were when we left... Over the past few years, every time we've gone home to visit, we've noticed that it doesn't really feel the same. It's a wierd feeling... It's a feeling that we don't quite "fit" into the U.S. anymore, but at the same time, we don't "belong" in Germany. It's a different type of feeling... It's kind of like feeling foreign, not only in Germany, but in our own country as well... Don't get me wrong though. We love the U.S. and we're very excited to be coming back home, and we wouldn't dream of living permanently outside of the U.S.! But, we've noticed over the past few years that things have changed... Or maybe it's that we've changed. We've noticed that we tend to view things a little differently now. And, it's not a bad thing by any means... It's just going to take a little bit of getting used to... I mean, after immersing ourselves in a foreign culture and being able to have all of the experiences that we've had over the past three years, we're coming back to the States with a different outlook on things, and some of our views don't exactly fit into that of the U.S. culture anymore.... I think that is to be expected. But, nonetheless, the U.S. will always be "home" to us. :)

Over the past three years, I've struggled with trying to put these feelings into words... I didn't want to write something that will make it sound like we're "snooty" now that we live abroad, or that we're not looking forward to coming home... And, I didn't want to sound like "Oh woe is us..."... Needless to say, it's been quite difficult to describe (even for a chatterbox like me!), so after a while I finally just gave up trying! :) However, I came across this blog post just the other day, and the way the author (she's a fellow American living in Germany permanently) describes this "feeling" we've been having is nearly perfect! (Well, outside of the part about the family not caring... Thankfully, we have quite the opposite when it comes to our family! :)) After reading this post, Brian and I felt a sense of relief to realize that we're not the only ones who feel this way... It's nice to know that we're not unusual in feeling this way, and that there's other people out there who have been and still are in the same situation! :) So, if you're wanting to further understand what I'm rambling on about here, then please click here and take a look at what it's like to feel foreign...