A Nomadic Makeover

He's a changed man...or should I say, he's an ever-changing man. 

I listened to Karma have a brief conversation in English on the phone tonight and it was a complete 180 from when he arrived 2 months ago. He made no mistakes, he listened, he answered, he joked, he asked questions...who IS this guy? 

It's THIS guy!!

This is Karma showing off his new clothes in a photo shoot whilst pretending to play American music....I wish you could've heard the actual singing. Priceless.

"This guy" (the new American, "young dude," Karma) is embracing life in the US on a whole new level. Not on the grossest level of throwing away all of his customs, spiritual beliefs and ideals, but on the level of integration and finding his place in this new and strange world that we call "home." 

What spawned such a sudden shift in energies? I blame it on the meat...which I blame on my father. Karma had his first taste of American flesh and now consumes it regularly. This was a hard thing for me to let go of, initially, but I've moved past it. At least he's not begging to eat at McDonald's or shop at Walmart. We cook in a lot and aren't cooking meat in the house, so he won't be headed for a heart attack this week, nor will I mourn daily. We've had some really grounded conversations about this, so I'm off of my high horse (for the most part).

Karma is totally into the Christmas spirit, mostly by shopping and mostly by shopping for himself! Ha! We spent last Saturday and Sunday out in the malls and even went to the holiday land of Macy's (downtown SF). I was initially dreading the parking, crowds, etc...but it was actually a great experience. He's taken an interest in fashion (not super seriously) and I'm intrigued to see where this will lead. 

He also gets really excited about sales! I explained that the AFTER Christmas sales are even better, but he showed serious concern that we might not have time to go shopping RIGHT after Christmas. I tried to tell him that these sales last for a while, but he didn't totally believe me. I hope we make it to a sale! If we don't, surely he'll say that I'm a bad "boss," which is what he refers to me as when I'm making the plans. He says my mom's a "better boss" than I am....I guess I still have a lot to learn. =)

We're heading back to Virginia on Monday night. We were talking about flying today and he said that as a young child in Tibet he would run into the house anytime he heard a plane, it was such a loud noise that it scared him. He also said he used to think about all the people who were flying around the world, since he'd never been on a plane prior to coming here, and where they were going, what they were doing, if they were happy or sad... Then he said, "Now I'm flying a lot. My life, I don't understand!" (as in, "how the hell did I get here!) We had a good laugh. 

Something shifted in me about a week ago and I feel totally comfortable and at ease with our relationship. Not to say that I was in total post-wedding panic, but whatever was residually there has since passed. I find myself thinking about how grateful I am to be married to this wonderful person.