Home for the Holidays

Back from a restful 18 days stateside.  I went home to Oregon to visit my family and friends for Christmas and New Years.


The flight back was miserable.  Almost every imaginable bad plane experience that could happen, happened: delayed, crying babies, annoying passenger sitting next to you, even more annoying kid behind you kicking your seat, terrible turbulence, etc.  First time I've ever been mildly terrified on a plane.  So my unstable mental state combined with my lack of sleep made me a very unhappy camper.  Only solution for that is a giant American -style breakfast and a full day of shopping!


I found it interesting that being back home didn't feel weird.  It almost felt the same as being in Japan until I walked into the mall.  Big, spacious, artistic layouts, and all familiar brands that I knew would fit me.  Even the smell of Nordstrom made me swoon with longing.  However, with this came the sudden onslaught of English.  In Hirono it's doubtful that I will ever hear English unless it's in the classroom (and I'm dragging it out of my students).  In fact, I probably speak less than 15 minutes of continuous English a day, so when I do hear it, it's like an electric shock.  My head immediately swivels to find the rare English speaker.  But when you are in a mall, in America, a week before Christmas, and everyone speaks English, it's more than a little overwhelming...  As a result, my shopping suffered and I found myself being led around in a daze.
I did get to surprise Kirby at his new job though! :)


That evening my parents, little bro, Kirby and his parents met up for dinner at Benihana.  They were surprised I felt like eating Asian food, but I explained that traditional Japanese cuisine is nothing like Americanized Japanese food.  Take sushi for example:
In Japan, sushi is nigiri style, which is a slice of raw fish over a small hand-shaped ball of rice, or sashimi style, just sliced raw fish.  No rolls, no sauces, no crazy ingredients like mango or asparagus, almost always cold, simple and traditional.  American sushi is like Japanese sushi on steroids!  Anything to make it delicious, bad for you, and more flamboyant (read anything to make the price go up) is added.


You can buy fresh fish in the grocery store in Japan and eat it raw for cheap (even with the yen killing the dollar right now).  In America, you have to search for sushi-quality fish and even then it won't taste as fresh and you most likely have to cut it yourself.  Even buying my own raw fish back home makes me nervous.  At least I know the Japanese have very high standards for freshness.  I mean you can even eat beef raw here, no problem!  (It's amazing by the way).  These will definitely be things I miss when I go home in August.


The rest of my trip was a whirlwind!  During the week I was down in Corvallis, catching up with friends, drinking martinis (Oh, how I missed you vodka!  The most popular liquor in Japan is whiskey...really bad whiskey), and spending some quality time with my family.  I even made them okonomiyaki and zarashi sushi one night.  (If you don't know me that well, you should know that I don't know how to cook.  Thank god for 7eleven in Japan!)


On the weekends, I drove up to Portland to spend time with the boy and his family.  We dressed up like grownups and went to the annual Portland Ballet performance of the Nutcracker.  He took me to Portland City Grill and spoiled me rotten.  It's nice having a gentleman as a boyfriend.  Lots of dates and even more eggs benedict.  I think my record was 4 days in a row.  I got my Mexican food fix and put ranch dressing on everything!  I thought everyone in the whole world knew about ranch dressing, but I guess that's not the case.  Even the Kiwis (New Zealanders) look at me with questioning stares as I praised it religiously.  I had forgotten all the food I missed and ate way too much of it while I was there.  Gaining weight in Japan and in America.  Can't a girl get a break?!


I also got to visit my grandparents in Klamath Falls.  My aunt, uncle, and cousins also came to say hi.  It was very relaxing to listen to calm English conversations and read books on my new Kindle.  Quite a convenient contraption and very useful since books in English are hard to come by in my area of Japan. I also got a beautiful D&G watch and original painting from Kirby.  Unfortunately, the painting couldn't come back with me to Japan.  I'd highly recommend the artist if you are looking for an abstract piece.


Before I knew it, New Years was already upon us.  Kirby and I made reservations with all of our closest friends at Rock Bottom Brewery in downtown Portland.  The food was incredible, even though they wouldn't let me eat my salmon rare ;)  It wasn't the huge dance party I was hoping for but I would still highly recommend the experience.  The rest of the weekend was spent watching football bowl games and trying to squeeze in more time with friends and family.  It was just as hard to say goodbye a second time.  Especially, when we had to acknowledge the fact that I won't be home for another 7 months.  It seems like an impossibly daunting task at the moment.  I just hope that I can eventually find my balance here.