Guess what? I'm back in Indonesia! I arrived safe and sound with all my luggage yesterday evening after three mostly uneventful flights. Thanks for all your prayers!
Maybe someday I'll sit down and write a long, heartfelt post about my summer, but for now... just no. I've been up since 3 and I'm still sad about all the goodbyes I had and there is no food in my house and there is just too much to do today.
I will say a couple quick things though.
My mom told me a few weeks ago that she thought having me home for longer would make it easier to say goodbye, but that she was wrong. This was true for me as well. I thought after five months in America, I'd be so ready to be back in Indonesia, but honestly, it was harder than ever to leave. I cried in the airport. I cried on the airplane. I'm crying right now, danget. The point is... to everyone I saw or talked to or spent time with this summer, THANK YOU for making America such a hard place to leave! I hate you for putting me through this, but I also love you VERYVERY much!
That being said, I AM happy to be back. I wasn't when I left Indiana. I was just sad, and I didn't want to leave. So I started making lists in my mind of all the things I was looking forward to having/doing/seeing/eating when I got back to Indonesia. And that helped keep my mind off of all the things I was sad to leave behind in America. When I landed in Korea, I had a very long message from a former student who is now a freshman at the Naval Academy, and he basically thanked me for being his teacher and told me he is succeeding in his harder classes now because of me and told me he wouldn't have traded me for any other math teacher. That just encouraged me so very much in my journey and helped me re-focus. And now that I'm here, it really is good to be home.
The absolute highlight of my time home was getting to be at my brother's wedding. WHAT a day! It was such a priceless gift to be there for that, and even as I was sitting there listening to my baby brother and his bride exchange vows, I was thinking of all the people I am forever indebted to who made this happen. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I work with amazing people. From my boss, who told me to take a quarter off of school, to my co-workers, who had to pick up the slack in my absence. And maybe most of all, my new neighbor, Brittany, who served as my sub for an entire quarter! I'm just so full of thankfulness to everyone who made it possible for me to be there.
Oh, and speaking of my brother's wedding, I got my invitation in the mail today! XD
