Being Back

So far we have been back in the USA for a little over a week. It seems like we have been back longer because of everything that has already happened and things we have done.

We have all had jet lag over the past week, it's really hard changing time by 15 hours when you have a 14 month old. Gabriel is doing rather well though, last night he slept mostly through the night. He woke up fussing a couple of times but I think it might have been because he was a little cold and I tried putting his blanket on top but he never keeps it on. I'm just thankful that as of now we are at least sleeping at the right time of day.

Gabriel is doing fabulously well with re-meeting family. I thought he would have many emotional breakdowns but I can't even recall one at the moment. It's like he slightly remembered them in his own little way and didn't go into crying fits when they held him like he did when Koreans would randomly hold him.

We are all completely enjoying seeing friends and family. We are staying at my parents house until we find our own apartment and we are very thankful to them. We saw Josh's family the day after we got back for Josh's mom's birthday celebration. I am currently in Brainerd where I am staying at my sisters and I have already visited my grandparents and my brother and sister-in-law and all of their adorable boys! Josh actually stayed at my grandparents this past weekend and went deer hunting with my dad, brother, and brother-in-law. He had shot one deer so far, it was apparently a good size fawn but I haven't seen it. He went back out hunting this morning to see if he could fill up his other tag (in non-deer hunting language that means shooting another deer). We had originally planned on leaving here last night but since he didn't get two over the weekend he is trying one more time this morning.

The other thing that we have been dealing with lately is culture shock. America is so different when it comes to so many things. Even Gabriel is experiencing a little bit, he has never seen so many white people before, and for that matter, old white people, hairy white people, and other baby white people. For the first couple of days he just kind of looked at people and stared. It was cute. I on the other hand forgot how funny some people look in America. Hehe! I know, I'm really mean, but America has some very funny looking people, though I kind of realized that the majority of funny looking people have loads and loads of facial hair... just sayin' is all, it's what I've noticed. On the other hand I'm sure some of them think I look funny too so it's all good. Maybe I'm just used to seeing Koreans and one, they can't grow facial hair, and two, their looks don't vary that much.

Other then the people themselves it's just weird to drive in a 'flat' land (Korea was ALL mountains), see different trees and see GRASS! Lots and lots of glorious grass! The fashion is also very different here and the attitude of the people if amazing different. It's interesting to say the least as we try to re-get used to everything in America.

There are also a lot of luxuries that we have now that we didn't have back in Korea. Like a toaster, a clothes dryer, a bathroom faucet that we can turn on when we want to, more then two dinner plates, hot water for more then one hour out of the day, a car, nice diapers, good food, I don't have to scoop my clean drinking water out of the filter anymore every time I wanted a drink, a soft bed, blankets that are big enough for two people, soft couches and carpet...the list can go on and on. It's like our own little heaven!