Though I have never claimed to be the most informed citizen, occasionally I do still keep up with random doing in the States, though friends, family, internet, podcasts, etc. For the most part I can still understand and relate to what is going on, but every now and something strikes a foreign note and I think, "Oh, I'd forgotten about that!" Or "What, that's going on there?"
Perhaps the thing that struck me most recently is the occurrence of fall and Halloween, neither of which has put in an appearance over here. I read the comics far more often than I read news stories, and they are full of pumpkins and costumes, candy and fallen leaves. It rather surprises me to remember that all this is a part of daily life over there right now, and then to realize that I don't really miss it. Technically speaking, I do miss fall a lot. Halloween is not a holiday whose absence I'll mourn, though. Today we were talking about all the money that people spend on Halloween and the skanky costumes women seem to find so necessary. Yeah, I don't miss that. I rather appreciate the generally conservative dress standards here.
I also suppose that Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations are out with vengeance, ensuring that people will be sufficiently (materially) prepared for these holidays months in advance. This is the second year that I've missed those preparatory months…and I don't really miss them. At least not that part of them.
It's very odd, but the culture I grew up in is slowly becoming slightly more foreign to me. Come to think of it, I never did fit into that culture all that well to begin with. I'm going to be a REALLY ODD DUCK once I arrive back "home." Consider yourself warned, months in advance.
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