back in the USA: west side bliss

and after ten days at home though i was sad to say good-bye to my family and friends there i was soooo anxious to be back in OR with all of my wonderful, loving people there.  as soon as i saw this i knew it was going to be a great second round of my holiday...

my blonde Oregon sister Sam picked me up at the PDX airport with a Voo-doo doughnut.  nothing says portland like one of those.  one hug and one taste and i was really back in my american home.  and like any good oregonian would, she then whisked me off to the newest neighborhood brewery for us to have a taste of the NW hops and barleys that i had been missing.  oh man!  words cant describe how good that first taste was.  again, tasting like home.

i had a super full and super fun schedule for the next nine days though it seemed to kind of fill itself as the days went on (hmmm, or Sam had a great hand in that.  jah bless her little organizing self!) and i got to catch up with old friends from all over, old students who i ADORE, dance with my Oregon family, camp at a seriously amazing site, and just relish in the beauty that was all around me.  the people and places of Oregon really have captured my heart and it will forever be my american home now.  no matter how far i go i know that those mountains, trees and rivers will be there to welcome me back, along with the most caring, thoughtful, gentle and adoring people i have ever met (outside of my NE family of course!).  the love and comfort that i feel there with those people is enough to bring me to tears even now and if i think about it too much i often feel like a crazy woman for ever having left.  but they know my heart and welcome me back knowing too that my heart has always been there with them. 

you all in Oregon who matter so much to me know who you are.  thank you from the bottom of my heart for making my homecoming really feel that it was such a thing.  i cant wait to reunite with you for the battle of the purple capes (jerrys birthday), the ripplebrook, the tillamook and the crazy laughter and love again next year.  you keep me smiling with the love and joy you send me each day.

some snaps of these brillant people and places:

back in the USA: the flatlands

sooo, it has been more than a minute since i have attended to this blog and though there is nothing to show for it, i have been thinking of it and it has been on the to-do list since i returned home about 10 days ago now.  i will do my best, but this will take a few posts to catch everyone up to speed here.

my journey back to the states began on thursday july 15th here in japan.  i left school early that day (a la my principals request, because she wanted to make sure that i would get to where i needed to be that night so as to not mess up the rest of my travel.  what a lady!) and walked home to collect my carry on bag and take a shower and the cab was there in no time waiting for me to begin the long haul back.  the cab dropped me at the naru ferry port and i bought my ticket and enjoyed the short 35 min ride to fukue island.  there my friend brittney (love her!) and her brother, who was visiting from Arkansas, picked me up and took me to the airport so i could make my flight, which i had just rearranged to make earlier due to the impending storm.  i caught the short flight from there no problem and landed in fukuoka around 5pm.  i was to stay the night there and catch a plane in the morning so i hopped on the subway from the airport and got out a few stops later to start searching for my hotel.  i walked in the wrong direction for about 15 minutes before i stopped to ask for directions and then found the hotel easily.  after dropping off my back pack i went out in search of dinner after wading through the dinner crowd i decided that taking a bento back to my room would be the easiest.  dinner in bed along with a few beers and catching up on old "Daily Show" espisodes and i was ready to have what i knew would be my last normal sleep for weeks. 

up and at 'em on friday and at the airport via subway again by 7:30am so I could pick up my bags, which i had had delievered days earlier through a baggage service, by 8am.  picked up the bags and wheeled them 200 ft to the check in counter where they whisked them away and checked them all the way to Omaha.  checking me all the way to Omaha though was another thing.  my passport and ticket had different names on them (Beth/Elizabeth) and so i was told i was going to have to check in again in Nartia/Tokyo.  this was bad news as i was only going to have about an hour anyhow to make a connection from a domestic to an international, but i didnt let it bother me too much and kept the prize in mind; t-minus 20 hours and i would be with my family!  once i hit the ground in tokyo i literaly ran to the check in counter with about 30 minutes to spare before my plane was to leave.  i got to the check in line and the woman was very helpful and then appologetic because she was out of isle seats as i had requested, so she wondered if it would be okay if she put me in first class...DUH!  only a japanese person would appologize for this, er, inconvienence.  so i rode first class from tokyo all the way to chicago (12 hours) and man was it NICE! 

after landing back on homeland soil i was overtaken by america in general.  all things, people, food, signs, language, gestures ect ect were SOOOO BIG!  it really is true that all things in japan are just smaller, everything.  that is one of the huge (no pun intended) differences from there to here.  i relished in the small stuff like talking to strangers again and being able to understand everything that was going on around, even as strange as it all was for me.  one more flight and i was back in NE and welcomed by the arms of my baby sister and then my mother and nephew and niece who were waiting in the car.  tired and unaware of the day or time i just knew it was nice to be with them.

i was then able to spend the next 10 days with my family and some good friends in NE catching up and enjoying the beautiful midwest summer.  it was never too hot and i got my midwest thunder and lightning that i love so i was happy as a clam.  mom fed me the best chocolate cake and various home cooked meals that i had been dreaming of since i saw her last, my sisters just showered me with love and fun, the kids wore me out playing, dad gave me the gift of listening to and wondering about the world and the people in it with him and gram made me laugh and smile with her funny ways.  i am blessed to have such wonderful people to call my family in NE and it is always so hard to leave them and know that they will all change and grow so much before i see them again. 

as an added bonus i got to spend many evening with old friends who i hadnt seen in such a long time and just lazily catch up with life in back porch settings, live music dancin and reunioning formal style.  life really has blessed me with beautiful people in so many ways and places and i will never stop being grateful and joyous over these relationships.  i am so proud to call my NE friends my friends. 

 because these amazing people believed in me first, i believe in myself and had the courage to realize my dreams.  they are treasures to me and i miss and love them daily.  not such a bad start to the journey back in the states.  not so bad at all.