focusing

At this point we are in Michigan, visiting all sorts of family all over the state. Coming back to the Midwest after some time in Europe was a huge culture shock, one that I wasn't prepared to handle. It mostly revolved around strip malls and convenience and patriotism and I guess, general societal organization. I know I am signed up for 4 more years of grad school in the States, but I bet it will be really hard to convince me to stay here once I am free to choose where I want to live (which is such an American (not only, obviously, but at least it gets reinforced that much more, here) concept - free to choose? I should count myself lucky to be able to sit here on my well-nourished (though the nourishment part can be debated, given American food industry) ass choosing where the hell in the whole wide world I want to live, eh?). But seriously. I miss Europe and I miss my family in Europe: I miss going to castles with my dad, I miss taking the train to the sea side, I miss walking the streets of St. Petersburg, I miss specialized stores, I miss making myself baguette sandwiches with real, yummy bread and real, yummy ham and mm-mm the cheese! It just doesn't taste the same here. In short, I might take me a while to recover.

Something that is nice about Michigan, however, is the Great Lakes. The nature around these gargantuan bodies of water is a bandaid to my aching heart. You just can't pass up sipping wine at sunset on a Lake Michigan beach. This is what I have to focus on.