Monday - First Full Day Back
Fun day today! I slept a little later than I would have liked to, but didn't have too much trouble getting to bed last night. I was ready for bed and asleep by 1am, which is good for me personally, but also for adjusting to the time difference.
I spent the afternoon today biking the Greenway with Joe. WOW that path is amazing!
Joe is always a ton of fun to hang out with. Literally nothing has changed. I got to Joe's condo a little later in the morning that I had hoped to be (well, there at noon, but that's a bit later considering we were going to bike to lunch), but it took Joe a while to put his bike wheels on and find his lock, so we ended up just talking for a long time before going anyways. My original plan was to bike from Plymouth to Uptown, but I had some trouble confirming the routes (seriously, I am not kidding when I say Americans don't bike!) and my mom was worried about me getting asaulted (in Golden Valley?) along the way, so I decided to just take the van with my bike in it to meet Joe.
We ended up biking Lake Calhoun, the Greenway (a new converted-train-track-to--bike-path that goes through the urban districts), across the awesome new Sabo bridge, down the Mississippi and back to Uptown. We also stopped at the Holy Land on Lake and Cedar for lunch, which gave me a chance to check out the asian grocery store ($200 for a rice cooker?!), and luckily could give the leftovers of middle-eastern food to my dad at the new Allina buildings. The ride was really nice and even though I am now almost completely out of shape, I wasn't tired at all during the 4 hours we were gone. We also ran into some luck at the very end when our water supply was out and we found ourselves trailing an ice cream truck. The popcicles we got hit the spot... random, but totally in line for an adventure with Joe.
In the evening, I said my sayonaras with Joe and went to 50th and France for a dinner with Katherine and Amy. Stacey, Amy's fiance was there and I really like him. It's funny to meet the person a good friend is going to marry in some ways, but so wonderful in others. He really balances her out... it made me happy. The place we went was a new Tex-Mex restaraunt and we were seated outside. We enjoyed a few Cosmos (ok to have one, maybe two, and still drive at home...) and I told them about Japan and heard updates from the year.
Halfway through dinner, thoughts about moving back started to wander through my head. I've already put down a deposit at a school in another state, I haven't actually wante dto move back to Minnesota anytime soon and am happy with what I am doing, but I have to admit I have some really good friends and a good community in Minneapolis and I miss them a lot... it's hard knowing I only get to see them once a year. Yes, they send cards and email updates, but I miss the conversations I have with them. They are smart, interested, insightful women... I love it. But then I remember that there are reasons why I left. And there is a world out there and we can always be friends... but there was definitely some pressure about coming back and I definitely absorbed some of it. It might even be culture shock. There seem to be so many marriages, so many babies... a lot has been changing with my peers. I just wish the world wasn't so large at sometimes (ironic - sometimes it feels so small) so I could be more involved or keep better contact because I do miss these people. C'leste vie but I guess I have just been lucky before. I'll see both girls again and even get a full day with Amy, but every time I hang out with someone here, all I want to do is find a way to make plans to do it just one more time.
So, yeah, I am rambling, but great day. The thing about being home so far is that it feels so... normal. I said it before (and I said it last year), but once the jetlag goes away, I guess home is always home to some degree. That doesn't mean I am going to say screw Japan and move back now ( a fear some of my coworkers admitted to upon my departure) or that things haven't changed. Of my three closest girlfriends from high school, one has gotten married since I left, one got engaged and the third is having a baby this fall. My closest girlfriend is getting married this week. I haven't talked to a lot of people in my old circles (neglecting to even tell them I was coming home because I know I don't have time to see everyone) and I am sure they have changed a lot too. Then there are the changes in my personal (love) life, not seeing the old housemates and even my brother - whom I won't see on this trip - has apparently grown up a lot (and shot up a few inches). It's not the same place it was before, but the location, however, is still the same and until that landscape changes or a few too many condos are build and the skyline shifts... it's still a freeze frame... and a lot of the same people (even though different) are still here. It feels good - just the refresher I needed!
I spent the afternoon today biking the Greenway with Joe. WOW that path is amazing!
Joe is always a ton of fun to hang out with. Literally nothing has changed. I got to Joe's condo a little later in the morning that I had hoped to be (well, there at noon, but that's a bit later considering we were going to bike to lunch), but it took Joe a while to put his bike wheels on and find his lock, so we ended up just talking for a long time before going anyways. My original plan was to bike from Plymouth to Uptown, but I had some trouble confirming the routes (seriously, I am not kidding when I say Americans don't bike!) and my mom was worried about me getting asaulted (in Golden Valley?) along the way, so I decided to just take the van with my bike in it to meet Joe.
We ended up biking Lake Calhoun, the Greenway (a new converted-train-track-to--bike-path that goes through the urban districts), across the awesome new Sabo bridge, down the Mississippi and back to Uptown. We also stopped at the Holy Land on Lake and Cedar for lunch, which gave me a chance to check out the asian grocery store ($200 for a rice cooker?!), and luckily could give the leftovers of middle-eastern food to my dad at the new Allina buildings. The ride was really nice and even though I am now almost completely out of shape, I wasn't tired at all during the 4 hours we were gone. We also ran into some luck at the very end when our water supply was out and we found ourselves trailing an ice cream truck. The popcicles we got hit the spot... random, but totally in line for an adventure with Joe.
In the evening, I said my sayonaras with Joe and went to 50th and France for a dinner with Katherine and Amy. Stacey, Amy's fiance was there and I really like him. It's funny to meet the person a good friend is going to marry in some ways, but so wonderful in others. He really balances her out... it made me happy. The place we went was a new Tex-Mex restaraunt and we were seated outside. We enjoyed a few Cosmos (ok to have one, maybe two, and still drive at home...) and I told them about Japan and heard updates from the year.
Halfway through dinner, thoughts about moving back started to wander through my head. I've already put down a deposit at a school in another state, I haven't actually wante dto move back to Minnesota anytime soon and am happy with what I am doing, but I have to admit I have some really good friends and a good community in Minneapolis and I miss them a lot... it's hard knowing I only get to see them once a year. Yes, they send cards and email updates, but I miss the conversations I have with them. They are smart, interested, insightful women... I love it. But then I remember that there are reasons why I left. And there is a world out there and we can always be friends... but there was definitely some pressure about coming back and I definitely absorbed some of it. It might even be culture shock. There seem to be so many marriages, so many babies... a lot has been changing with my peers. I just wish the world wasn't so large at sometimes (ironic - sometimes it feels so small) so I could be more involved or keep better contact because I do miss these people. C'leste vie but I guess I have just been lucky before. I'll see both girls again and even get a full day with Amy, but every time I hang out with someone here, all I want to do is find a way to make plans to do it just one more time.
So, yeah, I am rambling, but great day. The thing about being home so far is that it feels so... normal. I said it before (and I said it last year), but once the jetlag goes away, I guess home is always home to some degree. That doesn't mean I am going to say screw Japan and move back now ( a fear some of my coworkers admitted to upon my departure) or that things haven't changed. Of my three closest girlfriends from high school, one has gotten married since I left, one got engaged and the third is having a baby this fall. My closest girlfriend is getting married this week. I haven't talked to a lot of people in my old circles (neglecting to even tell them I was coming home because I know I don't have time to see everyone) and I am sure they have changed a lot too. Then there are the changes in my personal (love) life, not seeing the old housemates and even my brother - whom I won't see on this trip - has apparently grown up a lot (and shot up a few inches). It's not the same place it was before, but the location, however, is still the same and until that landscape changes or a few too many condos are build and the skyline shifts... it's still a freeze frame... and a lot of the same people (even though different) are still here. It feels good - just the refresher I needed!
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 8:07 PM
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