The Re-entry Blues

Here, I am, two weeks into my return trip to the Estados Unidos, and the Re-entry Blues are beginning to set in. Most people who've spent a significant amount of time abroad, unless they were soldiers or doing some other unpleasant duty, will tell you that one of the most difficult parts, if not THE most difficult part, is coming back to their own country. While it's good to see your old friends, eat your favorite foods, and watch baseball or football again, it's typically a depressing experience. You've had significant experiences and want to tell people about them, but most people either can't relate or don't really want to hear about them unless you can sum it up in less than 30 seconds. Also, after spending all of that time surrounded by new and interesting things, the same old place where you spent most of your life can seem really grating. It was especially difficult when I returned from Semester at Sea nearly six years ago. It took me nearly a year to feel normal again after my return from Japan. This time around, they are less severe. Perhaps it's because I'm with a more sypathetic crowd here in Madison, where many have experienced simlar feelings, or perhaps I'm just more experienced and know better what to expect and know to keep my mouth shut about it unless asked.

The biggest contribution to my Re-entry blues this time around has been my attempts to put the Thesis to bed and call it a day. You see, this past Thursday, my computer, a Dell Inspiron Notebook which I named Krakatoa (so appropriate that it's named after a volcano, isn't it?), didn't respond at all when I pushed the power button. I took it to a shop, and they told me that it's as dead as fried chicken - the motherboard was gone. She's as useless as a car that has a blown-out engine. So this has made work much more difficult, and set me back at least two days. This has also caused me to have to make the difficult decision about whether to buy a new computer, not a cheap proposition, or just to live without one for a while, which is something I would not like to do. Fortunately, my wonderful ex-roommate India, with whom I am staying while I'm here, has allowed me to borrow her Apple I-book to attempt to finish my work. I'm not accustomed to using an Apple, so it's been slow going, but I've been making progress and have even bulked the thesis up by ten pages or so. Nevertheless, my targeted date of departure, this coming Friday or Saturday, is in serious danger now. However, I want to take my time while writing this, as turning in a less-than acceptable draft will only require more revisions and will require my advisor, a very busy man, to read it an give comments, which will delay the whole process even more. Plus, it's really difficult to write about this stuff any more - this must be sort of how it feels to be running a marathon and reach mile marker 24, knowing there's just a little bit left but really not wanting any more of this. So I'm being careful, taking my time, and hoping I can finally make the gods of academia (er, my advisor) happy enough to give me passage and my Master's degree.

I had best get back to work. Hail progress!