It's still night time? Hold up.

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 17^th 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!

 

My window-seat view 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.]