Home for the Holidays pt.3

December 23, 2016 - January 2, 2017

It seems like the holidays just flew by! It was such a build up of months decorating, planning, and shopping and then in a blink of an eye it all ended! Luckily for me, I got to spend the short holiday at home with my family and friends. So even though it was short, it was very sweet!

To start, I unfortunately got set a day behind because of American Airlines and their constant delays. I never really fly this airline but happened to this time. My original flight out of Tokyo to L.A. got set back 8 hours! So I ended up having to spend a night in Tokyo before switching my flight completely to fly into Dallas. Even though the journey was frustrating getting back to Texas, thankfully I still made it.

I was greeted by my wonderful dad at the airport. Since it was in the middle of the day, everyone was at work and luckily it was only my pops who was able to get me. It was sweet to see him with arms wide open in a hug. My dad isn't the most affectionate person so to receive a big hug and kiss on the cheek from him when I arrived was really touching. After the airport, we went to get lunch together. You would think that I would already have a place picked out to go eat but I really had no idea! After thinking about it, I decided I wanted Vietnamese. Vietnamese food is something I miss a lot being in Japan. So me and my dad went to this place on Bellaire China Town to get one of my favorite dishes called banh cuon.

So only being in Houston for a few hours, my holiday was already to a great start! Now I won't get into each and everyday but highlight some things that made the holiday memorable. Definitely one of those things was having my whole immediate family around. As me and my siblings grow older, we start to move out and have completely different lives from one another. My parents' house used to be so full with all five of us living at home. Most of us have left the coop now and only my youngest sister is at my parents'. But many times this holiday my parents' house was full again with the five of us and some additional little birds (human and fur types)!

It was really fun to just lay around on the couch with my sisters, play board games with my brothers, decorate gingerbread houses with my parents, play silly word games with my cousins, share meals with friends and be driven around all week!

Along with family, I was blessed to see a handful of friends. Big shout out to those who made time for me during the short holiday and for my sorority sisters for picking a party date in which I could attend. You guys really make Houston home!

Every year my family has a couple parties for Christmas but this year, with the blessing from my parents, we got to throw a party for New Years as well. The last time me and my siblings decided to do this was two years ago. The party included many of my cousins whom we rarely get to see anymore so being able to do this NYE party again was going to be extra exciting. Not only the fact that many of us would be able to see each other again after two years, but also meet some new family members! So with a visit to the dollar store and Party City, we put together a photo booth and made the house look a bit festive. It was great to have everyone contribute with foods, drinks, snacks, games, and fire works. The night was really fun with constant eating, rounds of shots, silly word games, and loud, sparkly fire works to bring in 2017.

This trip home was a little different for me this time. Many of you guys may not know but these are probably my last few months in Japan. By March it would be three years I've given to Japan and I think it's time to move onto another chapter in my life. So many of you guys may be thrilled to know I'll be returning to the H by next summer! So with this visit, I looked at the city differently and focused on all the possibilities moving back would bring me. Even though leaving Japan will be very bittersweet, I'm excited to see what beautiful things will come out of life in Houston coming summer 2017.

So once again, thank you for those who made time for me this visit. A big thank you to my parents to get me a flight home every holiday season, for feeding me and taking me out to eat so much, for putting the comfy mattress in my room, and for always loving me even though I choose to be miles away. You guys are truly amazing. So guys, thanks for reading and it's not a long good bye this time as I will be back sooner than you think! I love you all!


xx
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