Three More Days!

The past few days have been pretty amazing for me! As I near the end of my time here, a lot of thoughts have been running through my head... What's it going to be like being back home in my own family? How am I going to survive having to pump my own gasoline!?! (There are no self-service pumps here...) What am I going to do without the trains? My friends? What am I going to do, period? How will it feel living on the ground again? ...No heated floors??? Where will I buy raw fish? How much will Asian rice cost in America? Despite all of these questions, one thought runs along parallel with all of them - Boy, it will be good to be home! I'll get to sleep in my bed on my pillows, I'll get to wear my house-robe, I'll get to sit beside the fire! I get to wear my coveralls (YAY!) and clomp around in my rubber boots! I get to hug my bull, and work with my new heifer in the freezing cold! I get to wear my scarf and pink wool socks! I'll get to have dinner again with my family!!! Today during my coffee break I was chatting with my mother. She asked if I want to go caroling with our church this coming Wednesday night. That in itself may not seem like such a big deal to you, but to be planning to do things with my family next week after not seeing them for months seems so weird to me...


Anyway, that's not what I had initially intended to write about... I have a whole list of things I want to write about, so I suppose I should start writing about that, instead... Let's see.... The first thing on my list is my theory about why I slept so long on Tuesday... I decided that it was because I've become so accustomed to morning piano lessons that my mind doesn't even recognize that as 'noise' anymore...  On Wednesday the food mixer woke me up. I'm not used to mixers being used at 6:00, so my mind did register that as noise, and I woke up! Funny how your brain works, isn't it?


 Wow. Several hours have elapsed since writing the above... There have been a few ...updates... to my mood that I want to record while they're still fresh on my mind. I told my brother today that over the past week I have thought about 3 times as much as I usually do, and said about 3/4 of all that I usually say. Well, all those thoughts and withheld words finally boiled down and overflowed tonight when Eastin gave me a good night hug. After that squeeze, he looked at me and said "'cause you're not going to be here any more." After I stood up, he told me his tummy hurt, and asked me to pray that God would make it better. You see, Roger and Abi were out tonight, and I kept the boys... As is my usual custom when I keep them, I tuck them each into bed, say goodnight to each of them, and turn off the light. Sometimes I read to them, and often I pray with them before leaving the room... I had forgotten our prayer tonight because I must admit I was a little frustrated with my headache, and Coen's random screaming, and the boys' argument over toothpaste flavors! After tucking in Baby I turned to Eastin and asked for a goodnight hug. After the hug he looked up at me from his bed and asked for that little prayer. As I sat beside him on the edge of his bed all of that frustration, and even my headache suddenly disappeared, and I admit I started crying during my prayer. Why is it so hard to do God's will? Last month I thought I would be so happy to be going home! And I am, deep down inside...so why aren't I as happy as I thought I would be? 


 Today I had my last English lesson with the boys... On Thursday I had my last English lesson with Hinako... On Tuesday I baked my last loaves of bread in the little convection oven... That day I also had my last calligraphy lesson. On Wednesday I walked down all 28 stories worth of stairs for one last time. Tomorrow I'm going for my last train ride to Chiba. I'll meet my friends there, and come back to Tokyo with them one last time... ...I'm SO happy to be going home, believe me! So why am I still crying? 


...New update. I watched an episode of Dr. Who, and ate some green tea ice-cream to go with my coke... I'm feeling better... :) After that emotional escapade, I think I'll just stick to my list from now on... :) 


...Next item - today's accomplishments... Today after a late start, I had a good day. Among my accomplishments are making chocolate chip cookies and turning them into ice-cream sandwiches, washing and folding several loads of laundry, washing mirrors and doors, taking some adorable pictures of Coen. Today while Abi was at Eastin's school (which I'll tell about in a moment) I walked out of the room for a moment, and came back to find Coen trying to walk around in his Daddy's slippers. :) He was so cute! The slippers were half as long as he is tall, and looked so funny! It reminded me of a picture of myself when I was about Coen's age. My Poppa always has a pair of work-boots somewheres around. When I was a little over a year old, I loved trying to stand in his work-boots... We have a picture of me with him holding me up so that I wouldn't fall over, and I was standing with my feet in his work-boots! Seeing Coen wearing the slippers was like seeing a live flashback. :) Like I said, I took some really cute pictures, but I'll have to upload them later... 


 Abi went to Eastin's school today to watch the Sumo wrestlers pound rice to make mochi for the kindergarten students. She said it was amazing to watch, and learn more about Sumo wrestling. She said I missed the opportunity of a life time, by not going... :) ...But when she told me they were in the traditional Sumo *cough* outfits *cough*, I was glad I stayed home to make cookies! 


 Let's see... Other than that, I don't think I did much else the rest of the day, except making a quick dinner of BBQ chicken legs, rice, and green salad.. basic, but tasty. :) 


Before I go, I want to quickly outline tomorrow, since I won't have time to do it tomorrow... My plan is to get up semi early in the morning and be on the train by 8:30, so that I can be in Soga by 9:30. I'm going to meet Melanie and Jenna there, and we're going to go to Chiba for ramen. Then we're heading back to Tokyo to do all of our 'traditions' before I leave... We're going to get Dr. Peppers, melon pan(bread), go walk around in our favorite stores at LaLaport, etc. and be back here by around 5:00-ish. Then some of my friends are coming over for a goodbye party. That lasts from 6:30-9:00-ish. Then we girls are going to... do something... before we go to bed. Perhaps if it's not too late, we can go for a walk along the river to our "special seats" where we first shared melon pan together. :) On Sunday morning we're going to hang out until 2:15, when we're planning to meet Hinako's family downstairs and all go to church together. After church the Japanese Gospel choir is having their Christmas concert. That'll be done around 7:00, and then Hinako's family is coming here for last goodbyes. The girls are staying over on Sunday night as well, and I think they're coming to the airport with me on Monday! That'll be lots of fun. Then, on Monday afternoon, I'll be flying out of Japan. I'll arrive home 2 hours before I left Japan. :) (If only!) 


Well, if I don't have time to write before I leave - 


My love to you all,
Hannah


Lessons from a future housewife: 


 #5 When cleaning baseboards, a damp cloth is better than a paper towel... While paper towels are disposable, and have easier cleanup, they just don't do as good a job at getting the dust off the boards. The rag works better, and it's easy to just rinse out and keep going! 


#6  When making whipped cream from fresh whipping cream, never use an electric beater. The electric beaters whip the cream too fast, and it turns from cream directly into butter, skipping the whipped stage. Whipping by hand is a much better option, although it does take more time and energy.