1993 Foreign Soil.
From Late 1992 to Late 1994 I lived in Russia. 1993 was the only year in my life that I was not in the United States at all. I embraced life in Russia and did not have much culture shock at all, It wasn't until I got home that I realized the impact of missing an entire year of American culture. I was able to keep up with the really important things like the Bulls Threepeat. I heard most of the major developments.
But even as recently as this week when I was watching Dave with relatives. Someone asked what year it came out and I didn't know. I can usually recall the year a movie came out by remembering what was going when I saw it. For example, I remember Ferris Buellers Day off came out in 1986 because I watched it with fellow camp counselors from Camp Manitoqua and I worked at Camp Manic Toga in the summer of 86. I remember Ordinary People came out in 1980 because we were reading the book in my sophomore English class and the class took a field trip to go see it. Dave came out in 1993. I didn't see it in the theatre so I have no reference point to the year.
The same is true about sports, t.v. and news of that period. In the 30 years since I've come home from Russia there have been multiple gaps in my shared experiences with others because of the disparity of our 1993s
Don't misunderstand me. This is not a bad thing, It's been kind of like found money. On Spotify I am often discovering albums that came out in 1993 or 1994 that I never was aware of and enjoy discovering them 30 years later.
My years in Russia were the best 2 years of my life to that point. I made lasting friendships, did worthwhile work, and was stretched in many ways. I may not have been in the U.S. in 1993 but I certainly had found a home.
