Greetings everyone. First of all, belated Merry Christmas. And if I’m not able to respond again soon, Happy New Year as well.

Obviously, I have not been able to follow up on my blog lately as my schedule and current location does not allow me to. But you can be rest assured that my first trip back home in twenty years is going absolutely fantastic. One thing I can tell you though, is that I am very well fed, to say the least!

I can’t tell you enough how wonderful (though bitterwseet) it is to actually set foot in the land of my youth and speak face to face with the people I grew up with once again. Some things have stayed the same but for the most part, everything seems to be new and unrecognizable. I really thought I’d spend most of my time here shedding tears, but to my surprise, everyday seems to be a celebration to simply savor and smile about.

I wish I had time every night to post a blog as every hour (since my plane took off from Denver) seems to bring an eventful surpirse worth sharing in great detail. Unfortunately though, not only am I fully booked, Internet access is extremely limited as well. So bear with me as I wait a while to share with you my experiences. It probably won’t happen until I come back home to the States next month. But trust me, it’s worth waiting for!

Meanwhile, if you’ll excuse me… I have to get back to my “all you can eat” desert binge-fest!

Well, here it is. The time has come for me to fly back home. I have been so anxious since this morning, it’s crazy! I can’t believe that I was even able to sleep well last night. Which is good, I think. Who knows if I’d be able to sleep a wink in this 24 hour flight I’m about to embark on in about 7 hours from now? But I’m so excited I can’t get myself to do any work at all. I might as well have skipped it today.

This blog isn’t gonna be much since my mind is anywhere but here. But I did want to at least write down something so you know where I’m at, so to speak. It’s almost Christmas and I’m not sure if I’d be able to post another blog till next year. But I really want to chronicle my days as much as possible. If there’s anything worth journaling on, this trip would be it, don’t you think?

Anyhow, like I said, I’ll try my best to find a way to sneak in back here and post something. But if I’m not able to, know that I’m with you in spirit… and that I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

So, cheers and be good.

Time could be both slow and fast at the same time, if you know what I mean. I’m just home watching TV and passing time, then I realized… wow, in exactly one week from now, I’ll be home! Same place I was 20 years ago, in fact. Same place I went to school in. Same place where I made life-long childhood friends in. Same place that made me the person I am today.. for sure!

What a trip! I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to come out of the plane. You know, coming out and feeling the ol’ familiar warm and muggy air, seeing my family for the first time again in that long. And then driving out of the airport and looking through the car window to see how the city had changed throughout the years. Oh yeah, I couldn’t even remember the way back to my old house. I have a dream-like idea of how my old neighborhood looked like back then, but that’s about it.

So indeed, I am very excited. I still don’t know what to expect, though I hope and pray that this trip, if anything, really makes a difference more to others than just myself. This trip is for my family. They’ve waited long enough. And I can’t wait either, so God speed the day.

Seven days and counting…