Yes, it is vacation time. It was a long driv3e out here, but we made it. I was not too sure about driving through the night with Michael and his friends, but it worked out. We all met up at Uncle Joe's in Moline at about 6pm on Tuesday. I skipped one class and got out of work on Wednesday so that I wouldn't have to fly out. I can use that plane ticket some other time. Anyway, so I tell the guys that I will drive my share , but I cannot drive between one and six in the AM. What time did I end up driving? Midnight to four. It wasn't too bad. I took a long nap between dinner and midnight and had lots of Mountain Dew to help me along.
After my shift, I went back to sleep and woke up just in time to see the beautiful mountains from Denver. It is a long drive, and maybe even a bit of a waste of many natural resources, but traveling America by car is the way to go. Four people in the Euro van was perfect. We had a driver, a navigator, and two people sleeping at all times. I guess that will be the arrangement for the drive back tomorrow aw well.
It was nice to see the family all together. Due to Michael's working in Wisconsin and my studying in Japan, we haven't been together much lately. And what better place to meet up than the new townhouse in Frisco, Colorado. It is pretty cool. Bigger than our house in Illinois. Almost too big. It is a little funny for me to realize that my parents are successful yuppies with a condo in the mountains.
But Frisco is a smaller town. There are no ski areas in Frisco itself. We always came out for the biking in the summer. It is convenient that there are four or five big ski areas around, but I am not a big skier anyway. It is a little elitist for me. A bunch of white people spending tons of money to be pulled up a mountain just so they can slide back down again. Don't get me wrong. It is a rush. I love flying down that mountain, jumping over some bump and tumbling over my skis. It can be a lot of fun. However, once again, my liberal self won't let me enjoy life as it is. There is just something wasteful about the whole sport. That combined with the fact that my fingers and toes get cold pretty quickly, makes me only an occasional skier.
I did spend Wednesday (yeah, we were tired from the drive, but it was cheaper than Thanksgiving Day skiing) at Breckenridge and yesterday at Copper Mountain. I improved my technique a little. Learned some new tricks. Took some good spills. But, I just couldn't justify spending another fifty bucks today.
Besides, I am on vacation. I want to relax. I want to read my email (pretty pathetic, eh?). I watched some more of the video that my host sister sent me. Japanese TV shows and stuff. Then I called them this morn. Dad answered. It was nearly 1am, but he was up watching soccer. I talked to Nao for twenty minutes or so. She said how busy she was with studying to get into college. I told her about my job options. It was fun. It was like our old talks late at night. That made my day.
I hope to read a little (homework and other books too) and send some letters this afternoon. I need to make my Christmas cards up for this year. I have yet to come up with any great themes. What happened this year? It was a weird year. I feel like the year started over when I came home to America. It is hard to think about Japan and America at the same time. I guess I spent more time in Japan this year, so I should go with that. Maybe a Mt. Fuji sketch. Too cliche? I still don't know how to sum up my Japanese experience. I never did write up a speech for Rotary. I have avoided contacting them. Too busy. This afternoon I will show the Japan pictures to the parents and maybe do some more thinking about what it all meant.
Some of my "Common Room" friends from Japan are working on getting jobs in Japan for next year. Some of them will teach English. Some want to work in trade or consulting. I chose the path of an auditor. I think that will give me the opportunity to live in Japan a couple years down the road, but who knows? Do I really want to go back there for a few years? For life? There are a lot of things about the place that are frustrating, but frustration and lack of security lead to interesting growing experiences. Living in America is almost a bore in comparison, sometimes.
I will be back at school on Monday already. I hope my tax professor got the homework that I faxed from here (forgot to clip it under his door on Monday). I have a lot of work left for these last two weeks. Then it will be winter break. Visits with the relatives, Midori and Yai, Merry, Liza... Till then...