I'm home!

So I've been in the US for almost two hours now, which is a wonderful feeling. Because I ended up flying Air France, the flights were actually really nice and I enjoyed them. Lots of space, good food (for airplane food, anyway) and my flight from Paris to NY was far from full so I had plenty of space. I managed to smuggle in my epic amounts of DVDs and my Vietnamese cooking supplies, no problem.

It was a relief just to be in the JFK airport - I could look around and know that the staff was American. It isn't a racist thing, it just is so much easier to deal with people who have been raised in the same culture you were, who speak and understand the language you do, who you have common ground with you don't have to dig for. It was great to see my dad (my mom had a meeting and my sister's in Ireland) and wonderful to see American highway signs and American traffic and the familiar streets and houses of my town, to smell the Pelham summer air and feel the Pelham summer heat. The air feels different from Vietnam, no question.

So now I'm going to take a decent shower and put on nice clothes, and get outside a little before I unpack and start to deal with my life again. Ohhh, it's good to be home.

By the way, this isn't the last post on this blog. There are probably a few loose ends to tie up before I can put this baby to sleep for good. So I'll see you all soon!