It's over and I'm back
Usually I try to end each phase with a great summarizing blog post but I really don't see the need because DTS is over but my time with YWAM, my time with Auckland is not, and I think that DTS has been well summarized. But, just in case you're hankering for a great summarizing statement here it is; "Best decision of my life!"
After a gruesome 38 hour battle through airports and security, I made it into Florida at midnight on Tuesday. Wednesday was spent showing my family videos and pictures, making them Chai Yen and seeing a couple of visitors. Thursday afternoon my family and I left for Destin Beach for my sister's spring break. It's Sunday night and we're back in Alachua and I feel like I'm just now starting my re-entry process. In some ways I've been experiencing culture shock and have struggled with trying to figure out what my time back here is going to look and feel like. Part of me feels like I should be settling back in but yet it's just a home visit at it's best. So however deep the roots may go with family and friends, my overall presence feels very surface level and very observatory rather than interactive. (It's like those dreams you have where you're watching yourself move through the dream; you're seeing things through and outsiders perspective rather than from your own. That's what it feels like) But none of this is a bad thing, maybe it's just re-entry; who knows.
I do miss New Zealand terribly and I do miss the pace of YWAM but I think now that I'm back in Alachua it will allow me to start working on some things I need to get done. It's weird because I'm almost going into my second week and I still haven't seen people or shared my story. It was good though to not have to. I had a rather difficult experience when I went to CVS to pick up a couple of things my first day back. I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of choices I had to choose from and couldn't find what I wanted. So as I'm stressing out over the hundreds of hair gel options, someone I knew from high school sees me and proceeds to ask me about my trip. "Wrong timing buddy", is what I was thinking. Thankfully I have an amazing family that is willing to patiently walk with me as I go through re-entry and they're a huge help and such a blessing right now.
These next 3 months are going to be comprised of visits and getting ready to leave again. Somewhere in there I'm going to attempt to record an EP to help with support raising but we'll see how that goes. I'm going to take a bit of a break from blogging these three months but I'll try to keep you all updated on all things concerning me and YWAM. Thanks for sticking with me this far and I'll ttyl
After a gruesome 38 hour battle through airports and security, I made it into Florida at midnight on Tuesday. Wednesday was spent showing my family videos and pictures, making them Chai Yen and seeing a couple of visitors. Thursday afternoon my family and I left for Destin Beach for my sister's spring break. It's Sunday night and we're back in Alachua and I feel like I'm just now starting my re-entry process. In some ways I've been experiencing culture shock and have struggled with trying to figure out what my time back here is going to look and feel like. Part of me feels like I should be settling back in but yet it's just a home visit at it's best. So however deep the roots may go with family and friends, my overall presence feels very surface level and very observatory rather than interactive. (It's like those dreams you have where you're watching yourself move through the dream; you're seeing things through and outsiders perspective rather than from your own. That's what it feels like) But none of this is a bad thing, maybe it's just re-entry; who knows.
I do miss New Zealand terribly and I do miss the pace of YWAM but I think now that I'm back in Alachua it will allow me to start working on some things I need to get done. It's weird because I'm almost going into my second week and I still haven't seen people or shared my story. It was good though to not have to. I had a rather difficult experience when I went to CVS to pick up a couple of things my first day back. I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of choices I had to choose from and couldn't find what I wanted. So as I'm stressing out over the hundreds of hair gel options, someone I knew from high school sees me and proceeds to ask me about my trip. "Wrong timing buddy", is what I was thinking. Thankfully I have an amazing family that is willing to patiently walk with me as I go through re-entry and they're a huge help and such a blessing right now.
These next 3 months are going to be comprised of visits and getting ready to leave again. Somewhere in there I'm going to attempt to record an EP to help with support raising but we'll see how that goes. I'm going to take a bit of a break from blogging these three months but I'll try to keep you all updated on all things concerning me and YWAM. Thanks for sticking with me this far and I'll ttyl