Culture Shock (Reversed)

It's been a few days now since I arrived home. Not too many people know this, but every time I fly through airports I like to play little games with other people to keep myself entertained without spending any money. During my flight to India back in September I decided that people don't smile enough and set out to make as many strangers smile during my 5 hour layover in Minneapolis and 6 hour layover in Amsterdam. I ended up loosing track of how many people smiled back at me after only a couple hours but I'll consider that a good thing. Not only did it keep me entertained without spending money but I'm hoping it made someones day a little better when I was able to put a smile on their face.

On the way back from India, seeing as how I was constantly getting searched and questioned by security on my flights to India in September, I thought I'd dress as someone who fits the typical stereotype of a possible threat to airport security. I wanted to see how dressing in a foreign cultures clothing and having my ungroomed beard would play into the 'random' security checks and the racism of airport authorities. When I was in India, towards the end of the trip, everyone asked me if I was Muslim so that's the look I went for on my flight home as I was sure it would cause problems when going through the USA. I was quite surprised with the results of my little game.  I got through security at Amsterdam quicker then I had before and absolutely flew through the USA's security check, faster than any of the other people in my line. Sure I got a lot of stares as I waited for planes during my layovers, but it was nothing in comparision to the stares you get in India. Actually, I'm pretty certain that India took more pictures of me than I took of it.

Back home, my dog and a lot of snow.

Now that I am back home in Canada I'm facing some (reverse) culture shock similar to my first week in India. The structure to everything, the absolute quietness, and the way people isolate themselves from others is chipping away at my nerves. I'm not really sleeping yet. Wide awake every night until well into the next day, it's taking a long time to get my body back to its original time zone. Driving on the icy Canadian roads is stressful, I'd take an Indian road over an icy road any day. I'm glad to see family, old friends, and familiar faces once again. I have just over one week to prepare for a conference I'm facilitating and after three months of no responsibilities getting down to work has proven difficult.

I'm hoping that this is all just the effects of reverse culture shock but it almost feels like I don't belong here, I'm already looking forward to my future travels.