8-bitDesign

Airplanes always throw me off kilter. Something about being trapped in a cramped metal cylinder for 9 hours tends to kill my appetite and keep me on the verge of throwing up for the rest of the day.

Anyways, we’re currently somewhere over the pacific, two hours from home, and I’m lucky to be experiencing my second Sunday. You see, we boarded our plane at 3:45PM Tokyo time, and as of this writing it’s now it’s 7:00AM LA time. Sunday was so good, I get to do it all over again! (Yay!).

Leaving Japan is a bittersweet experience. I really did fall in love with the country, and it cities, each with their own personality. Beyond that, we certainly met new friends among Matt’s crew of teachers, and the many locals we met along the way, many of whom we may never see again.

All in all, it’ll be good to be back home, though. I doubt I’m going to love rolling back into work with 16 hours of jetlag, or having to face taxes, bills, and the thousand other little irritations of modern life, but at least I’ll be doing it all in a language I understand.

Being in Japan has been great for learning the language, and in the last week, I’ve forgotten more Japanese than I learned in two years of college. However, being in a country where you have, at best, a functional grasp of the language and are effectively illiterate is a bit like being under water. You always seem to be floating through the experience, clumsily interacting with the world around you, and holding your breath for the next oasis of English.

But I will miss it.

Reynolds is talking about staying an extra year, and if that happens, I think me and Quinn will start drafting our plans for next year’s trip to the land of the rising sun.