The culture shock of being home for break

I’m no longer the weather wimp I was last year

Since leaving for college in August, I hadn’t been home in almost four months. I thought that once my plane landed at LAX in mid-December that I would fall back into my old routines, as if I had never left. Well, as I (and many other college students) can tell you, that was not the case.

All of a sudden, it felt strange being home. My home, where I’ve lived for more than 15 years, now felt strangely foreign to me. The streets in my city, which I’ve wandered down countless times, no longer looked the same. But above all, there are just some things that surprised me after coming home.

Wi-fi is no longer everywhere

Back at school, it didn’t matter where I went on campus, I would still have wi-fi. During the milder months, I could watch Netflix on the hill outside Baker Lab or finish up an assignment on the Terrace of Willard Straight Hall. Once I’ve gotten back home, however, I have no longer been able to step outside (in 70-degree weather!) to write an article at the nearby park because there’s no wi-fi. In case you’re wondering, I’m at the local Starbucks instead, and on that note…

Starbucks is finally everywhere now!

At Cornell, the nearest Starbucks was a mile away from my dorm. Now, while I’m not much of a coffee drinker (green tea lattes are more my speed) and one mile isn’t that far to walk, it was still much farther than I was willing to go on a regular basis. Now, though, with a Starbucks on my block, I’m not only set if it ever rains so hard that it floods, but I’m also spending way more money than I should. That being said, I’ve missed the sounds and the setting of my local Starbs (yes, that’s what we call it here).

The sun actually shines during the winter

All right, this was pretty trippy the first day back. Before getting on my flight home, I hadn’t seen the sun in five days, not only because it was finals period and I was holed up in the library, but also because of a thick layer of cloud cover that blocked out the sun. I actually wore shorts yesterday, and let me tell you, it felt great. Of course, my mom was telling me that I was going to catch a cold, but after surviving 12-degree weather, I can proudly say that I am no longer the weather wimp I was at this time last year.

No filter needed, and yes, this was taken in the winter

No filter needed, and yes, this was taken in the winter

I can drive a car again!

My car might be the thing I missed most about being at home (right after my parents, but it’s not that wide of a margin). There’s something about the freedom of shooting down the highway – when there’s no traffic – that I’ve missed during my four months away. It’s comforting to know that if I’m ever hungry, I can hop in my car and head out to get Chipotle or Panda Express (which doesn’t exist in Ithaca!) or honest-to-goodness dim sum (because the stuff at the dining halls is awful). And buying groceries is just so much easier when you can dump everything in the trunk, without having to lug it home.

On my way. #moon #nature #road #car #sky #sunset #land #followme #like4like

A photo posted by ?WELCOME TO MY WOULD, VSCO? (@jacob_vsco) on Dec 31, 2016 at 9:00pm PST

It’s strange being back, but at the same time, nothing’s really changed. In a way, college is just like an extended summer camp because I know I’ll be back at home in four months. But at the same time, you can’t always go home again. Or can you?

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