Aladdin's Princess

Somehow coming back to Japan on Sunday felt...right. The journey was long--it started at 3am on Saturday with a 3 hour drive to the airport and ended on Sunday at 8pm as I stepped into my apartment. Inbetween that drive to the airport and arriving at my apartment were 2 plane flights, a bus ride, a train ride, a taxi drive, and a walk. I think the total time comes to somewhere between 27 and 30 hours. I felt peace as I stepped into my apartment and I'm sure it wasn't only because of my exhaustion. It felt right the next morning taking my usual walk to work, passing the gate to the shrine in my neighborhood as it stood half bathed in the rays of the rising sun, with the old twisted tree growing silently beside it. It felt right today--the day of opening ceremony and first day back for the kids after break--hearing the words "ohayou gozaimasu" ringing through the crisp and freezing morning air and repeating them back. Of course one can't put one's trust or well-being completely in feelings, since they are rather fickle in nature and apt to change several times in a day. But I do think God uses them sometimes and I think in this case it was the Holy Spirit letting me know that it was right-or at least okay-that I signed on for another year, that I can be used here. So we'll see what happens. I must mention one more thing before moving on to Christmas--when I got to work today I noticed that one of the teachers across from me in the teachers' room had a big post-it note type paper pad of unchikun (the Japanese cute poop); I had to hold my breath to keep from laughing. Now for an overview of Christmas. It was wonderful. I got to see all of my family, go to Disney World, eat mom's cooking, and see two old friends. It would be boring to read everything I did, so for your sake, my dear reader, I'll just mention a few things from Disney World. My favorite thing (apart from just spending time with Staci) was meeting Aladdin. I must admit that I was a little ridiculous. We spotted him from a distance and immediately I became all nervous and excited like I was going to meet Johnny Depp or something! So then we got in line (and I must mention that we were the only adults) and got our picture with Jasmine and Aladdin and they were both really nice. Aladdin took my hands, smiled, and called me Princess--twice--and I know it's silly, but really-that made my year. I'm a hopeless romantic; I can't help it.

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was great, and I had another ridiculous reaction when Captain Jack Sparrow walked past me to his show.

What can I say? Yohoyoho a pirate's life for me.