Reflections on a year ago

We interrupt your stroll through our Tokyo trip for some random diatribe on how far I think we've come. Yeah...back patting ahead.

When we were in Haneda last weekend, I couldn't help but think of being stranded there all day in October 2004.

We were miserable. We didn't know enough to order things so we were making do with what we could buy in a box. This stuff is not enough to sustain you. I kept smelling curry, but didn't have the confidence to go in and try to order it, much less get it to go since I had to sit and wait for flight information that might show up at any minute.

We got to Isahaya late at night. They didn't have our car reservation. We had no idea where our hotel was. We could barely communicate. It was not a step in the right direction.

Now, we order pretty fearlessly. We have favorites. We (Chrys and I) can read some of the menus and find enough that we like. We know enough to usually get what we want. We know enough to know what should be there to order. We know enough to find what it is the other wants.

We put the GPS screen down because it gets in the way of seeing when the car is warmed up enough to turn on the heater. It's more of a nuisance than a navigational necessity. We have short cuts to things. We have favored back routes that are barely wide enough for one car, but we pass people on them anyway.

We're comfortable in our environment. It didn't happen overnight, but we've come a long way. We venture out to new things without worrying that we can't speak much (still) of the language. We can speak enough to communicate essentials and we will be a force to reckon with at Charades or Pictionary for everything else!

It's all (mostly) good. Figures that it's just about time for us to go.