Welcome to the USA

I'm back in the States, after being gone for six months. In a strange way, staring down the hallway of my parents house, I feel like I never left. But when I remember everything that's happened, the friends I've made in Seoul, the Korean language program, church, I feel subtly changed.

I traveled sick. I caught the flu the day before I left. Packing up was misery. Traveling would have been misery if I didn't keep myself in a drugged stupor. The flight from Tokyo to Seattle passed quickly as a result. I didn't even watch a movie! Other than being sick, the journey was great. I met Ryan in Tokyo and we traveled together, the first time I've flown with family in a long, long time. And since I hadn't seen Ryan since Christmas, we bothered everyone around us by talking forever. It was great.

Now I'm on vacation with my family in Lincoln City on the Oregon coast. My parents told me about the vacation the day I arrived. It was one of those, "Oh, by the way, Ro, we're going to Lincoln City tomorrow.... We've been planning this for the past month. Didn't we tell you?" No. Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?