hello, my name is...

I have been asked a lot lately, "How do you feel being back in the states?" There are so many facets of transition that intersect the answer to that question. Of course it has been so fun to see friends and family, to hear the sound of that distinctive slow Southern draw, and to interact without having to translate using hand motions. But if I boil down all the prefaces and the intersecting factors, I feel like the new kid in class. You know the first day of school feeling? It's so wonderfully nerve-racking. Pushing through awkward introductions, getting lost, going the wrong way (down a one-way street: can we talk about embarrassing?), making new friends, and finding a new rhythm of life. I'm still trying to figure out where I fit in this new place. I'm different than I was a year ago, the place is different, the people are different. Different is most certainly OK, and today it just means that life is contrasting what it once was. Really thankful to be in a place where I am still learning each day. Most of the time lessons have revealed themselves so unexpectedly, but then again don't the best ones always come that way? Here's to a deep breath and a fresh start.