“Please hold back your hair ma’am.” The female customs agent does not smile. Pause. My foggy brain struggles comprehending the request. I must not look like my passport picture anymore. Stone faced, she stares at me. I shift baggage. With a free hand grab my hair. I make a feeble attempt at humor. “Hmmm.” She looks at me, then the passport, then at me again. It feels like minutes but I am sure it was only seconds. “Why are you residing in Japan?” she asks in a very serious manner. “My husband’s job.” “Thank you.” Sternly the passport is thrust back to me. I continue on my journey Idaho bound. Taken aback but my attention quickly focuses on the tasks at hand.
Today when I opened these faces looked back at me:
Your Memories on Facebook
Angela, we care about you and the memories you share here. We thought you’d like to look back on this post from 2 years ago.
Looking at these faces fresh off the plane fills me with emotion that spill out with a sob. All the unexpressed feelings of wonder, excitement, tension, joy, gratitude and love of the last two years bursting to the surface.
No wonder she had me pull my hair back.
Last night Rich took me to a beautiful, traditional Japanese eatery on the adult side of downtown. No English was spoken or available. No western influence of any kind. And that was just fine because we are right where we want to be.
anginthemiddle 
So glad to see how happy you are! Love you!!!
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It’s hard to believe that you have been gone for 2 years. This year seems a bit strange as I’m not taking any classes and I miss my cohort. I no longer eat, drink, and breathe math. My group this year is challenging, both behaviorally and academically. I have two brand new to country students who don’t speak any English and aren’t all that interested in school. I so wish Boise had a transition program to help our refugee population adjust to school culture. With less than one year left in Japan, do you have a must-do list to see or do before returning to Boise? I assume you are returning to Boise. I sent my son off to Fairbanks for his senior year. I’ll be curious to see what he does and where he ends up after graduation. I would love to skype or facetime sometime this fall. Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings are typically free for me. If you have these times available and can navigate the time difference, let me know when to get online! Elisa
On Sat, Sep 3, 2016 at 10:51 PM, anginthemiddle wrote:
> anghousley posted: ““Please hold back your hair ma’am.” The female customs > agent does not smile. Pause. My foggy brain struggles comprehending the > request. I must not look like my passport picture anymore. Stone faced, she > stares at me. I shift baggage. With a free hand gr” >
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wow I can’t believe how different you look. I can see why she might ask you to pull it back!!! mom
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Enjoyed your post. Time sure does fly by.
Sent from my iPhone
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