Coming home after 5 months...

Well we managed to travel back to the United States for Thing 2's birthday. We inadvertently planned this trip at the perfect time. It was the dead of winter in Poland right now. While the days were slowly getting longer, after 4 months of limited daylight, we have all been affected. Thing 1 came home from school one day telling me he was sad and didn't know why. He seemed to be a bit depressed in the last few weeks. He wasn't eating well and was rather pale (lack of sunlight doesn't help). I can totally relate to him. This trip was perfect.

We were all up at 3:30am and by the time we went to bed in Miami, we had all been going for about 24 hours. We flew through London this time around. I thought we would have more problems with airport security there, but they are as inconsistent as they are in the US. No one checked our carry ons for liquids although I had formula in my bag. While I was relieved to not have to go through the hassle, I'm actually quite concerned about airport security. But, that's another entry....

We had a 4 hour layover in London. Heathrow has lots of stuff to do. We had lunch and shopped around. Nicholas made friends with a British boy from Bristol whose flight to India was delayed since the early morning. They played while we chatted with his parents. By the time we left, Thing 1 had invited the family to his house. Try explaining the concept of different countries (other than Poland and the US) to a 4 year old. Not easy.

We flew for the next 9 hours directly to Miami. Sadly, Thing 2 only napped for a very short amount of time on the flight. She behaved for the most part. She even ate the meal they provided for her. Thing 1 is a great traveler. We bought hims some mini puzzles, crayons, Legos and let him bring a backpack with his toys and he entertained himself for the most part. We had bulkhead seats which gave us some space. We put a blanket on the floor for the kids to play on. Both kids hijacked our video I-Pods and spent most of the time watching their favorite shows and movies while we slept or watched the in-flight entertainment. British Airways like Jet Blue provides satellite service on their flights with TV channels and about 10 movies. I just wanted to sleep, but the kids through a wrench into that plan.

I have to say that culture shock has not been as bad as I anticipated. As we drove away from the airport it struck me that all the roads looked so much bigger. Then, I remembered the narrow roads in Poland and realized why. A few days later, we were pouring some Coke from a 2 Liter bottle into glasses and I mentioned that this was the funniest looking 2 Liters of Coke I had ever seen. That's because the 2 Liter bottle in Poland is longer and leaner than the one here. I kept trying to stop myself from thinking and saying things in Polish. Those are just to minor examples of how my outlook has been affected by this move. I understand why many expatriate's site re-entry into the US as being more difficult an adjustment than moving to a new country. Moving to Poland, I expected things to be different. Coming back to the US, my view of what is considered normal to the average American has been skewed a bit.

We had a great time visiting with family and friends. The only unexpected occurence was the return of Thing 1's asthma right after we arrived in Florida. When we moved to Poland, I stocked up on medication for him expecting Poland's climate to be much harsher on his asthma. I was shocked to find the opposite. From the time we arrived in Poland to the time we returned to FL, Thing 1's symptoms have been absent. He has not had any colds either. So much for that! The day after we arrived, he started with his wheezing and coughing. Luckily, i had left a nebulizer at my mom's house with some medication and I put him on it for the remainder of the trip. On top of that, we ended up in urgent care after he developed a double ear infection and Thing 2 ended up getting a cold right after her birthday. They both recovered shortly after we came back to Poland

The trip back to Poland was easier in some ways but harder in others. We had a 7 hour layover in London and did not get much sleep on the flight. Luckily, the kids were just as tired and we all passed out for a few hours in the departre lounge waiting for gate information. We arrived home to my housekeeper who had ben staying there to watch our dogs. My house was clean and she had even cooked us dinner. We are too pampered by her!

The yesterday we all got up in the morning as usual to get ourselves back on track. I feel a bit tired, but for the most part I'm ok. The kids both slept past 9am sometimes even until 10am this past weekend allowing the Cat and I to sleep infor the first time in 4 years. I actually woke up in the morning freaked out because I thought something had happened to them and I was too tired to notice! It was great (that nothing happened and that I got to sleep in)!