One year back

On year ago today I landed back in these United States after a two-year stint of living in Sydney, Australia. It’s hard to believe it’s been a year since I’ve returned. But at this time last year I was trading early spring for early winter, Daylight Saving Time for Standard Time, left-side driving for right-side driving — and got back just in time to see Barack Obama elected president.

That was worth the trip.

That day last year I went from the comfort and quiet of the upper-deck business class Qantas flight — all 14 hours of it, with its lie-flat bed and its hot flight attendant referring to me as “Mr. Hoover” and its free booze and its free food — to the uncomfortable indignity of American Airlines coach class from Los Angeles to Washington. Which is a bit like going from a night in the Ritz Carlton to a night in a Motel 6.

When I landed at Dulles, at 5 p.m., it was already dark. And I had forgotten how far away that airport is from downtown Washington.

What’s weirdest to me is how I remember my time in Australia. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before — it’s possible I did a few months after returning — but my two years Down Under at once feel like 10 years and two weeks. When I think back on it, I think, “My god, did I really live there for two years? No way was it that long.” But at the same time, it feels like that time flew by.

I’m already feeling like I need to get back down there, if only for the fact that it’s now spring there and it’s starting to get cold (and dark) here. I may still try to get down there for Christmas. That would be nice.

So how about some observations about America after one year back? I haven’t really thought about this, so here’s a scattershot approach:

• Every now and then, I still look the wrong way when crossing the street. I’m not sure how “traffic comes from the right” got so ingrained after only two years (compared to 31 years of the opposite), but somehow it stuck.
• Habit I picked up in Australia that I continue: drinking lattes as opposed to brewed coffee.
• Habit I picked up in Australia that I do not continue: drinking beer every night. (That’s probably a good thing.)
• American politics has really started to bug the shit out of me. OK, it’s Republicans who bug the shit out of me. See, when I left, they were obstinate douchebags, but now they obstinate douchebags who are interested in nothing more than trying to make President Obama fail. They have no ideas of their own, they don’t particularly care about the country or how to make it better. They just want to see him fail. It’s hard to play a game when one team refuses to take to the field.
• It’s nice to have real bars. Sydney’s bars suck, as most Australians know (for real bars, go to Melbourne), so it’s nice to have the real deal. I do miss the pubs, though.
• Speaking of which, I miss the following things: a good, inexpensive pub steak, a steak sandwich, and Cooper’s beer. (Oh, wait, I can get that cheaper here than I could in Australia. Ha!)

That’s about all I can think of at the moment. I’m sure I’ll come up with some others. But happy move-back-to-Americaversary to me!