Turkish Kate,
Although I've never lived outside the US, I can really relate based on my visits to my husband's country. Job opportunities and quality-of-life considerations keep us firmly grounded in the US for now.
There is so much to love about the US, but I think the extreme focus on convenience and independence and commercialism is a big turn off. So many people in the US are cut off from their families and from any genuine sense of community. I didn't fully see that until I had the opportunity to see how people in some other cultures live. It makes me sad to know that my child will be born into this culture of aloneness.
For me, it's interesting to see how my relationship with my home culture has adapted to being married to someone from another culture. I feel like his culture is a part of me, but this isn't something that is visible from the outside. When I'm in the US, there's no accent or any other thing to identify me as something other than Anglo-American, and sometimes I feel that, as a result, I'm not really <i>known</i>, even by people I interact with regularly. It's confusing. When I'm in my husband's country, my bi-cultural-ness is obvious because I am obviously an outsider who participates in their culture. So there's less stress in that sense.
I hope you're starting to get comfortable and to find community and cultural links to keep you sane during your time in the US.
: Wishing the best for you!
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