Reverse Culture Shock and the Effects it has on the Sleepless Mind

Monday May 23rd

This was long, though if I add everything together correctly, we were in the are for a less amount of time than we were on the way there. I think it was about twenty hours in the sky.

Bangkok - Tokyo = 6 1/2 hours
Tokyo - JFK = 12 hours
JFK - Columbus = 1 1/2

We got up at about three fifteen in the morning. Wayyy before the sun wanted to rise here in Thailand (due to the fact that days are shorter there cause we were closer to the equator). I think the sun was finally reaching it's fingers over the horizon as we took off three hours later. But anyhoo we take the van to the airport and slowly start going through everything. There were two different security checks. The normal 'take out your liquids, lap tops, shoes' blah blah blah but the second one was much more intense.

Everyone would have their bags searched and have a body pat down, but throughout these people being filtered through they would choose, at random, people for, what I called the "Mega Pat Down", I so happened to be one of those people. So out of the sixteen people traveling from Otterbein it ends up being Amber and I. Her search was very quick not even three minutes really. But then they called me in. I had to take my shoes off, stand on a platform and all the men were changed out to women. So I was mega pat downed, seriously. They also took everything and I mean everything out of my two bags I had. Even better is that they broke the seals on things that had been tapped shut to see what was inside (though they were nice and re-taped them afterwards). They swabbed all my electronics and made me turn all of them on. My laptop, my camera, my nook, and my phone. I was asked three times to turn on my laptop. And they even sent Doppellump through a scanner. I mean seriously? He's flat as a board really, I doubt anyone could get away with anything in him cause it was just make a bulge in that area. This time around though, they took their dang time checking everything for me. By then the plane was pretty much ready to take off. I felt horrible because Janice and Shannon were waiting for me after that. I was kind of annoyed, I apparently just look like the sketchiest person out of us all.

The flight from Bangkok to Tokyo is kind of a blur. I know I didn't really sleep, I was trying to stay up the entire time to get my body back on schedule (that didn't work). We landed and had a good twenty minutes before our next plane would start to board, but I had seen several things that I wanted to get on the way back that I had seen the first time around. We were released to do what we please and I raced to the store and grabbed what I got. I then met up with the group at our gate and left my things with people to use the restroom only to see that the store next to the bathrooms had the one and only Japanese Glass Bell Wind Chime. For the longest time, practically since I saw my first anime, I have always wanted one because the sound they make is just so pretty and ahhh! So I tried peeing as fast as I could and raced to the store next door. I couldn't reach them what-so-ever and one of the women who worked there helped me only to say the one I wanted was the last one. She showed me others but I had fallen in love with the one I wanted. So she graciously pulled out a stepping stool and took it down and boxed it up for me. OMG I can't wait to hang it! I want to hang it outside my window at Otterbein, but I fear that someone will take it, like it needs a good amount of space on all sides so that it can ring but it's glass so it also needs to withstand the weather. Luckily, Oklahoma is very similar to Japanese weather. Though...I don't quite now how the paper will withstand water, and most of the time when I see them they're hung in an area that gives it enough room to jingle, but not get wet....sigh. When we were getting on the plane to JFK, it was the first time that it really hit me that we were returning home and I would never know when I would return to Thailand. I totally blanked out because I only remember waking up on the plane a while after.

I know on the flight from Tokyo to JFK I watch Citizen Kane, Dr. Strangelove, Inception, and a very weird, but funny Japanese Movie called Assassination Classroom, which apparently is a manga...but this was a live action version. I had seen scene from a screen in front of me while I was watching Strangelove and was really confused but also intrigued by what the guy was watching. Throughout this entire trip though from the moment I noticed we would be having movies on these flights I really wanted to watch Rear Window, but alas they did not have it.

We arrived in JFK when we should've been asleep and went through customs, baggage claim, and then security again. We had a decent time before our flight to Columbus so we were given free time to wander around our terminal where I traveled further into the terminal found our gate before I backtracked to a pizza place and called my mom.

The flight back to Columbus is really the only time I actually slept. I felt the plane take off, and then I woke up to empty cups of beverages the next minute. We didn't have a party bus on the way back to campus, thank the gods. I was not up for it, but it was the same driver. I lugged back to my apartment, sat down and talked for quite sometime with Caylin before we both went to bed.

Tuesday May 24th

It was our first class back and I don't think anyone was up to being there. We went over our exhibit images before being released. I called my mom for a few things before deciding to take a nap, only to wake up at nine. I did not go back to sleep that night. I couldn't, my schedule was so off that I was more awake at night then I was during the day.

Wednesday May 25th (Today)

So considering I didn't sleep I got up at about seven-ish and decided to go to Target and Kroger's for a few things that I would need while I was gone. So I got tea and a nice lotion to help my molting skin. Before I hung out in my room until class. I had a meeting with a teacher about a project for next year before attempting to waste time before dance.

This is when I had my first real big reverse culture shock. I walked into dance, gave my presents to Ed and Byron, put my hard shoes on and dance began. Yeah I still remember everything, but just to be back felt so weird, almost foreign after missing three weeks of dance. Like when I go home, I practice, but this was completely different. I had no time or really anywhere to practice while I was in Thailand. I did dance about when we were standing around and things but not like actual dance practice. I gave the Kit-Kats to the dancers and second reverse culture shock when I went through the window of Wendy's. I know my stomach has shrunk in size, due to the smaller serving portions that they have in Thailand. Though the small looks like they have grown from small to medium.

My parents arrive Friday and we leave Saturday for home.

I am not really tired, and should take a shower. I'll probably read to help my brain calm before I try to go back to sleep. Tomorrow will be last little bit of image uploading and editing. Tomorrow will probably be a blog of more images like the Elephant Nature Park Mash.

My blog after that will tackle a few things, but for now

Good-night

-Claire McGeehan