After about a 1/2 mile hike across campus with all our luggage, a 25 minute taxi ride to the train station, an hour train ride to Shanghai, an hour and a half metro ride to the airport, a fourteen hour plane ride to Chicago, a two hour layover in Chicago, a half an hour plane ride to Grand Rapids and an hour drive to Holland, I made it home though my luggage hasn't made it yet.
It feels great to be back though already things are go go go because of a wedding in Detroit this weekend that Sean is in. It's funny to leave America for a long time because when you return you not only appreciate it more but you also notice things you might not have before you left. We talked about some of our "first" impressions and other things we noticed during our layover.
1. Americans are tall and big people
2. Everyone looks different - different colored hair, skin, different body shape, huge variations of clothing styles.... this is in stark contrast to China, one of the most homogeneous countries in the world
3. Things are expensive (my water at the airport was $3 - ahh!)
4. I can understand everyone speaking around me
5. Blue skies and clean air are amazing
6. A lot of people say hi and chat with you even if they don't know you
7. Nobody stares at me and I actually feel like I fit in
8. After a year of having to throw toilet paper in the wastebasket, it is hard to remember that I can actually flush it in the toilet
9. In Holland the wide open spaces and the lack of traffic and people were astonishing
10. It feels amazing and unusual to have uncensored internet
Sean and I arrived in town just in time for a visit by Obama. He came to Holland today to help celebrate the groundbreaking of a new battery plant that is not only making advance batteries for electric cars but also creating a lot of much-needed jobs for Michigan. We didn't catch a glimpse of him as the route and factory were pretty well guarded but it was still cool to think that he came to our city.
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