surreal

And getting more so all the time. In comments here, I told Lone Primate that the prospect of actually taking off - of leaving the country of my birth for another country - feels surreal. I imagine on Tuesday, as we drive north through my beloved New York State, one-way, it will feel even more so.

The very astute Lone Primate expressed it perfectly here.

You know, in a weird way, I bet you'd have a more concrete sense of it if you were moving to a country like Japan or India, instead of to what amounts to some Twilight Zone version of the US where the American Revolution never happened and the Queen is still on the money (dun-dun-DUHHHH!!!). Let's face it, you're making the least-profound international move possible for an American. :) There'll be some changes when you're actually here, but I speculate that the similarity of culture and daily life is going to drag out the process of it really setting in for a long time.

That's very true. Leaving New York City is strange. Exchanging my very urban life of apartment and public transportation for a suburban house and car is strange. Of course, there are cultural differences, as we talk about here all the time. But it's not that different, looking at cultures globally. We're not moving to Lagos or Sao Paolo or even Marseilles.

In casual conversation, I've taken to using this compressed version of Why I'm Leaving: I'd rather my taxes support health care for all than foreign wars. This is a huge difference. But is it a difference I'll feel when I get up in the morning, walk my dogs, make my coffee?

Mollie from the now-defunct Greener Pastures described a great relief after crossing the border, at not being part of this insanity any more. I am anticipating that relief - yet it will be an abstraction.

Meanwhile, life is surreal.