i have had four birthdays, one boyfriend, oodles of drinking buddlies, ridiculous adventures, and too much sake. i look back over my life here and i am surprised it has all zipped by so quickly.
so, just to let everone know where i will generally be.
february 20
i fly in to new orleans just in time for mardi gras. i am reallly excited about this, because i havent been in so many years and i have so many good memories there. i am trying not to be sentimental, but i have a hangover, and i always get mushy when that happens.
march 7
i have to go see my mother in florida for 4 days. these will undoubtedly be the worst 4 days i will have in the next 5 years before i feel guilted and manipulated into going to see her again. was anyone around when she and her bofriend got wasted in the bayou and she danced on the pooltable and they threw beer bottles at each other? (shudder..) white fucking trash. anyway.
march 12,
i head out to cheyenne, wyoming. my father and stepmother are going on a cruise and i am going to take care of my 9 year old sister while they are gone. fuck! when did she turn 9??? i used to smoke weed in the backyard while she played in the babypool.
also, it gets well-fucking-boring in cheyenne, wyoming. if anyone is nearby and wants to go camping or shit-kicking or something, please let me know!
during april.
i am heading down to my grandparents ranch, outside of abiquiu, new mexico (where georgia o'keefe lived). all i do there is ride horses and take naps of the portel and listen to rush limbaugh pour from the speakers and roll around with the dogs and devour reading material. we bring our own beer to the restaurant in "town..." population 300.
first week of may.
i will be back in new orleans.
may 15th or 16th
i fly to barcelona, spain.
i come back from europe at the end of july.
this is where my plans come to a standstill. i might head up to NYC to play with evan and michelle, and then maybe into canada to visit some friends. then, i will probably head up to oregon to sleep on my sisters couch until i can figure out what i want to do with my life. if anyone had any suggections regarding that, let me know. also, if anyone wants to get together, im down.
steven wants me to move to st. louis. i don't know how i feel about that.
i am slightly concerned that no one will recognize me. i know i have changed and i know everyone else has, too. it is weird to think it has been so long. i have worked really hard over here, seen some incredible things, travelled to places i never would have believed if i hadn't seen them myself.
but i feel really tired now. i am tired of having to speak in a different language all the time. i want to be someplace where i don't stick out like a giant white thumb. i want to go to some shows, and talk to people in english, and feel normal again. i am so fucking excited to eat at louies again, take a walk around lsu, ride the streetcar in new orleans, get drunk on the median in front of erins house, , and see people like deanna, who moved over here with me but who i haven't seen in years.
when i packed everything up and sent it home a feew weeks ago, it amazed me that my whle life could fit into a few cardboard boxes and a suitcase. i guess we don't need that much, really, to make us feel that we are home.
i am a little worried about CULTURE SHOCK. steven said when he went home, he had trouble, because people in america are LOUD and FAT and RUDE. there ain't a whole lot of any of this in japan.
ok, so, just to let you know. im coming home.
thanks to everyone who sent me packages, wrote me letters, and generally made me feel better when i was grumpy and depressed over here. you have no idea what it meant to get a postcard on a bad day, or some toothpaste just when i was about to run out.
thanks a billion and two.
maybe i'll see you soon!
kara [email] said at 12:56 AM 02-05-2006: My cousin Kyle became very depressed after coming home from a year over in Japan. He couldn't explain exactly why... I'm not sure where he is now with all of that but unlike you, I don't think he really had a network of friends to come home to.
kaycee [email] said at 7:39 AM 02-05-2006: i think everyone gets a little depressed when they come home from living abroad. there is a lot that has to be adjusted to, and things to get used to, and things to do that havent been done in awhile.
meredith [email] said at 11:27 AM 02-06-2006: I got really depressed when I came back from England and I didn't even know I was depressed until I looked back on that time later. I didn't have my period for six months because I was so stressed.
At the same time, it was really nice to rediscover things that I didn't even realize how much I missed.
amy [email] said at 3:45 PM 02-05-2006: i cant promise drunkeness but i can take you on a whirlwind tour of the wineries of new mexico. maybe go up to the train. and feed u green chile. where is deanna? i haven't seen her in years either.
kaycee [email] said at 7:54 PM 02-05-2006: deanna is in baton rouge curently, with her boyfriend. she manages the lsu theatre. where are you in new mexico? i grew up in gallup.
kaycee [email] said at 10:32 AM 02-06-2006: i really, really want to come to dc. i have been trying o get there for ever and ever, but never could quite get it worked out. anyway, i'll see what i can do when i get back from europe. i am only worried about what my money situation is going to look like then...
evan [email] said at 11:40 AM 02-06-2006: NYC REPRESENT! i think you and steve should both move here, it's awesome. yes, it is expensive for rent, but that's really the only drawback. if you don't like the big city vibe of manhattan, hang in brooklyn. i never go into manhattan and it's awesome!come hang out for a while and i'll show ya'll around and you can fall for NYC then move here! i owe you!
kaycee [email] said at 7:31 PM 02-06-2006: hah hah hah.. evan, steven and i already tried the "loving in a funny difficult place to live" thing. im not sure id subject myself to that. yeah, nyc is not japan, but it would still be too weird. of course, if i decided that i wanted to move to st louis, i hope someone kicks me in the head.
kaycee [email] said at 7:32 PM 02-06-2006: i can't wait to see you either!!!! i am soooo excited!!!!!! i just sent you a mail with more info in it. see you soon!!!!!
brad [email] said at 10:37 PM 02-06-2006: I kinda toyed with the idea of teaching Engish in Japan or one of the other Asian countries for a few years, I guess for the reasons most people do it:
• You get to live in a new and strange part of the world.
• It's a good way to save money.
I should have just done it right after college, but I was way too indecisive about everything in my life at that time to take a step that big. And actually, I wasn't even considering it as an option that early. Do you have lots of pics?
I guess I wasn't in The Bayou the night your mother danced on the pool table, but that must have been pretty embarassing. My mother annoys me for the opposite reason – she's very stiff.
