Facebook Status: Japan flight at 7:30 AM, Takin' the SIM card out of my phone at midnight. If you need to reach me after that, message me on here. Also, check out Godzilla's Back: https://godzillasback.blogspot.com/.


Farewell land of the free, home of the brave.  Good bye hamburgers, flora and fauna… Tahoe, Stinson, San Francisco and Boston.  Peace out Boston College and everyone who I have been lucky to cross paths with on this side of the Pacific Ocean.  Deep breath.  Now that is out of the way, time to look forward.  Tomorrow morning, 7:30 AM, I will be lifting off and soaring to the land of the rising sun.  This trip has been such a long time coming, and I am ready to get back to business.  Summer 2010 has been a parade of memories to which I will hold for the rest of my life.  Fireside chats watching the sunset made for some of the most chill California nights I have ever seen.  Working for the San Rafael child care system taught me so much about the mindset and methods required to teach and raise future generations.  Waking up next to my girlfriend for the past three weeks has been directly responsible for the newest smile lines creasing the corners of my eyes.  I could not possibly have asked for anything more than I had.

Tomorrow’s ten to twelve hour flight will be trying to say the least, but Tokyo is the light at the end of that tunnel.  What a shining light it is.  I am full of expectations, but there will not be too many surprises.  I am most excited to see Japan without the veneer of awe accompanying the first impression presented to all foreigners arriving at Narita airport.  This is my second trip, but unlike my first traipse about Honshu, this trek is no two-week getaway.  September 8th (Japan time is a day ahead) until July 30th;  eleven months eating, breathing and sleeping Japanese.  Fluency and cultural understandings are the goals to which I will strive, and I know I will be having the time of my life.   Other emotions bubbling to the surface?.. I cannot begin to pick anything out from the pool of thoughts floating between my ears.  Words do not often fail me, but realizing I am leaving behind everything I have ever known in exchange for so much I have never understood leaves me speechless.  Now is not the time to talk about what I will do abroad, I have not done it yet, and the past seems so trivial before the colossal undertaking that is leaving America for almost a year.

For now, all I can do is bid my nation adieu.  I will wander home soon, and when I do return it will be to the land of my childhood, my formative years.  However, that is quite the stretch of time laying between me and that next bridge.  Hello land of the rising sun, Godzilla’s birthplace.

I have two more days in California, but I feel the real goodbye has already started.  Today, Moe and I made the drive to Stinson Beach for some great food and a fun day in the sun.  I do not think our trip could have gone any better.  The fog loomed ominously all around us, a glowing shroud between the sun and our automobile.  Throughout the drive along Highway 1 the vapor ghosted by as my car lumbered around the guardrail-less turns.  By the time we could actually see the ocean, we were only about five minutes away from our destination.  After a short walk from our parking spot, Moé and I were seated beside a toasty fire within the Parkside Diner eager to dig in to our Niman Ranch Burgers before heading out to the beach for some boogie boarding in the Pacific.  Soon, the sun burst through the fog and revealed the full spectrum of blues in the waves and earthy tones of the California hills.  Another few hours pass, and we meander home away from the sound of the waves; all the trees and foliage celebrate the rays of light nourishing their leaves.  The world is at peace.


The bonds between my home and I will be forever strong, latching my soul to this land of space and life despite the parting that is soon to pass.  I love California.  Having driven away from two of the most beautiful places I know, Stinson and Tahoe, the reality of my 7:30 AM flight is ever more swiftly setting in.  I’ve said before that I am anxious at the thought of losing all the emptiness that makes America great, but I know I am making a trade for a new world and experience that will be with me for the rest of my life.  Tokyo is so different from San Francisco, a metropolis of secrets to be discovered and doors to be unlocked.  Its neon lights illuminate the sky and every street is safe to walk even in the wee hours of the morning.  The language is complex, a phonetic puzzle to work at every day and night.  My host family will be two seventy year olds that live in the heart of the city, close enough for me to walk to my classes.  Moé will be there.  Leaving one of these places behind for the other is the origin of the stress I can feel running through even the tips of my fingers.  I am choosing between my two favorite places, and I know that no matter which one I am enjoying at the moment, the grass will still be green but not greener on the other side of the fence.