Last Post EVER!

We're home! Oh man, America is just the way we left it and things are awesome.

Our travel was long, but things went smoothly and we arrived in both Tokyo and LA on-time. The Tokyo airport was a bit of a disappointment -- not only was it hot and muggy, but its selection of eateries wasn't as inclusive as we would have liked (no Starbucks? no Subway?). Still, we managed to get a McDonald's fix -- hopefully it's the first AND the last one we will get now that we are back in the USA where healthier dining options are available to us.


Our parents were waiting for us just outside of the customs gate at LAX and it was a wonderful reunion. Even though we were tired, hot, and smelly, we all piled into the car and headed right for the Cheesecake Factory, just like I dreamed! After fighting through 40 minutes of traffic (welcome back to LA), we were sitting at a table with margaritas in hand, munching on chips, and not one, but TWO dips: amazing guacamole and hot spinach-and-cheese. The rest of the meal (my chicken sandwich with red onion, avocado, bacon, and bleu cheese) was mouth-watering and the dessert (lemon torte and Reese's caramel chocolate cheesecake) was divine.

I snapped a picture of Ashlee hugging her mom just outside of customs. Sorry, the picture is blurry. That's Ashlee's dad in the orangish shirt over her shoulder and that's my mom on the left with her camera also taking a picture of the reunion.

My mom and I

My sandwich. FYI, Ashlee got a pizza and salad. She said the salad was so good it made her want to cry.

Me eating my sandwich

Dessert

Our car was waiting at home. My little cousin has been taking care of it for us. His name is Hamish the Hyundai. All our Mongolian friends approved of the fact that we drive a Hyundai in America. "Ah, Korean cars are very good."

Now we are currently staying at my parents' house and we have been keeping busy unpacking and catching up with friends and family. It really feels that we have accomplished a lot these past two days. First and foremost, we got our iPhones! It actually ended up being better that we got them here because we managed to get a healthy rate discount through my dad's work. We've also been shopping up a storm since Mongolia claimed most of our wardrobes. All in all, life is great.

I guess this brings me to the end of the post...and the blog. I'd really love to be able to write something deep and profound here. Maybe write something about how our time in Mongolia has completely changed our lives and the lives of the friends we made and the students we taught. At the moment, however, the whole thing is too fresh in our minds for me to write something so definitive -- not to mention our heads are still spinning from the excitement of being back in America. Suffice it to say that while our Peace Corps was definitely a roller-coaster (the highs were high and the lows were oh-so-low) we are happy we did it and we have no regrets. We made some amazing (and hopefully life-long) friendships and some memories that will never fade. Peace Corps, it has been swell.