Reverse culture shock

Reverse culture shock.

Even though we've moved to a place where we used to live, there is still some culture shock. We lived in Australia for over eight years and got used to the way of life there. Now we've moved back to a place that has moved on from when we left and there are many things that we have to get used to again.

The sky seems smaller somehow, lower.

The buildings are taller and closer together, which may also be why the sky seems smaller.

There are more regional accents and we're having to 'tune our ear in' again, just as we had to when we arrived in Australia. No doubt there will also be local slang to learn.

There are cars everywhere and the roads are generally narrower, making them seem more crowded.

There's so much litter! I just want to grab a binbag and collect it from the roadside hedges.

My skin is drier now that I'm walking in the cold wind and not putting SPF 50 cream on everyday just to leave the house.

It will take a while to settle in again, but the first steps are being taken.