die Vereinigte Staaten vom Amerika - the USA

upon arriving home, we were happy to be here, but we're feeling a little unsettled. our first reaction was surprise. we were surprised that more things didn't seem strange to us here. after coming home from our respective study abroad programs we both remember feeling like what we came back to was a little strange. we saw things in a new light. we expected to feel the same way when we got home from berlin, but we didn't.

but now, a week later, there have been a few things that have caught my eye that make me think of how different germany was, or the same, depending. for example, while we were gone our main street theatre (which hasn't been a theatre since the 70's or so) has become an upscale mini-mall. i expected to see things like this in america, but i hadn't expected it in berlin. just off the ku'damm, however, there were these same little shopping passages. ours now has a starbucks, as did the ku'damm. what's different about it here are the people coming out of it. these people are not dressed in drab mud-colored clothing with canvas bags and unhappy looking dogs. they are brightly dressed people wearing shorts and sandals (without socks!) bouncing along jovially with their smiling dogs, holding the leash and a fancy retail paper bag in one hand and the standard white to-go cup in the other.

at frisbee last night i noticed just how many different races of people we interact with. dan works in a department that is very diverse. at the DMV last week i was almost comforted to hear spanish instead of german. a white guy gave us our number, an indian man was working the window in front of us, and we were helped with our license plates by two asian women. in germany everyone was white. except for the people with whom i had german class.

dan can't get over how huge the cars are here. and yesterday he told me they are bringing the smart car to california. god, i hope he doesn't want one. i love my huge car.

i feel less fat here. there's nothing like being surrounded by tall, blond, gorgeous germans to make you feel genetically inferior. and we both have german roots! i guess being american just sticks to your hips and belly.

i do appreciate a couple of things we didn't have in berlin. our very green back yard is one. i love being outside with the pup under the almond tree, smelling the rosemary and roses. the other thing i love is our clothes dryer.

so, less fat feeling, appreciating the diversity and greenery of the bay area, being reminded, however infrequently, of berlin, we are readjusting to life here.