Shock me.

   They say the secret to a long and fulfilling life is to immerse one self into novelty. Novelty being the face of everything new, new things, new experiences, new people and all in all, a new life. Supposedly your life will reach new heights and your perspectives completely mold into something else, and you'll turn out to be an entirely changed person. But what they don't tell you in the preview is the shock. That shock you get when everything around you loses its warm sense of familiarity and comfort.

   To describe my experiences so far as a culture shock would be a sad, misleading statement. Saying its' "culture shock" would imply that I am only shocked by the different culture. When actually, the culture is what shocks me the least. I could deal with culture. The culture part is easy. It's all the other factors that are shocking me right now. I'm like this little baby bird having to leave the comfort of his nest for the very first time. Oh, my comfy, warm, familiar nest.

   Over here, I'm like a huge deformed alien baby. Everyone talks to me funny. Everyone looks at me funny (especially strangers). Everyone treats me funny. And the fact that I can't communicate well with others is just more icing on my chocolate cake of shame. Right now, sign language is probably my most versatile tool for talking to others. It's an awkward situation all in all, having being thrown into the deep end.

   But the peculiar bit is, I haven't a clue if all this is good or bad. I mean yes, I have to adapt and change according to all these new circumstances and conditions presented to me. But on the flipside, I have a clean slate now. I have this chance to start anew. And let's be honest here, you almost never get to reinvent yourself in a familiar and comfortable setting. You'll almost always just crawl back into your sweet little shell when things get tough.

   Two weeks in, I'm afraid it's much too early to say anything credible yet. All I know is, they never tell you all this when you sign up.