I've been back in Okinawa for three weeks. I'm torn though; in the next few days I'll either turn in the paper work to stay another year or go home come July. I don't know which to chose.

I miss home, certainly. Without question, friends and family are at the top of that list. I neglected visiting some people while I was on vacation--for which I blame Enterprise and their car rental policies--and it pains me to think that I might not see them for a year or more. Yukito, when asking whether or not I was re-contracting, mentioned if I'd be interested in staying for up to 5 years.

This stunned me. My motivation for not re-contracting results from a feeling of inferiority: I'm not good enough and I'm not making much of a difference. That I might be good enough to stay for a fourth and fifth year. It overwhelms me a little.

I will probably be staying. I don't think I'm ready to give up this life yet. But now I see an end, and begin to think what's waiting for me.

A Kidney Stone for Every Year of Life

Ryan and Audrey, after years of dating and a shorter engagement, were married.

They were my roomies and, needless-to-say, misadventures ensued. Ryan I remember best when I think about medical emergencies--I had taken him to the hospital more than once, and visited him once when he had a particularly bad stone to pass. His fortitude now astonishes me. His stone count is now up to 23. I hope that 24 didn't come on the honey moon.

Ryan and Audrey introduced me to bad movies and showed me the joy of MST3K, along with such jems as Frankenhooker (SUPERCRACK! "WANNA DATE?!"). I first heard the latter mentioned by Mike Reynolds, and when one of you brought it home, it turned out to be all he said it was--and more!

Thank you both, for the times together.

Wedding Tomfoolery

I've only been to a handful of weddings, but Okinawan weddings always prove the stranger.

I'm back

and for lack of a better term, I'm home.

I loved going back to the states. It was a nice hiatus to what I'm now thinking is the middle of my three-year stay in Japan. As of this point, I'll probably be staying for another year and six months, until July 2008.

Despite being back in the states, it wasn't really home. I stayed at my mother's, which was crowded and sometimes uncomfortable, with little to no privacy. I am used to my space and not having someone in every room of the house at every time of day.

Home--as defined by where my parents live--is gone. Home is where I am. And at the moment, that's Japan.

And it's good to be home.