Getting Ready for Christmas Vacation

Post first published on December 16, 2009.

I'm going to go home this Saturday. Well, kind of. I'm going back to Jersey for Christmas, but I will be going to a completely different house. Since I have been in Japan, my parents have moved from a small apartment in an urban area, where I was born and raised, to a bigger place in a suburban area. Truthfully, I think that this move was great for them. Their landlord is a friend of theirs and their neighbors are also good friends. The house looks nice and the area is much, much better from where we use to live. I'm actually really excited to see the new house and to put my imprint in my new room.

This will also be the first time I go back home since I have been here, so about a year and a half. I can't wait to see my family and friends and hang out in all of the places I have missed. I have a list of things to see, people to hang out with and things to buy, but I'm not sure if I can do half of what I want.

Although I'm super excited, I'm also a bit nervous. A lot has happened with people back home since I've left. Friends have gotten new jobs, become engaged and so on. I just wonder how people will interact with me and how they will react to my own changes. I think it should all be fine though.

My flight is also super crazy. I'm going from Miyazaki to Osaka. Then, in Osaka, I have to change airports (domestic to international). Then, I leave Osaka and go to San Francisco. From San Francisco, I finally go to Jersey. It's going to be a long flight.

Last year, I did a similar crazy flight, except I was going to see my family in Portugal. I went from Miyazaki to Tokyo Haneda (domestic). Then, I had to switch airports to fly out of the international airport, Narita. From Narita, I went to Germany. Finally, from Germany, I went to Lisbon. Whoah, tiring!

I have so many things that I want to take back home, but I don't want to make my bags heavy because of all of the airport changes.


Before even going, I have to buy gifts, clean, pack and see some of my friends here before I go.

For example, today I have a Japanese lesson at my house. We are going to play the Japanese version of Life (the board game). We began it last time, but we didn't finish. Yes, I am losing. lol. Most of the time, I have no idea what is going on. I really must improve my Japanese.

Then, I will try to end the lesson 10 minutes early, so that I can catch a bus to go downtown. I need to buy a Christmas cake to take to Lauren's house and some other things for tomorrow's class.

I also have to meet up with my friend Minjin. She is also part of the Jet program, except she is a CIR not ALT. When we can, we do conversation practice to help her improve her English. In return, she teaches me a bit of Korean. To get ready for today, I have been trying to memorize as much hangul, Korean alphabet, as I can. My memory is horrible by the way, but I really want to learn.

We are also meeting up because we have omiyage (souvenirs) that we still haven't exchanged with each other from places we went to in November. We wanted to do that before I left for America.

Edit- Minjin is not feeling well, so we are not meeting up. :( I hope she gets better soon. ::Drink Tea, Rest & Stay Warm Minjin::

Wow Japanese and then Korean in one day. My head will be super confused. I guess it usually is on most days. lol.

Anyway, after that, I will go to Lauren's house because 4 of my friends who live in the west side of the city are having a Christmas gathering. They are bringing the KFC and I will bring the Christmas cake - Oh yeah, Japanese Christmas (lol). However, they will start at 6:30 PM, but I will only be able to get there at 8 something. Ahhh...they might be kind of mad at me for that. Hopefully, not too mad. (-_^)

It sounds a bit chaotic, but I think it will be fun.