Culture shock

How can one NOT have culture shock when one minute you are seeing this, feeling the thrill of flying above the clouds, in a dream-like world, surrounded by fluffy whipped cream clouds, past memories, silence, things forgotten and things to come....how can you NOT feel that you are in a dream, and that you don't even really know where you are and what you are about to experience, after almost two months in the USA, coming back to the OLD country, Italy..............

and then...........
walking in the center of a midieval town, in the center of Italy. The silence, the un-festive Christmas, only apparent in the elegant lights placed high above the center street, without many people out, due to the cold and to the lack of money to spend. Here I was, cold hands, and trying very hard to feel warmth from boots and a padded coat, trying to feel the feeling of the holidays, but not with ease.
But instead, culture shock set in.
From a pre-Thanksgiving Christmas, apparent in every store, with holiday music, pubblicity, colors, lights, and an array of decorations already on sale, to the quiet, sort of sad holiday feel that is not really apparent in our little country, Italy. Trying to do something, but having a hard time getting through the hard shell of reality, the lack of jobs, money and desire to celebrate.
And on top of this culture shock!