Your Home is Behind You

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only."  -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

My first post after arriving in Japan pondered the possibility that it was better to be a tourist than to live here.  After two years I'm not sure I figured it out.  On one hand, I have had far more experiences and learned much more than I ever could have hoped, even if I'd spent every vacation I had in the last two years in Japan.  However, the truth remains that work was...challenging, at best...and my salary low enough that after two years I've decimated* my savings.  It was a two-year whirlwind, but the school year finally edged its way into thankful oblivion.  I got my Mongolian visa, eventually** finished packing and cleaning, and headed back to the States for the summer.

Iowa might not exactly be my favorite place in the world, but it's got a few things in its favor, other than my family.  There are times that I think you could film a live-action Studio Ghibli film here.  Although spaces as green as the shady spot in a corner of my dad's field are few and far between, the sheer numbers of fireflies are mind-boggling, and the number of butterflies this year was just unreal.  I mean, every time I drove anywhere I felt like I was mowing down nature, although this presented an excellent opportunity to collect...let's say...art materials, although I don't have a project in mind yet.  It was also pretty cool to feel like I was stepping into the Shire whenever I left the house.

Under the circumstances, maybe it was inevitable that I'd want to celebrate achieving Level 40 with a bonfire/fairy party.  I spent so long making wings for the various Winter Lords and Summer Ladies that it didn't turn out to be quite as big a dog and pony show as I originally envisioned, but that was probably for the best.  The kids had fun playing together and the mortals invited to the revel all went away unscathed and still in fashion, as we broke up the fairy ring somewhere short of a hundred years.  

A couple of days before that my old rival and fellow Faerie Queen, Baby Chicken Wing, invited me to go see Japanese schoolgirls (and one schoolboy) play in a handbell choir.  Could there possibly be a better event for me?  I say nay.  Both of us were familiar from handbells from attending a certain church in our hometown...Babysis turned down the opportunity because she still goes there, thus it ain't no thing for her...so we kind of had expectations about what a handbell choir would be like.  Which they proceeded to smash with their first song, the main theme from Star Wars.  They played some jazz, a traditional Japanese song, Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers...of course they played a couple of hymns, but they were so completely entertaining to watch that these couldn't even be compared to the old ladies that play at church.  My mind was also occupied with thoughts of the social dynamics of the boy in the cultural club from a Japanese high school, when it wasn't busy thinking that I ought to reread the Old Kingdom Series by Garth Nix (necromancers with handbells...you tell me YOU wouldn't have been thinking it, too).

The family, on the other hand, convinced me to go to the zoo with them.  Okay, it was actually Shaggy - I figured if he drove (just under) 5 hours (in his new Beemer, no kids or dogs, obvs) to celebrate with me I could brave the heat and sun, especially when he promised we weren't staying all day.  He kept referring to the Henry Doorly Zoo as "the best zoo in the world," and while it is a damn fine zoological park I have reservations about it being the worlds' best, although since zoos aren't really my thing, I can't provide any annoying counterarguments.  It was neat to see how much it's changed since the last time I was there, which was probably around 10 years ago, and I loved seeing the niblings together.  Later I shared the photos with the family, prompting my dad to admit this might be the best way to experience the zoo.

On my actual level-up day my Mom and I packed up the niblings - detained to give their mom the chance to get shit done - and headed down to Shaggy's place.  This is kind of important, since it gives me the chance to visit my grandmother and my great uncle along the way, but what I was really looking forward to was...less a mini-reunion than a micro one, since it's always just me and the Nice One.  

That said, this is the third or fourth summer we've gotten together to catch up, providing some much needed sanity and at least a couple of reality checks.  Also, a good browse through Barnes and Noble and more food than is probably a good idea.  I mean, seriously, America!  Who puts brisket on a burger?***  And THEN tops it with a bajillion onion straws???  That thing won't even fit in your mouth!  For the record, I ended up knocking most of the onions out of the middle and eating them dipped in sauce, which, also for the record, was excellent, but probably made the order of onion straws we ordered as a side totally unnecessary.  Hours later we chased it with custard from Andy's, which Shaggy pointed out they sell at the restaurant, but even if he has room for ice cream after a burger like that, I sure as hell didn't.  We discussed taking a road trip for our next act, and now that I've seen this year's school schedule, we might actually be able to make that into a mini-reunion after all...the Evil One's going to be Stateside in January and with a longer vacation the fates may, perchance, align.  We shall see.

Somehow vacation was over before I felt like it had really started.  My mom always complains that my holidays are too short, but this time I couldn't really argue...in spite of the fact that I spent a whole month at home, it seemed to fly by.  I'm not really complaining, since I'm happy to be back in Mongolia, although I'll be a lot happier once school starts and I get to spend time with my kids.  Still, it felt strangely short, the way time is a little different in the realms of faerie, where a year can go by in the space of a cicada's song.  There aren't any of those here in UB, but I have a feeling the next year will pass in the blink of an eye nonetheless...

*I mean that very literally...I have 10% of the savings that I had two years ago.  But if my parents are reading this right now, fear not - I'm planning to save more this go-round.
**6 a.m. the day I left Japan...
***Blaaack Sheep, that's who.