On leaving Europe, or what I imagine divorce must feel like

A stream of consciousness unedited piece - also known as adventures in personal essays

Have you ever counted the amount of frozen shrimp options for sale at an American grocery store? The first time I found myself doing this, I counted at least 6 different ones ranging from spicy to coconut to spicy coconut (and more!).

I had forgotten what American excess is, what choice paralysis could be, what an absolutely mind-boggling experience it is to walk between rows and rows and rows of frozen food items and see absolutely nothing of interest but everything of awe (why are there peanut butter and jelly flavored bao buns in America? Who wanted this? Why? How?)

It’s been what, three or four months since I returned to the U.S.? I’m beginning to suspect the acute phase of my return is coming up - acute phase being the fancy way of saying the most intense phase. Though I’ve never been divorced and have no plans to do so, leaving a life behind in one country to move across continents (again) sure feels like one. That being said, since I’m an American who left Europe, I do have to s…