Assimilation Back to the United States

My tenure on Guam is quickly coming to a close. I'm leaving this Saturday to return back to the States for about 2.5 weeks - my longest stint on the mainland since I left for Guam. My replacement has been identified and secured, so I'll have a couple weeks of transition left in January before I'm done for good. I guess my blog will have a funny name at that point...

In thinking about my departure today, I realized I'd be going through a reverse culture shock coming back to the US. Off the top of my head, I'll have to remember:

• Sandals, a bathing suit, and a saltwater soaked t-shirt is not appropriate attire for any occasion
• When someone says a 9:00 AM meeting, they mean 9:00 AM - not 9:20 AM if they feel like showing up
• It is considered more dangerous to run a red light (for fear of being rear ended by the 8 cars behind you preparing to run the red light) than it is to stop at one
• People walk on the right side of halls and walkways (damn Japanese tourists)
• I no longer have to don football gear to exit an elevator due to the dangers of masses of Japanese tourists that think the elevator will go away if they let someone out before they get on
• Lines and queues do exist! Everything in life isn't a free for all, and you do have to wait your turn (I'm beginning to think Japan had a meeting and decided to do everything opposite the Western world just to confuse and annoy us)
• Gas prices didn't "plummet" to $3.20/gallon
• Snow isn't a mythical object you only hear about in the movies

I've mentioned before there will definitely be some things I miss - diving, the weather, and the ocean - but it's more than worth it to give that all up to be home for good.