I returned to America in Oct 2015, five and a half years after I left it.
Can you believe I've been blogging that long? Me neither. Well, despite the fact that I sometimes don't update at all and am now backlogging everything after a 2+ year absence.
Before I tell you about the circumstances that forced me to leave Japan, I need to tell you this story.
What I find appalling is that I have changed so much, and yet my country seemed much the same--people are still bitching about the economy, The Terrorists are still the enemy, we're STILL involved in shitty Middle Eastern wars, the climate is still getting worse despite the fact that STILL no one in America believes it...etc. Even my 60-something year old mother still has dark brown hair. It's like I haven't been gone a day.
At the same time, everything has changed. The smartphone revolution took full hold of everyone, which has perceptibly shifted interactions. My little sister became the semi-responsible adult I still struggle to be. My parents are working on retirement. My mom got a smart car. My step-sister's kids are no longer babies. Everyone's moving up. Everyone but me.
I came back to get my driver's license renewed so I could drive my ailing father places...discovered I had to re-take the test (which I did, passing with the lowest possible score).
My mother and I also took a brief trip out to Valley Forge, because I enjoy abnegating my responsibilities the way people always have for me.
This was actually a very good trip--we visited historic Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell. I ate a rabbit at a traditional restaurant. I remember I used to call it "The Unsanitary Place" because everyone dressed in these 18th century clothes and served drinks in pewter glasses and served me uncooked meat or something. I was convinced 18th century hygiene was still in place.
I didn't get sick either time fwiw.
I also had these random memories of George Washington--and for the life of me, I couldn't remember if it was at Valley Forge with my cousins, or some past life I had vague memories of. Turns out it was the former--I remembered this monument, and they likely were talking about visiting Washington's quarters next.
The trees put up an unusually beautiful display as we drove through the Pennsylvania countryside. It was an oasis in the terrible place my life was before, and continued after, with my father's final illness.
I think I better tell you that story though.
Let's advance the plot.
I'll update you about my father in the next entry, and may eventually update this with some pics, if I can ever find my camera.
Can you believe I've been blogging that long? Me neither. Well, despite the fact that I sometimes don't update at all and am now backlogging everything after a 2+ year absence.
Before I tell you about the circumstances that forced me to leave Japan, I need to tell you this story.
What I find appalling is that I have changed so much, and yet my country seemed much the same--people are still bitching about the economy, The Terrorists are still the enemy, we're STILL involved in shitty Middle Eastern wars, the climate is still getting worse despite the fact that STILL no one in America believes it...etc. Even my 60-something year old mother still has dark brown hair. It's like I haven't been gone a day.
At the same time, everything has changed. The smartphone revolution took full hold of everyone, which has perceptibly shifted interactions. My little sister became the semi-responsible adult I still struggle to be. My parents are working on retirement. My mom got a smart car. My step-sister's kids are no longer babies. Everyone's moving up. Everyone but me.
I came back to get my driver's license renewed so I could drive my ailing father places...discovered I had to re-take the test (which I did, passing with the lowest possible score).
My mother and I also took a brief trip out to Valley Forge, because I enjoy abnegating my responsibilities the way people always have for me.
This was actually a very good trip--we visited historic Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell. I ate a rabbit at a traditional restaurant. I remember I used to call it "The Unsanitary Place" because everyone dressed in these 18th century clothes and served drinks in pewter glasses and served me uncooked meat or something. I was convinced 18th century hygiene was still in place.
I didn't get sick either time fwiw.
I also had these random memories of George Washington--and for the life of me, I couldn't remember if it was at Valley Forge with my cousins, or some past life I had vague memories of. Turns out it was the former--I remembered this monument, and they likely were talking about visiting Washington's quarters next.
The trees put up an unusually beautiful display as we drove through the Pennsylvania countryside. It was an oasis in the terrible place my life was before, and continued after, with my father's final illness.
I think I better tell you that story though.
Let's advance the plot.
I'll update you about my father in the next entry, and may eventually update this with some pics, if I can ever find my camera.
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