Well, I am officially home, after near 24 hours of travel. My year of study-abroad in Japan is at an end.
I found it surprisingly hard to say goodbye to my host family. Considering how emo I was all year and how all I could think of were my real parents and American friends, realizing that I would be parting from the people who took care of me this year nearly brought me to tears. But as I am their 18th host student they took it all in stride. I am now bound by Japanese House-Wife Mother Law (some of you know the power behind that) to write, since they don't do emails.
I am a general basketcase about traveling, but this time was special as I was travelling alone and on a changed flight date. Needless to say, I barely got any sleep the night before. AND, despite my best efforts at boxing and shipping, I still barely had enough room in my suitcase and carry-on for all my things. It was VERY over the weight-limit. But thank god for Japanese service, the check-in lady at the airport let me buy a box that I shoved all my heaviest things in and that went on the plane along with my suitcase. 10 bucks for a box versus A SIX HUNDRED DOLLAR FEE. I think I got the better deal.
The plane ride itself was . . . .. long. I was travelling by myself so there was nobody to talk to, and despite having an aisle seat I was very cramped since the lady behind me was 6 1/2 feet tall with long legs so I didn't have the heart to push my seat back, but the lady in front of me had no qualm about it. And despite the need for sleep I didn't really sleep, I just kept flipping back and forth between Nanny McPhee and Narnia on the little tv set.
When we got to San Francisco I got to experience the travel anxiety all over again since I had to get my bags, go through customs, re-check my bags, and make my connection flight. Getting my bags was so stupid, they never looked through them, they just made me fill out a card asking if I had brought any meat, vegetables, or seeds with me. Thankfully I managed to make it with plenty of time before boarding for the next flight.
The flight from San Fran to Boston actually ended up less comfortable than the first, since I was seated between these two guys. One being this Asian guy who kept sneezing, the other being a, shall we say, portly gentleman, so I was very cramped. But I managed to get a few hours of sleep in.
But it all worked. I got home. I am revelling in the American idiocy of it all. I'm sure that will wear off eventually, but for now I'm enjoying now being bowed and scraped to in the stores. And for the love of god, REAL PIZZA AND BURGERS AND MILK!!!
I'll post my year in review later. Now it's bedtime to get rid of this Jetlag.