RE-ENTRY...

"well...i'm back."

that's the last line in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, after the hobbits have traveled all over Middle Earth, been chased by everything under the sun, survived numerous battles, and finally return home.

granted, that's a bit of an overdramatized comparison, but in some ways it does seem similar. they are so changed from who they were before they left home. they know they can never go back to who they were. they know things will never be exactly the same, even if it looks like it.

i arrived back in America around 11:00 am, Saturday, June 25th. the first thing that weirded me out was that people spoke english. even in a city like Tokyo, we're not used to hearing it. the second thing was the diversity of people- everyone wasn't asian! it was so weird! once again, even in a city like Tokyo, the foreigners still really stick out. other than that, the transition wasn't too difficult to be honest. this was possibly mostly due to the fact that i hadn't really slept in like 3 days. i stayed awake all friday and didn't go to bed friday night, was up all day saturday in japan, then awake all day AGAIN since we gained 17 hours coming back to LA...it was a very long day. and i was really out of it. my friend sammy picked me up from the airport and took me to Alpha Delta Chi (ADX), my old sorority house (where i was staying)- we then went to the grocery store where he literally had to tell me what to buy because i was so out of it and disoriented that i couldn't make decisions very well. i went to bed around 5 pm that day and slept until 3 am, then slept again until 7 am. woke up and went to church at my old church Reality LA. ran into a friend (and monthly supporter)- it was totally a divine meeting because she was leaving for South Africa the next day and so that was the only day i could see her. i had my first meal in the States, In'n'Out hamburger, fries and a milkshake (it was so weird ordering food in ENGLISH!) and we caught up on life and she committed to continue supporting me next year (PRAISE GOD!). that afternoon i went to the beach with my friend Tayler- i was going to sit and talk to God and process re-entering/ reverse culture shock, but then our friend Khalia met up with us and we all just talked for hours (which was great) and then went to dinner. afterward i hung out with a few old friends and watched a movie called Beware of Christians(www.bewareofchristians.com)- 2 of my friends actually made it/are in it. it's pretty legit. Monday morning i was going to wake up early, get some support raising things done, then meet with a friend and her husband...definitely woke up around 3 pm. thanks, jetlag. that afternoon i got some Yogurtland with my friend jonathan, then that evening went to dinner over at my friend (and monthly supporter) Ben's house. got to see a lot of people for the first time, met some new people, had some great food. afterward we sang some worship songs...it was so sweet just to hang out with old friends and praise God. Tuesday my friend sean and i hung out. he wasn't able to come celebrate my birthday on Wednesday, so he made Tuesday a day of birthday celebration- i opened the door and there he was leaning against his car with a huge bouquet of flowers and a USC Hello Kitty tshirt (seriously), then he took me to lunch, we walked around campus then he treated me to Starbucks. it was awesome just to hang out with him again- he was one of my very first friends at USC freshman year and we're still close to this day. it's interesting- we were walking around campus like old times and it felt like nothing had changed, and yet at the same time there was a huge new building and other changes to campus and we had to realize that a year had gone by, we were graduated, and so much really had changed. sorry i just used "changes/changed" 3 times in one sentence... blame my poor writing on the jetlag. anyway, afterward i took a little nap because i was exhausted (speaking of jetlag...) then met up with 2 of my old friends/coworkers- eric and jon. it was fun just spending quality time with them and catching up. i love friendships where you can go to another country, not really keep in touch and then come back and resume the friendship where you left off....

there are definitely friendships that have died since i was in Japan though. and it's sad. i didn't make as much of an effort as i could have, but the same time, they made little or no effort. and i couldn't sustain it. it hurts, but i know that's life. i'm a very relational person though- quality time is one of my love languages, and i will do everything in my power to keep in touch with people. but at some point you've got to realize that some relationships just don't last. and i've got to be ok with it. because that's life. that's growing up. that's graduating college and moving to a foreign country that is 17 hours ahead of the rest of the world...as i look back, i think perhaps one of the reasons God called me to Japan (other than the 99.3% of non-Christians...) is to pull me away from the comfort of college friends/relationships. to make me realize that i had put way to much priority on relationships with people, and it was overshadowing the importance i put on my relationship with God. at USC i could rely on my small group, i could rely on my sorority, i could rely on my church and Campus Crusade. in Japan i was stripped of all that, and forced to remember what relationship matters the most, and what relationship took top priority over all- my relationship with my Creator.

they gave us a book on ReEntry before we left Japan. i have yet to read it, as it's currently in my friend Tayler's car since i left it there on Sunday...i need to read it though. i feel like i adapt to things very easily, and i've kind of just coasted through this whole readjustment process. i'm worried it's going to hit me really hard soon. yeah things are weird, but they seem so similar to right after i graduated it almost feels like this past year didn't even happen. i miss my old team and my students so much, but it just hasn't quite registered yet. most of the students i'll see again, but i may not see the majority of my team again for a long, long time. it's a sobering thought. and that's when i remember this past year...and when my brain decides it doesn't want to process and why not focus on something else for now? think about that later. sigh.....maybe i haven't adjusted as quickly as i thought....