Sunday, July 12, 2009

Where is "Home"??




We recently returned to Malaysia from spending a full month in the United States. Before we began our trip the first of June we told everyone we were going "home". However, while we were in the U.S., primarily staying in hotels and eating out OFTEN, we would talk about how nice it would be to get "home" to our own bed and kitchen.
I'm still not sure where "home" is for us these days. I guess, for now, we have TWO homes:)
Our month-long trip was very nice and relaxing for me. Jeff, however, worked all but two days of the time. He brought four employees from Malaysia with him and they spent time in L.A., Houston, Lafayette, Tulsa and Dallas. He drove A LOT of miles! Having said that, we also enjoyed spending time with our kids, siblings, parents and friends, so it was well worth the effort.
When we arrived back over here in Malaysia we started talking about the things we miss in the states. It isn't the big stuff, just little things like:
***the ability to jump in the car and drive yourself to the store.
***getting free refills on your drinks at restaurants (or really, getting ANY refills--they kind of ignore you after that first serving).
***public restrooms that are clean, air conditioned and don't cost to use.
***a variety of restaurants that offer some westernized food choices.
***people on the telephone that understand (first time) what you are saying to them.
***no lizards in my house.
***people not staring at you EVERY time you are out in public because you are obviously not from around here.
***feeling like you are taking your life in your hands every day when you are on the road with the massive amount of scooters racing by in all lanes.
***getting my hair cut and not having to be concerned if they REALLY understand what I want done.
***being asked how many "grams" of sliced deli ham I would like (I now just tell them how many slices:)
None of these are earth-shattering or make this part of the world unlivable, just little convenience issues. We have noticed that we really appreciate the little things we often took for granted in the U.S. Hopefully after three years over here we will be a lot more thankful for our every day living and how easy it is!!