Fuck, normal again

It happens faster than you expect - the fresh view fades, the old bad habits return. When you arrive, in those first few days, you know you're different, and you carry that knowledge around like a gem in your pocket. But as time passes, there's less and less to distinguish you from an ordinary 'Aussie'.

"Yeah, we just came back from overseas."
"Oh, really?"

... 2 months later ...

"Yeah, we recently came back from overseas."
"Oh, that's nice."

... 6 months later ...

"Yeah, we used to live overseas."
"Oh."

... 1 year later ...

"Yeah, once we lived overseas."
(talking to the air around me)

Of course there's nothing to stop you hanging on to that feeling of being special, is there? Or as one joke email put it: never forget that you are unique, just like everyone else.