The Great Things We Don't Consider

In the process of living abroad you get used to the bigger things: the language, the ridiculously small grocery stores, the living arrangements, even the rhythm. It's the small things you really get hit by: the steepness of curbs, the way people laugh, the smell of the morning, the lack of good public reading spaces. What I miss from the States aren't the large things: the mobility (both economic and physical), the (comparable) transparency in politics, the abundant diversity. I do miss them, but what I miss the most is the consistency. The dependability. When you go into work, the lights will be on, the computer will work or will be repaired quickly, people will be there and not hiding with some mysterious 1-week cold every other week. Your apartment will be heated, the appliances will work, the fuses won't be blown when you try to utilize more than one room at at time. It's the same with people too. When I think about the people I miss from the States I can think about all their traits and all the great things they shared with me, but what I miss is voices and smiles and laughs. I miss seeing Scott inspect his shoes for scratches and endlessly search for the perfect blue/gray shirt, the way my sister says "shut up," the way June takes a smart conversation and turns it ghetto and brings it back again. I never thought about those things. They were just always there. I've noticed that I've become guilty of the same thing here too. Good things - and the good people who come with them - are easy to overlook. They're consistent - ever present in every way. They're so me that I've stopped considering them. Stopped appreciating. Stopped enjoying. And that's a big part of life's joy, I think, finding those things that bring you joy and really allowing it to fill you. Cups runeth over with enough drops, not big cubes.