Comments on: Term Limits on a Return Home

By: Megan

Megan — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:29:11 +0000

At one point I was away from the U.S. for 14 months, and I lost track of a lot of things that were going on in the pop culture. I really confused my dental hygienist because I thought Desperate Housewives was a reality show...I had no idea! So after 4, 8, 10 years...yeah, you start to be a stranger in your own country.

By: Greg

Greg — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 01:36:53 +0000

Serene: Good call on DVD's from the library, and it sounds like you're doing an admiral job of ignoring all the crap even though you live among it. Guess if I ever go back I just have to hang out with you and your friends. :D
Ben: True, there are so many more worthwhile things you can fill your time with. My cousins grew up without TV and I used to think that my Uncle was depriving them of their childhood; now I think it was probably a good idea.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 20:25:36 +0000

I think one of the greatest things about living away from home is that you are disconnected from all those mundane things like TV, music, celebrity gossip, pop culture phenomenon, etc. and are replaced with a new set of pop culture (whether that's a good or bad thing is entirely up to you), new wealth of experiences, new culture and a new way of thinking.

Even though I've lived the majority of my life in the US, I've ignored most of the US pop culture like reality TV, new contest shows, Glee, new music releases (for the most part) and have focused most of my energy on Japanese, Thai, Korean and European pop culture. As a result, I had no idea what GLEE was until I looked it up on Google.

So when I go abroad, I feel much more connected (in a shallow way at the very least) to their modern culture and that's something I generally don't experience while living here in the US.

By: Serene

Serene — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:22:31 +0000

Hey Greg, I feel the same way everytime I'm return to Singers from Canada.

And to give you another perspective, here I am in Toronto, I don't have TV because we can't afford a Rogers sub, we don't do Netflix (we borrow DVDs from the library), we have no idea who those people are on TMZ either, the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, etc, are the bizarre things we see on the magazines at the checkouts at the grocery store. And gadgets? I managed to get Jeff to give up our landline for a cellphone last year.

Same same, but different.

By: Jay

Jay — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:59:22 +0000

Wasssup Greg! I can very much relate to you. I didn't realize how much of a 'Matrix' I lived in back home until I left. Great post.

By: Conan Stevens

Conan Stevens — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:40:59 +0000

There is a term to describe this - reverse culture shock.

I remember when I left Newcastle, Australia to move to the state capital, Sydney, Bondi Beach to be more exact. I returned back to Newcastle to visit friends after being away a year and they asked what I had been doing - I told them what I had been up to and one old friend said "You've done heaps in the last year!"

I looked blank and honestly stated that I was only referring to my life during the last week.

We never talked again.