The ol' Red, White and Blue

That's right, as promised i'm back with my second installment of my tour de America.

One of the best things I got to do while home was visit my UB (upward bound) students! It was so wonderful to see them, and see how much they have grown up! It was so crazy walking back into the dorm like nothing had ever changed. I set my stuff on the front desk and looked around as everything hussled and bussled as it usually does in the dorm during the summer. It was also really nice to have kids scream, hug and generally freak out about me being there. I really do miss those kids a lot. It was nice to see so many of them back and always sad to hear how some students aren't in the program anymore. I got to eat in the caf, play some mini golf, go to the movies (ocean's 13 baby!) and even attend the UB dance while I was there. It was nice to see the program had not fallen apart in my absence....haha not that I had assumed it would or that I in anyway had that effect on things.haha. It was also great to see the staff and chill out after hours like good ol' times eating dominoe's pizza!! Overall, a real highlight in my trip home.

I also spent lots of time with the family! Which was exactly what I wanted to do. We went fishing on this absolutely perfect evening. The lake was this surreal still and the sky was crystal clear and there was even a loon cooing somewhere nearby. I caught some bass and bullheads succeeded in keeping daisy calm in the boat.haha.

My mother and I also went on this fabulous bike ride in a town called Lanesboro. We'll it was fabulous for a while. We rented a double recumbant bike and headed out on a glorious morning down a path by a river that would eventually lead to a town called ...well...who knows....that doesn't seem so important. What is important about that town was that once you got there they had homemade famous pie. It kept us motivated. On on our journey there we saw a mother deer and two fawns, just precious. We then made it to the pie and sandwiches by about 11:30 or so. Rhubard custard pie is to die for, trust me.

No more than 10 minutes had past when I heard a firecracker explode right by my head! i was like woah, let's get outta here! It turns out my tire had just popped, easy mistake.haha. Luckily we had a spare, so in no time we were back out there. 5 minutes later, that's right folks, more fireworks. This time no spare. This could only happen to me and my mom. So there we are 5 miles away from where we started with a bike that is goin' no where too fast. We start our walk back while copias ammounts of bikers stop and try to remedy our problem. They all seem concerned, but can ultimately do nothing.haha. So i call the rental place to tell them the situation...they say they are too busy to come give us a new tire. wtf. I was pretty outraged, but we then happened to get passed by someone driving our same type of bike...they gave us the spare. we were back on the road and done with people giving us those looks of pity!haha. All and all an AWESOME day and a pretty good bike ride.

If you know me at all then you know above all, i'm a gambler.haha. It would have not have been a trip home without spending at least one night at the casino. My mother and I decided to start off with bingo. Bingo is crazy now, you don't play with blotters, just these machine's that do everything for you. I personally think it takes all the good out of bingo.haha. However, we ended up WINNING!!! you NEVER win bingo! We won 125$ and 125$ in pull tabs. Then after that, feeling good to have some more gamblin' money in my pocket...i sit down at a 5 cent machine. After spending about $15, I figured nothing would happen, then when I wasn't even looking, I got 5 pinapples and won $ 187.00.

sorry this is sooooo late. I wrote it a while ago, but forgot to publish it, my bad. ;)

I'm a bad person.

So basically I haven't blogged since...oh...MARCH! whoops. sorry to all my devoted fans. I finally decided to get my act together because my pal, atsushi, told me how sad it made him each time he visited my blog and found the same darn thing written there each time!

Anyways, so much has happened since my last blog! To start off i'll make a breif and sweeping statement that i'm doing really great!! My most recent news, other than the famous Chiba beachi paati, was my trip to America!

I made my trek back to America on June 22nd. I stayed for about 10 days. 10 VERY SHORT days. I'm not really sure what I was expecting to happen on my return. I was pondering if things would seem REALLY different. Did I change in ways that were unseen to me? Upon my return, i'll have you know things seemed completely normal. Almost like stepping back in time, like Japan never happened. I fell so seemlessly back into my American lifestyle that it had an almost dreamlike quality.

My plane ride didn't feel too long despite the 11 hour trip, mostly due to the 5 hour conversation I had with the guy next to me. He was pretty awesome and it turns out, just moved to Japan. i'll have to keep in touch! When I touched down I only had one thing on my mind. Thats right friends: CHIPOTLE. After the touching reunion with my mother and sister we whisked off to get the famed burrito bowl. heaven I tell you.


Like I stated earlier, 10 days is way too freakin' short. I only got to see a fraction of the people I care about. And those I did see, I only got see for about a fraction of a second. My lovely friends Matt and Nick came down all the way to NERSTRAND to see me!haha. I was soooo thrilled. We sat around eating japanese snacks and laughing about my insane life. It was wonderful, but like everything that week, toooo short.

I got hang out with my friend Andrea and meet her fiance!! that's right, fiance, congrats girlfriend. It was a spectaular time back in the ol' faribo. Rueben's at the Depot...mmmm.




Oh! and maybe this doesn't sound exciting to anyone, but it's pretty big deal to me, I got to DRIVE! I haven't driven a car in about a year! I was quite fearful i'd never get behind the wheel again. Turns out it's like ridin' a bike. I just had to remind myself a couple of times..."we drive on the right side here, we drive on the right side here..."hahaha. It was a PRIUS! Do you know how sweet a prius is? It didn't even need a key, i pushed a little button. technology blows my mind.haha.



Okay this is all for now, I have to get to my job. I do work sometimes, believe it or not. I'm not done with America yet, so look for part two. ;)