I woke up like...1.5 hours later than I had planned to because my plane left at 6 AM. Luckily, I was staying overnight in a house about 5-10 minutes away from the airport, so I ran in and talked to all the right people.
My combined weight of my luggage weighs more than 70 kg (~155 lbs). I am amazing.
I know that it's bad if I work my curves, but I totally did because there was no way that I could manage to pull my luggage off the carousel by myself. (I struggled for a while to come up with the words 'luggage carousel' while talking to someone else who has recently moved back to the US from Singapore.) I LOVE the fact that guys hit on me even when I came off the plane looking terrible with absolutely no makeup and messy, messy hair (and honestly, pretzel breath).
My first flight was from Singapore to Narita (Tokyo), I sat next to a very nice and intelligent businesswoman, and we talked about everything - from television, to the state of the US economy, to politics, to religion, etc. It was fabulous. I love LOVE LOVE the fact that I could use my vocabulary (which has accumulated dust while being in Singapore because the education systems differ in the emphasis on building a large vocabulary). It was great. I also learned that Texans talk about people from Louisiana just like anyone from a northern state will talk about Canadians. I love it. Hilarious!! ("coon-asses" or "Cajuns")
Then on the way from Tokyo (after a quick bite of sweet beef udon) to Houston, TEXAS (HOORAY!) I got the best seat in the entire plane. I talked to an American couple who have lived in like, Ecuador, Japan, Nepal, etc. as volunteer (or paid) English teachers. They were extraordinary and quite atypical as far as Americans go, but since they were English teachers, I could pull out my vocabulary again. Hooray Latin and etymology classes!
From Houston to Indianapolis, I got to sit in 1A (hip hip hooray) - but I wanted to sit shotgun in the pilot seat. That would have been sweet. You see, pilots get free flights, but they have to sit in the equivalent of a "flight mec" seat - the one behind the two co-pilots. I would have loved that. I even shared my Singaporean cookies with them, hoping that my sacrifice was enough. They laughed at me, and the flight stewardess closed the door (which silently mocked me throughout the entire 2 hour flight). I talked the entire time to the flight stewardess (who actually went to pilot school and is working on the accumulation of the necessary hours). We had SUCH a good time talking about movies, books, economy, hilarious stories about being a stewardess, etc. We e even talked about Mexico. I had so much fun, and my stuffed frog was so happy (Vincenzo). He was a little excited and tried to hop on the escalator, but I had to run after him and rescue him after he became very frightened.
So then I walked to the baggage claim in the new Indianapolis airport (which is nice and clean, remiscent of the Changi airport in Singapore), only to find my mom and sister looking for me every which way. I tend to be clever and sneaky, so I made them scream from surprise to a cliche "boo!" But I enjoyed myself, and I love being back home.
I can't wait to go shopping later today with my best friend (and my sister). YAY! SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, well I guess I'll reflect more about my year spent abroad at another time. I love the United States. I LOVE ALL OF THEM.
I miss Singapore, but my overwhelming feeling of elation just trumps it for now.
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