tadaima
you've probably been wondering why my little corner of the web has been so quiet lately. For those intuitive types (and those directly involved in my day-to-days), you know that I was back in the land of squatting toilets and sake, trains and tomadachi, i.e. JAPAN! The stay was short (I lost about 2 1/2 days out of 7 to travel alone), but FABULOUS. I got to see a lot of people who refreshed my spirit, and eat lots of oishii food (that's YUMMY) which refreshed my need for exercise. I stayed with Marika's family for the first 4 days, and got to spend lots of time with her super-enthusiastic papparazzi father, who, unfortunately, acquired a video camera since my last visit (and who also would not stop responding with "Ohhohah, I sink zat is interest!" to anything I had to say). So not only do I have tons of photos of me already, i also have a video tape for everyday I was there, with such gripping footage as me standing, me drinking some coffee, and me watching Marika write something down. It's non-stop action, folks.

I got to see Kelly and Alan, too, and it was really good to catch up with them. I consider myself truly lucky that I met them when I was there, and know that I'll always have a welcome mat to wherever they are. Like Marika and E-chan, it's like we picked up where we left off. I also visited with the karate group I had trained with earlier, and that was a more obvious reminder of the time that had passed since (my) kids were so BIG!

The amusing thing to me was that this time 'round, people were much less sad to see me go. And as pathetic-sounding as that sentence turned out, it is meant to reflect how I have some how proven myself to that side of the world that I'm not going away. More than once did I hear, "Next time you visit..." Maybe I should let my boss know I'll be out of town coming soon.