Homesick

So I'm struggling a little. I was hiding it, but it's time to share. I miss the U S of A. I was also ecstatic to "open" the New York Times this morning and see that Secretary Rumsfeld has resigned, and Congress has changed. The question now is what the future will bring.

We've just finished a short holiday. While I'd planned to go traveling, I stayed here to work on a paper for school. Halfway through I became quite envious of everyone in Moscow and Petersburg. Sunday night, my sister messaged me (much cheaper than calling).

"Why must 'going out' consist only of getting obscenely drunk in the hotel lobby?"
"It's just a phase...they'll grow out of it."
"I'm in Moscow and no one wants to go out...they just want to sit here and drink. I'm coming to see you tomorrow. Make time for me. What tangible items do you miss?"

I said I missed San Francisco and my hairdresser (she was fabulous and I really need a haircut).

Around lunchtime, we met at "our cafe" (Cafe Montana - don't know how it got its name). They have the best hot chocolate (garachi shocolade) in the world. Russian hot chocolate tastes like warm brownie batter. AND they're friendly (no one is friendly in Russia. The customer is always wrong). Continuing with the food obession theme, we walked to the American Home for a special lunch. Commenting wryly on my choice of "San Francisco" as the tangible item I missed, my sister informed me that she'd brought North Beach to Vladimir. Out came a bottle of Italian wine, some olives, French cheese, a baguette and (wonders) assorted Italian meat, including salami and proschiutto. In contrast to Russian black bread, meat ravioli with funny bits you can't chew in it, and cheese with a weird aftertaste.

We didn't do anything dramatic, just spent some time together eating and talking, and watching part of "Dead Poets Society". Later that night, I threw in the CD of saxophone music a friend had bought at the Hayes St Jazz Festival, lit a candle, pulled out my Fleximap of San Francisco and looked at every spot on it I'd ever walked or visited.

Yep, I've got it bad.

Today, I'm teaching a lesson about culture shock. According to our text, culture shock is a process whose 4 steps look like an AA agenda:
1) the tourist stage - you will have a positive attitude. Everything will feel new and exciting!
2) the emptiness stage - after only a few weeks, you will have settled into your daily routine. The original excitement you felt will have disappeared. Everything will seem so different, confusing and disappointing!
3) the acceptance stage - at this point, you will have accepted the cultural differences of the new country. Unfortunately, this is sometimes the point when you are about to move back home!
4) the recovery stage - by this time, you will have been living in your new home for several months. You will start to feel more relaxed.