Going back anywhere after three years feels kind of weird. You think you know a place, but whether the locals notice or not, things change a lot in that time. Going back to your home country after that amount of time is stranger still.
A few days ago, I arrived in Southern California after being abroad for three consecutive years. Part of me feels home, but another part of me feels like I am visiting a foreign country. Sure, I have a lot of friends and family here, but truth be told, I feel a lot more comfortable in the streets of Seoul than in any part of the greater LA area. I always thought that it was the foreign factor of South Korea that appealed so much to me, but maybe now, the exact opposite is true.
I’ve only been here a few days, but there are already some observations I’ve made. Most of them are not really positive or negative, simply different or things I hadn’t noticed before that have given me a sense of mild reverse culture-shock: