As I read what I

As I read what I just wrote and posted, it occured to me that something might need a little more elaboration. Being an American living or travelling abroad when a major, life-defining event happens in the States can be incredibly difficult.

This is the second time this has happened to me (In the late 70s I was overseas when Star Wars came out. A trivial example to be sure, but for a kid it was real). Even though I have only been gone a little more than a week, when I step off the plane back home, the entire culture of the United States will have changed in ways I won’t understand because I was not there. I will be an outsider in my own country. I know the old America, the America of last week. The culture shock that I will experience will be made all the more difficult by the fact that this is my country and I know how America thinks and works. At least I did until last Tuesday. I will again, but it will take time to figure out.