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It's hard to believe I'm actually on my way back home after being in a different country for the better part of a year. Good old Tokyo... it's going to be good to be home, if only for some of the summer. I've missed home, being in a country so far away from the land I hail from, but I'm glad that I was accepted to study abroad. It really expands my horizons for the future.
It's going to be great when I get home. Dad will be at the airport, flagging me down the minute I get off the plane. On the way home, he'll tell me about everything that's happened since I've been gone. I mean everything, too. I'll tell him about everything that's happened at college. Maybe I'll even match his details by describing that borderline-irritating and very persistent girl who's been trying to impress me since my first day in England. When I go back to college after this vacation, I think I'll tell her I'm not interested. There's someone else out there for me... I just don't know who she is yet.
When Dad and I get home, Mom will be there at the door, waiting. The minute we step inside, she'll hug me too tight, start crying, and tell me repeatedly how much she's missed me. The minute she stops hugging me, she'll run to the kitchen and start making something delicious to celebrate, even though it'll be so late. That's my mom.
Then Dad will lead me into the family room; by now he's questioning me to see if I've kept my grades up despite being in a foreign country. When we step into the family room, there will be little Chou-chan, her favorite doll in her arms, sound asleep on the carpet. I'll tell Dad not to wake her up to tell her I'm home. Once Chouko is asleep, she stays asleep, and she's not the most pleasant five-year-old when she's woken up prematurely. Dad will carefully carry her to her room. I can play with her in the morning, after she's had enough sleep to be her usual hyperactive self.
Woah, that was strange. There hasn't been any turbulence on this flight so far. The sky is clear, so it's not because of an interfering weather system. I'm sure it's nothing.
Then, in the morning, Mom will have made a great breakfast. She goes off to wake Chouko up, and a few minutes later, Chou-chan runs in, yelling my name and saying all the things she wants me to do with her today. The rest of breakfast consists of Chouko asking me all about what it's like to "go to grown-up person school in a place far, far, far, far away" and my attempts to answer each question before she springs into a new one. Of course, Mom and Dad want to know the answers to some of these questions, too, but I don't think they're as interested in questions like "Do they have Pocky in England, oniichan? If they do, is it as yummy as the Pocky here?" It sure will be good to be home.
There's that turbulence again. It's more violent this time. The stewardesses are telling us to fasten our seatbelts again, at least until the turbulence settles. I'm getting a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. It's just my nerves, I suppose. I really wish I could settle this feeling of paranoia.
Looking out my window, I can see the lights of Tokyo ahead. Soon, I'll be home.
