After finishing up Geneva Summer School in Switzerland, I returned to Tokyo for a few days to finish up some paperwork at the university, move out of my apartment, cancel my Japanese residency and fly back home to the United States. I took a week off before starting work part-time at the Hope Geneva Bookstore on the campus of Hope College right in town. Most of my summer was spent at family reunions, time at the beach and on the lake, enjoying food I'd craved for two years, spending time with people I'd missed and relishing in the absence of due dates, papers and presentations. I also spent a week in D.C. for training for my new job and as an added bonus, my family was able to tag along too!
Sean finished up his time as a guide for Adventure Treks in Alaska and had a great summer despite some challenges with the local wildlife and the occasional surly teenager. We met up in San Francisco for a friend's wedding and enjoyed a much-needed weekend together exploring a new city. After returning from California, Sean enjoyed catching up with friends and family, playing ultimate frisbee, going on his annual men's camping retreat up north and getting organized for our next adventure.
I have about two more weeks until I leave (pending the acceptance of my visa application) for Mbarara, Uganda to start my English Language Fellowship with the U.S. Department of State. Sean will follow along a few weeks later after working for ten days in Japan as an assistant guide for a group summit of Mount Fuji, which is something he's been wanting to do for years. As we prepare for a life in a new place and a job with different responsibilities, we're so grateful to have such a supportive community of friends and family and a home base in such a beautiful city. It's always exciting to travel and live in someplace new, but it's an even better feeling to return home. These past three months have been just what we needed and I can't think of any place I would have rather been. The adage home sweet home couldn't possibly ring any truer.
