*You get homesick for Romania when you’re in Peru, for Peru when you’re in America, and for America when you’re in Romania!
*You get nostalgic when you go to Mexico on a church mission trip, though it was 15 years and three countries ago that you lived there.
*You carry change, tissues, and antibacterial gel with you wherever you go...since you never know what sort of bathroom situation to expect.
*Toilets can be holes that you squat over…and then flush!
*You stockpile Equate creamy peanut butter…more for the price!
*You had to sing “People Need the Lord” and “Here Am I Lord” all over the States in front of total strangers as a child.
*You have siblings born with foreign citizenship…but you all have the same birth parents.
*Your laptop has been configured to be able to type in three different languages.
*It’s an exciting day when you can actually accomplish everything on your “To Do” list…or even half of them!
*You get excited to see things like Nutella and Inca Kola in American stores.
*You’ve ever been awake in the middle of the night adjusting once again to a different time zone.
*You eat bread and mayonnaise with your French fries…and it seems normal to you.
*You figure out how to make Romanian desserts with Peruvian ingredients.
*A rolling footlocker has a million uses.
*Eating at McDonald’s is a special treat…since in your adopted country it costs the same as a nice sit-down meal would at a regular restaurant.
*You laugh when your American friends have to get in the car to drive to the other side of the shopping center.
*You then realize you got soft in the States when you get winded walking across town when you get back home to your adopted country.
*Telenovelas make up a great deal of your TV watching…between the speaking in Spanish and the Romanian subtitles you can understand it all!
*Your family is scattered across four continents and at a family reunion you may eat Korean barbecue, Romanian sarmale, and Mexican rice…and wash it all down with Peruvian chicha morada!!
*Nieces and nephews are all bi-lingual…but their second languages are all different!
*You don’t flush every time…and you never put the paper in the toilet.
*You get excited when you go into an import shop in Romania and see Peruvian items.
*You could hang out for hours in World Market…but are surprised to see what they charge.
*If you arrive on time, you are actually early…in your adopted country.
*You actually look forward to the holidays in your adopted country…the focus is family, friends, and church…not buying a gift for everyone and their uncle’s cousin!
*You gasp when you hear how much people are willing to spend on church building projects in the States…and calculate how many churches could be built with that money on the field.
*You feel sorry for American teens who can only speak one language…and who are amazed that you know more than two fluently.
*Your one and only limo ride in the States…you spent the whole time talking to the Cuban driver in Spanish.
*You are disappointed to realize that your favorite jeans are dirty two days before a trip…cause there won’t be time for them to dry before leaving if you wash them now.
*Your brother’s MK friend is amazed to discover that American toilet paper actually tears apart into “little hankies!”
*Text messaging and beeping people on your mobile seem more natural than actually calling them.
*You know you’ve finally assimilated when you dream in your adopted language.
*When meeting up with another MK…you realize that though your different adopted cultures have nothing in common…you still can relate so well to them.
*You laughingly have to explain to your mom that in some countries the elevator doors actually close by themselves.
*You also have to laugh when your mom doesn’t get how funny the phrase “You mesclar your idiomas without thinking about it” is, because her mind automatically translated the Spanish for her when she heard you say that!!
No comments:
Post a Comment