Coming Home

I can sense in our emails from Holly that, while she’s still having a lot of fun during her Study Abroad program in France, she is starting to make the mental leap about coming home.

It’s probably not a bad idea; a way to mitigate the shock to the system that is bound to occur. She’ll endure a number of immediate changes ranging from the time change (her body clock is now 6 hours ahead of EDT) to the heat and humidity (temps in mid 70s there for highs each day…compared to what we’ve been experiencing) and also the natural cultural change in terms of language, surroundings and the people.

We’ve been thinking ahead to help her ease the transition home. For one thing, she has requested a family dinner to occur the weekend after we get back. We’ll do that.

Also, I’ve been reading ahead to find out a bit about navigating the return trip home. Lisa and I have crossed the border back into the U.S. from Canada five times over the years. It’s nothing like going through customs at a major U.S. airport, though. There are some definite DO’s and DON'Ts.

(Nostalgia Break – When we were kids, there was a popular television show for children called “Romper Room.” On Romper Room, there were two bee characters…Mr. Do Bee  – who did all the right things like brushing his teeth and cleaning his room and, also, his counterpart, Mr. Don’t Bee - who didn’t do any of the right things. He’d leave a messy room, gorge on in-between meal snacks and just generally be a pest. Anyway, those two characters would be appropriate examples for what I’m about to tell you next. Nostalgia Break Ends Here…).

There are a number of do’s and don’ts listed on the webpage for the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Mr. Do would do the things correctly; Mr. Don’t would not.

I’d say that the items listed on the Mr. Don’t list should be common sense but obviously they aren’t (at least to some folks). Hence, the reason they’ve made the list. Who, for example, would try to bring live animals back to the U.S.? Clearly some people have tried. That’s definitely on the “Don’t” list. Or who would think of bringing back seeds or agricultural products? Obviously some people made the “Don’t” list for that, too. Generally speaking, nothing agricultural (livestock, plants, fruit, soil, etc.) should show up in your luggage at Customs.

On the Mr. Do list are things like being friendly, planning ahead, packing logically, itemizing any purchases you bring back, having your passport ready, etc. I feel confident that Holly would have all of those items neat, complete and in order, but we’ll go through it with her one time just to make sure.

I also read up a little bit on navigating Hartsfield-Jackson so she can easily make her connecting flight home.

It’s hard to believe that she’ll be home soon. But, just as Paul’s month at Governor’s School for the Arts went by very quickly, so has been the case with Holly’s summer in France.

And soon, very soon, all four of us will be back under the same roof for the first time since June 2. But who’s counting, right?

Don’t be saying I shouldn’t.

JG

Originally posted 7/12/2012