ReCulture Shock

I've lived in the US for the majority of my life, so to some of you it might seem weird to have culture shock coming back here.  I'd say it's probably less shock and more just tremors.  Dan, Worthy & I are natives here.  William and Calvin have spent the majority of their time on this planet in Austria.  It's easy to forget that Vienna is home for them.  It's where they feel comfortable and understand the rules (even unspoken ones).  This is of course Christian's first time here, so he's still in tourist mode despite being a US citizen :)

A couple of observations:

• We got some fast food on our way home from the airport and William was shocked to have ice in his drink.
• My parents took the kids to Chick-fil-A one afternoon.  William came home and said, "Mom - you won't believe it... there was a playground IN the restaurant!"
• Going into Walmart.  At our grocery store in Vienna, we have 2 choices of orange juice. This was a delightful (and a bit overwhelming) culture tremor.

• Casual friendliness.  I'm not talking about friendliness with acquaintances at church or school.  It's the social pleasantries with strangers.  The greetings when walking into a store or shop, people talking to my kids in the grocery store line and just general nice-ness of people.  I'm not saying that Viennese aren't nice - they just don't display a casual niceness if that makes sense.  At the store a stranger was talking to Calvin and he asked me "Do we know her?"

These are just a couple of things.  Many happen in small doses and catch me off guard.  And while some of these things I've missed, some of them now feel foreign - like I'm a stranger in my own land.  Which is probably a bit how I should feel - knowing heaven is my home and this is just a temporary stay.