Global Tales from Two Young Travelers

Our homecoming

By Emily Reisch and Jon Minor

Spending seven months overseas changes your view towards everything in your life.

The culture shock of readjustment started in the Minneapolis airport when we sat down to have a beer during our layover. The waitress seemed unusually nice – she smiled at us, she came back twice to ask if we needed anything… and then we realized that’s what waitresses do. Service with a smile.

Our eyes were overwhelmed by signs. We can read all of the signs now, which seems very distracting. The same goes for conversation. Everyone is speaking English – so how do we know who’s talking to us?

Jon felt a bit nervous getting behind the wheel of a car again. Driving took more concentration because it seemed unfamiliar. The road home hadn’t changed, but we had. We noticed and appreciated things like the broad shoulders of the road, the large houses and the wide, open spaces of crops and cows.

The surrealism was enhanced by the seven-hour time difference. We confused our tired bodies by eating supper, while it was broad daylight, at what felt like 4 a.m. to us.

We were excited to see our families, our friends, and our house. Our bed has never felt so great. Dorm-style housing in hostels is not an experience to be missed, but we loved having privacy again.

Now, the past seven months seems like a dream. We have 800 photos from 12 different countries to look back on to prove it was real. Were we really in all of those places? Even though we remember it clearly, it seems like a part of our life that is very far away now.

The arms of family members around us convinced us that our whole experience had been real. We get a hint of what we’ve missed in South Dakota when someone says, “Do you remember when….?” We don’t remember, most of the time, because we weren’t here.

The little things have changed, but the big things that make our home truly home, have stayed the same.

We are sad that those adventurous days are over for now, but we’re happy that we’re going to work and SDSU again.

Our plans are to stay in America for at least a year. We’re planning on teaching English in China after we are married.

Our next major trip will probably be our honeymoon. We’re leaning towards a tour of the US, driving a ’84 Chevy van that a friend gave us. It only makes sense… we’ve been in twice as many countries as we have been states!

Although our international adventures are over for now, we’re always looking towards the future. Someday, the Two Young Travelers will have more Global Tales…