As I prepared to leave for the U.S. I began to think about the possibility of reverse culture shock. I am flying back for my trip to the U.S. exactly 9 months to the day that I left Boston for Berlin (Dave is flying back about 10 days after me because of his exams). Of course, upon our arrival in Germany there were a few things that struck me as slightly odd or just a bit different. Obviously the biggest shock to my system was the language barrier formed between myself and my fellow Berliners. I know enough now to get by (on the basics), but if someone mistakes me for a native speaker and our conversation steers from anything other than common plesantries I’m immediately lost. This happened most recently at the pharmacy when the pharmascist attempted to give me, what I can only assume to be, directions and warnings related to my medication. Other “shocks” included small things like all stores and shops being closed on Sundays, no hostesses in restaurants and the fact that smoking is allowed almost anywhere. I don’t think I’ll experience too much of a transition period upon my return to the States, but I know there are a few things I am SO looking forward to…

1. The food! I can’t wait for buffalo wings, cheddar cheese, butterfingers, IPAs and all the other hard to find food items in Germany. I also can’t wait to revisit some of our old favorite places–mmm…bbq brisket, fried pickles and mac n cheese at Red Bones.

2. The people- of course,! I can’t wait to be surrounded by family and friends.  And we have the added bonus of being able to attend 3 weddings of wonderful friends and family during our time home…very excited!

3. Driving. Dave loves not having a car and being able to rely solely on public transit, but I’m a Southern California girl and we LOVE our cars. I can’t wait to borrow my parents car and cruise along the CA highways with the windows down…which we’ll be doing of a lot of considering we have a lot of wedding planning to pack in while we’re in CA.

We have a jam packed couple months ahead of us as we’ll be traveling all through New England, to parts of the Mid-West and then heading out to Southern California for a couple of weeks. I think we’ve nailed down a dates and plans with most people, but if you’ll be around the Maine or So. Cal area this summer let us know and we’ll see if we can set something up!! Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland, Hallo USA!

P.S. Go Germany–Euro Cup 2012!!!