I have been up since about 4 am….I foresee a nap in my future.  🙂

The nice thing about having a father who travels is that his clock is also so messed up that he has been up since the same hour.  We have had a good few hours discussing things.  Dad and I can talk for hours sometimes; it’s pretty neat.

Anyway, as I sit here in the basement of my childhood home, I thought about my 13 hour trip to get here.  I also thought about the transition that I had to make in order to get back to “thinking like a Hooiser” or at least American.

I am come up with a quick list of things that helped me during my flight:

1. Camo

 

I met this delightful girl while waiting for my flight from Zurich.  She had been living in Nairobi for the last two years bringing education to marginalized girls that are still realing from violence due to the last political election.  I never learned her name, which was unfortunate, but we did have a wonderful conversation about what we learned from living abroad and such (another topic for another day).

Anyway, as we spoke, a family walked by traveling with an adorable baby.  But it was the father who caught our attention: he wore camo.

My companions first response was, “#America?”

We laughed.  It was our first step in coming back to the States.  I don’t know anywhere else in the world where camo is considered a form of fashion?

2.  Coca-Cola NOT being made with sugar

On the flight from Zurich to Washington DC, I asked for a coke.  As soon as I took the first sip, I knew something was different.  I looked  at the can and saw my least favorite set of words: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Ugh.  Honestly, Coke tastes sooooooooooooo much better with sugar.  But thanks to certain lobbyists out there we are consuming (in mass quanities) a substance that is considered poisonous (and therefore illegal) in the UK!

Gross.

3. Name Dropping

On my flight from DC to Indy, I was half dozing when I hard the following phrase made in passing:

“Oh, so you’re not a Broncos fan; you’re just a Manning fan.”

Suddenly, old familiar feelings began to resurface: love for things of Manning and Luck and a horseshoe as well as the inexplicable hatred for all things Tom Brady…

4. Food!

While I was in DC, my mom asked me what I wanted for dinner when I got to Indy.  Honestly, my body (still) doesn’t know what time it is so food wasn’t on my mind at that point.  But then I decided that I wanted something very American – a burger.

I actually wanted Steak ‘n Shake because I am a Hooiser with good taste in food.  But mom thought up of another equally delicious alternative:

 

Hells to the yeah!

I feel asleep not to long after that….and thus begins my week back home in the glorious US of A!

Happy Friday, folks!

Schoenes Wochenende und bis Montag!