I'm home...

...whatever that is. I'm trying to get a handle on it but I still can't figure it out. What is home anyway? This is something I've been pondering lately as I am about to move out of my childhood home, the one I've lived in for about 18 years. Is home just a place to hang your hat, somewhere to keep all your stuff? As the renowned Ed Brydon once said (actually it was earlier this evening over a couple of cervecas), "Home is wherever your loved ones are." But what if your loved ones are scattered, some in NY, some in Florida, some in Australia? Can one have several homes? I'm starting to feel slightly nomadic and unsettled. I know this is a normal reaction from being a backpacker for so long and that it will probably pass, but I'm not sure I really want to be settled. At least not for a while. I like having a home base, for sure, but what if it's not enough for me to simply live in one place? I don't want to have to leave my family and friends again, I really do want to have a career and build a life somewhere, but I'm afraid of the backlash if I choose to go somewhere else for an extended stay.

My last night in Sydney was both wonderful and awful. Major props to Matt and Adam for making it really fun and kind of zany...those two are ca-razy! Highlights included singing tunes from Showboat on the Balmain Wharf whilst looking over the nighttime Sydney skyline, pondering if Mikhail Gorbachev was really in a Pizza Hut commercial (it's true: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9lvzzH0STw) and, of course, accents galore! So freakin' sad though as I was forced to say g'bye to my two Aussie mates.

So I completely lost it at immigration in L.A. when the officer said "Welcome home" (there goes that word again). I could not control myself. I was already emotional from seeing the city from the plane and being back in the States...also it did not help that I was in major pain because the pressure in my ears, like, refused to equalize. I really need to get a hold of myself because I have a feeling my little meltdown upon coming into Melbourne is related somehow. Right now I feel stable but I'd watch out if I were you...

P.S. So many things are strange being back but the thing I noticed straight away is flushing the toilet here because the handle is usually on the side as opposed to on top of the tank like in Oz and there's no half-flush, which, to be honest, I never liked anyway.

P.P.S. I missed the heat wave! Yay me!