It has been four months already since Seba and I returned from Bushland to little Switzerland. Was I looking forward to coming back? Yes! Do I miss the US now? Yes! Luckily I had the chance to go back twice since. And both times it felt like coming home. There are so many things I cannot stand about this country. Why is 1% of DC's population living on the street? Mind you, we are talking of the capital of the richest country in the world. Why, on average, has an Afro American coming from a lower income family no chance in his life, when he is born in DC because the school system does not give him the education to excell at university? Two small examples of many construction sites in that country. Yet, and that is the reason why I also admire the USA quite a bit, for millions of immigrants, it offers simply a better life and - if you are smart or simply hard working - it offers incredible opportunities. The slogan of the Obama campaign - Yes, we can! - describes this attitude very well. You have an idea? So what are you waiting for? Get going and try. If you fail, you learn your lesson - and try again and again. And that is not just true for immigrants - but fore everybody.

Living abroad widens ones horizon. I realized that once again. Living in a privileged, small country with a very homogeneous society distorted my perception about the world quite a bit. Living in the US showed me once again, how much more diverse the world is. DC has 19 (!) Ethiopian restaurants. Walking through the streets you see all races, hear all kinds of languages and encounter the most interesting personalities. They are not tourists (most of the tourists in DC are Americans visiting their capital), but they are immigrants. Living their life. Trying to live the American dream. And some also succeed. Does Switzerland offer the same opportunities? Probably not.

There are many areas, where I feel we do a much better job. But again, that is not really such a surprise given the size of our country and the composition of our society. But no other country I have visited so far is so resilient and so full of drive like the US.

The past eight years were a disaster for this country, as if the lord Voldemort himself has put his gloomy veil across the country. However, the mood is changing with the election of Barak Obama. At least that is the feeling I got when walking through the streets in DC. Of course, DC is not representative for the rest of the country. As usual, 92% of the people voted for the democratic candidate. Overall, he only had 53% of the population behind him. Yet, I would assume that the feeling is similar across the country, even though not as strong as in DC, I guess (there are lots of Republicans out there, who still believe that the country is doomed now. Maybe they should life abroad for a while, too).

The 18 months passed quickly. And they were considerably different from my exchange year in 1989/90. Living with my partner meant to basically run a Swiss household on foreign soil. Skype & Co made communication with home extremely easy and watching the Swiss news also helped us not to loose touch with home. Hence, I thought it was no surprise that coming home felt like returning from a two week vacation. Of course I am fully aware that time didn't stand still back home. Yet, so many things still seem to be exactly the same as when we left them. The facts speak a different langauge, though. At least 10 kids were born among our friends and we missed at least five weddings. Bern has a new and very beautiful station square and politics got considerably less civilized during this time.

More than four months ago, Seba and I steped on board of United 936 service to Zurich. It feels good to be back. But it also feels good to be changed, and inspired by that huge country across the pond and its people - at least some of them. Home can be many places.