Northwest Indiana

I love Japan. I had the best experience of my life there. I have no idea what to expect from my life now that I have left. I don't know where I fit in to America or Chicago or even in stores. Everything in the States is confusing to me. Being able to communicate in English, of course, is easy, but there are nuances of everyday circumstances that are no longer innate to me. Interacting with a waitress while I am eating out is unfamiliar and going to the grocery store takes at least an hour. I cannot explain everything all in one post. I will just start with with some photos of my house and new American-ness.

This is from the airplane flying in to Chicago. Chicago is the largest city in the Midwest of the United States. The Midwest is the north-central part of the United States that is primarily congregated around Lake Michigan, but also touches Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie of the Great Lakes. Most Midwesterners would say Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota are the core of the region. I was mostly raised in Indiana, but have lived all over both the Midwest and East coast. Here is what a typical highway looks like in Indiana:

Notice the seemingly endless field of corn and the nothingness on either side of the road. Due to extremely high volumes of pollution that blow over Northwest Indiana and Northeast Chicago from the US Steel Mills in Gary, IN, the region has the most beautiful sunsets. The oranges and pinks in the photo are electric.

My parents live right on Lake Michigan, so this is the view from the back of their house. The sun is setting on the left and if you get close to the computer, you can see Chicago's silhouette on the right.

The front garden.

My dog, Tippie, and I in the front garden.

When entering my parents village, you must first cross train tracks. Trains are mostly cargo transporters in America. In Japan, I almost never saw cargo transporting trains. Japan is conveniently set up for public transportation, primarily by train, but also by bus. Traveling in Japan is easy and extremely accessible by public transport. I never drove during my three years in Japan. In America, unless living in a city like NYC, Chicago, Denver, or, maybe, San Fransisco, one must have a car. A person would feel stranded and very well could be without a motorized vehicle in America. [Another thing: The town I grew up in has many railroad stops. It is easy to forget that you are constantly driving over railroad stops, but you are. When I was in high school, I feel like every year someone died from being hit by a train while crossing the tracks. There are crosses  (you know the religious symbol?) near almost every railroad crossing in memoriam of someone who died trying to beat the train before it came. Isn't that the saddest thing?]

I wish there was more graffiti on these trains.