Hmm

Yesterday, as I walked to work in the 4th consecutive day of rain, I found myself caught in a reflective thought. I am no longer feeling like I'm somewhere else. This is all starting to feel familiar now.

A friend, an expat colleague, was asked several weeks ago as I was giddy about my own upcoming travel home...

me: Are you going back home for the holidays?
her: You mean Kansas? We're not going there for the holidays.
me: WHAT? Are you crazy? WHY NOT?
her: (micro-glance of surprise at my reaction) Well, Switzerland is our home now. We're happy here.

Brain jolt, perspective shift.

It took me 4.5 months to cozy up to the thought that I'm choosing to be comfortable in a "foreign country", or not. My blogging has started to diminish in frequency because the differences aren't seeming so extreme any more. I still don't know the language, but I'm now pondering getting more serious about this as I am often told it would greatly enrich my experiences, and get me closer to understanding the cultural differences which have seemed extreme to me.

At the moment, I am making no plans to stay, but I'm also not making plans to leave. I'm in a where-will-I-live limbo until some point in Q1'10, when other decisions are made around me. For the time being, I am finally choosing to enjoy the location I am in, a concept my wife has been experiencing since she first arrived in her dream-state 4.5 months ago.