Facebook is starting to get weird.
On the one hand, I have people back home buying houses and cars, getting engaged and married, having babies, and even debating the virtues of various schools for their children. This is crazy to me. The concept of owning a bed freaked me out and continues to strike me as a major inconvenience. I cannot imagine owning a house or a car, let alone being responsible for another human being's life and happiness. Even on a lesser note, the idea of having a vacation at an all-exclusive resort or on a cruise holds little appeal to me, and it seems to hold a great deal of appeal for so many people if Facebook is to be believed. I also do not understand the cult of diet-and-fitness and with it the need to check-in at the gym or list a number of pounds lost, though I do of course understand the desire to be fit and healthy. So I look at the people I knew in the States on Facebook, and while I respect and admire their lives, I cannot relate to them.
On the other hand, I have people abroad posting about every single little aspect of life abroad. This is something that I certainly used to do, and it is perfectly natural for those new to the lifestyle to be confused and amazed by the whole thing, and to write about it. It's just all become so natural to me, that I don't react to it the same way anymore. When I speak a foreign language, or experience bureaucracy, or see some cultural event, or whatever, it's all so normal for me here in Europe. Europe has become normal for me, and while one part of me misses that novelty (obviously, if I'm running off seeking new adventures in Asia), another part of me appreciates how very comfortable I am in this life I've made for myself.
So, soon, I'll be part of a new group of "new kids" gaping wide-eyed at my new life in Korea. And then that will become normal, and the folks in the States will be sending their kids to primary and middle school, and getting their first divorces, and buying bigger houses, and so on. And I'll go somewhere else, and then that will become normal, too. I just sort of wonder if the "normal normal," if you will- house, family, kids, garden, etc.- will ever become something I want to do, or if I'll just nomad about forever.
Hard to tell, really. Either one would be fine. I'm just, honestly, curious sometimes, because I really don't know.
On the one hand, I have people back home buying houses and cars, getting engaged and married, having babies, and even debating the virtues of various schools for their children. This is crazy to me. The concept of owning a bed freaked me out and continues to strike me as a major inconvenience. I cannot imagine owning a house or a car, let alone being responsible for another human being's life and happiness. Even on a lesser note, the idea of having a vacation at an all-exclusive resort or on a cruise holds little appeal to me, and it seems to hold a great deal of appeal for so many people if Facebook is to be believed. I also do not understand the cult of diet-and-fitness and with it the need to check-in at the gym or list a number of pounds lost, though I do of course understand the desire to be fit and healthy. So I look at the people I knew in the States on Facebook, and while I respect and admire their lives, I cannot relate to them.
On the other hand, I have people abroad posting about every single little aspect of life abroad. This is something that I certainly used to do, and it is perfectly natural for those new to the lifestyle to be confused and amazed by the whole thing, and to write about it. It's just all become so natural to me, that I don't react to it the same way anymore. When I speak a foreign language, or experience bureaucracy, or see some cultural event, or whatever, it's all so normal for me here in Europe. Europe has become normal for me, and while one part of me misses that novelty (obviously, if I'm running off seeking new adventures in Asia), another part of me appreciates how very comfortable I am in this life I've made for myself.
So, soon, I'll be part of a new group of "new kids" gaping wide-eyed at my new life in Korea. And then that will become normal, and the folks in the States will be sending their kids to primary and middle school, and getting their first divorces, and buying bigger houses, and so on. And I'll go somewhere else, and then that will become normal, too. I just sort of wonder if the "normal normal," if you will- house, family, kids, garden, etc.- will ever become something I want to do, or if I'll just nomad about forever.
Hard to tell, really. Either one would be fine. I'm just, honestly, curious sometimes, because I really don't know.
No comments:
Post a Comment