Saturday, September 02, 2006

Volleyball and home

As the school year resumes so does volleyball. Mandy made the JV team. She is practicing for many hours everyday after school. Along with all the homework that comes with taking a rigorous course load and her paper route. She has gone from the summer schedule to the fall one, from afternoon naps and late night TV, to being busy from the moment her head leaves the pillow in the morning to the moment her head hits the pillow at night.

There are quite a few military bases in Japan and Korea, the high schools compete against one another in sports. This means leaving the base on a Thursday night, riding on a bus all night, playing games on Friday, sleeping on a gym floor, and playing more games on Saturday, riding the bus all night, getting home Sunday morning. Then there is the catching up on sleep & catching up on missed school work (Friday). All this for the away games, I volunteered to come along as a chaperone on one of the trips. Jeff will take the time off work and stay with Lily.

Volleyball has been the most amazing experience for Mandy. It is worth all the craziness and it only goes through the end of November. Which is very nice, since we are leaving in March and this will give her the opportunity to complete the entire season. Last year she earned a letter, I haven't got her the jacket yet. I am not sure what to do, She will be attending another school for 11th and 12th grade. Besides, with her summer job, the girls has more money than I do.

So where are we going in March? I have no idea. Doesn't it suck not knowing? We really, really, really, want to stay overseas. Send us anywhere. But, we are almost certain we will be sent back to America. No idea where. We did everything we could to stay overseas. Applied for every job available, the list of who got the overseas jobs comes out in two weeks, so keep your fingers crossed.

Whenever we go to America for a vacation or during a move it overwhelms us. The American culture is so fast and furious. It is a big adjustment. The aggressive driving, loud restaurants, pushy people. It scares me a little. It all seems so big and violent. Weird what the mind does to you, after being away for so long, it is America that seems foreign to me.

Yesterday, I spent the day wandering around Misawa with a friend. We walked for hours, up and down the main streets and back streets and we noticed how this seems so familiar to us now. When we first arrived we noticed everything about Japan that is different from America, but as we wandered the streets yesterday, all we saw were the things that are just like us. Where ever we go whatever we do, only 5 1/2 years until Jeff retires and we finally get to make a home for ourselves, a permanent home, we will get to be a part of a community instead of always the outsider. We will get our rocking chair, our front porch and settle in for forever. I wonder if we will love it, the settling in, or hate it?

Send good thoughts for an overseas assignment, think Europe. And good thoughts for the Volleyball team.

4 comments:

laura capello said...

Wow, all that volleyball sounds fun -- but sleeping on a gym floor? Yeah, notsomuch.

Sending good thoughts your way for Eurpose -- that sounds like fun!

Dixie said...

You know I'm sending all sorts of good vibes for a European assignment!

Anonymous said...

Offer to pay half for the Jacket if Mandy really wants one. I got one from Naples and I was only there for a year. But I love that I had one and that I earned a letter their. I still have it! Wishing you lots of good luck with going back to Europe. I want to go too, but we still have 2.1 years left here. This place seems foreign to me and it isn't even a big city. Must be all those Texans...they are different ya know!

Anonymous said...

Oddly enough when we were in a fairly large Canadian city over the weekend it felt even more fast-paced and aggressive than the U.S. I hope, if you have to be in the states, that you get a nice midwestern post where the pace is more relaxed. It is here, anyway.

Whatever happens, it'll be totally worth it when you get to retire early.