Over the hill and onto the next one

February 27, 2009 – 4:02pm EST

I boarded the subway yesterday at 7am en route to work. The train was practically empty and I sat down across from two of its sole occupants – older men, on first glance, who I’ll call Bill and Frank.

I quickly realized that Bill and Frank were not exactly old men, but rather old dudes. Bill, on the left, wore a thick goatee and a skull cap, and the kind of utility vest that says, “I’m hardcore so I need a lot of pockets.” Frank, on the right was trying to pull off a more refined look: he wore a button-down shirt, a leather jacket, and shiny leather shoes – all black – and what was left of his hair was slicked back.

They were close to pulling off the look they were striving for, but Bill’s preppy dock shoes and Frank’s tacky white tube socks betrayed them. I got off the train hoping I would one day be as cool as these two dudes, over the hill, but charging up the next one.

Reverse culture shock

February 17, 2009 – 8:25pm EST

In the few days before I flew to Boston people said, “Do you think you’ll feel much reverse culture shock?” I thought these people were being melodramatic. I would confidently reply that this “reverse culture shock” was most likely pretend. “It’s only been 5 months. It’s not like I forgot what Boston is like.”

Well, it’s not pretend. Almost a month has passed and I’m just beginning to recover from an emotional state equivalent to the physical phenomenon of sea-legs. When I’m not antisocially lost in thought, my conversations are full of inane links to India, like: “you eat dinner a lot later in India than here.”

The challenge for me is not adjusting to the culture, but rather sharing my experience with people who are interested. I am trying to package up my experience for mass consumption, but I’m not yet done processing it.