What I thought would be
a restful and relatively low-key week after an arduous, but rewarding summer
experience in Chicago, turned out to be, not surprisingly, just the opposite of
that in a fun, funny and ‘of course that would happen to Angel’ series of events.
Upon touching down in
NYC and walking through my front door, the fact of being home hadn't really hit
me yet—I mean how could it with all the traveling? One of the realities of going away for college is realizing that you
no longer live at home, you just visit once in a while— something I've gotten
all too familiar with. Heck (keeping it PG), I don’t even have a room any more
(which I am perfectly okay with). What made it real for me was being
able to enjoy the food that would instantaneously give me hiccups from how fast
I ate it, and would subsequently send me to an abyss of laziness. Yep, I’m
talking about my mother’s cooking (it's too real). The icing on the cake was being able to
spend the evening of the 17th celebrating significant
achievements and acknowledging how sweet it is to not be an adult just yet.
If you knew me
well you’d know I haven’t spent more than 3 days at home since, hmmm, spring
break (and no more than 3 weeks since being at Dickinson)—which is both good and bad. Good because I am living in a whole new
world; I am learning perspectives and continuously growing via new experiences
and people. In that same light, it’s bad because I can’t take those who mean
the world to me on these truly magical journeys— one of the main reasons I
decided to start this blog. This is somewhat of a unique moment, too, as I
won’t just be 4 hours away by bus, 3 hours away by train, or even 2 hours away
by plane anymore. I’ll be half way around the world in a place where the sake flows
like wine; where the sushi and sashimi instinctively
flock like the salmon of Capistrano; where western toilets go to die. I’m
talking about the land of the rising sun: JA…wait for it…PAN. JAPAN!
I had a relatively short
week ahead of me because I would spend 2 days at home in NYC, then I would
quickly head off to Boston to visit my dad before I flied out to Japan. It was
nice seeing that side of my family again since I seldom visit NYC, let alone
Boston. I have no doubt that I am my father’s son because, like me, he leaves
everything for the last minute. Is that really what it feels like for other
people? Before I knew it the end of the week was upon me and I still did not
have many of the essentials for my trip. I initially planned to be home no later
than 7 pm on Friday in order to give myself ample time to pack and relax some
before my 14 hour flight. Long story short I got all I needed, I ran on a highway, I didn't get
home until 3 am Saturday (morning?), and I didn't finish packing until about 8
am (by packing, of course, I mean all I did was roll clothes into tube-like
shapes as my mother—against her will—showed off her packing prowess). After
a long night and some other important last minute details, I was finally on my
way to JFK.
Going through check in
was typical; I went to the wrong platform, I couldn't figure out how to scan my
passport, and I had an overweight bag. Of course. At least I went through
security with no problem—if we ignore the fact that I had a pair of obscenely
large scissors in my carry-on. I have no idea when, where, or even how I got
those scissors—it must have been last semester or something. After all this, I
finally found my gate and was able to board the plane (with no other unexpected
trials). Onward to Tokyo!
14 hours later I made it to Tokyo, Haneda, safe and somewhat delusional. (It’s still night time? Hold up). I absolutely love long flights because I imagine myself to be a time traveler. While I am in the air, time is non-existent for me. I have this indescribable and overwhelming feeling of displacement—almost like I don’t exist for a moment while everybody on the ground continues their day; almost like nothing has changed even though 14 hours have elapsed. I met up with Fabian and we laughed as we tried to figure what our next moves would be until the morning—oh I forgot to mention that we had a connecting flight at 6:30 am to Akita. We were really excited to be in Tokyo for the night (cue The Lonely Island’s Japan), but it was a long flight so realistically we would not make many moves and just proceeded to knock out!
Today Fabian and I will arrive on
campus and our adventures in Japan will begin. Wow. Wish us luck!
[P.S. Quick shout out and
special thanks to all my friends and family (I love you Mami and Ary!); to my
incredible Posse trainers and mentors, Phil (and everyone I met through you)— this summer was great man, I can't wait for round 2— Amanda, Joel, and Nancy; to everyone at the Posse offices in Chicago and NYC; to
Lauren, Jenna, Carlos, John, Obonne and everyone in the Neuberger Berman
Chicago office that I worked with this summer. Thank you to my Professors and mentors at Dickinson
who are reading this and to my teachers at Marble Hill High School. One last, very
special, thank you goes to Mr. David and all my teachers at Bronx Studio
School, where it all began.]