I'm currently visiting college friends in Maine--it's nice to have a change of scenery, after spending a few weeks at home in New Jersey, and it's great to catch up with people. My time at home's been good, but difficult sometimes. It's hard to relax when I have all these things to do--find a place to live, buy a car, get started on my freelancing business--but most of it can't be done until I'm actually in California. Much of my life is on hold, still, which is hard since in many ways I'm already "back."

Being in the States is a little wacky, and I'm still adjusting in many ways. When my parents and I were visiting my brother in Ithaca the first weekend I was back, we went to a bagel place and I saw all the white people and thought, "I'm surprised he doesn't know a less touristy place." It was a few minutes before it dawned on me that those were the locals! And it's strange that I can understand everyone and they can understand me--although sometimes they can't understand me, which freaks me out, because we're all speaking English (aren't we!?). The obsesity epidemic in this country is also startlingly apparent to me after having been away.

But things are moving forward. I'm flying to Los Angeles on July 3, and spending some time there and in San Francisco before I really settle down. I'll be continuing with my blog, but probably going back to the Blogger format I was using before, since this won't technically be a travel blog anymore!