looking back.

i'm back on american soil. or as sean would say, i'm not OCONUS anymore and as i would say, i'm ADELLE (OCONUS apparently stands for outside the continental united states, by the way). the month i spent home was amazing... i'm really glad i got to go back to malaysia. my favorite part of the trip by far was spending time with family and friends. tied in second place are malaysian food and traveling to malacca, langkawi and ipoh. and in third place are clubbing (more specifically the music and dancing) and visiting my old secondary (high) school and college, subang utama and help.

all in all, i think it was a month well-spent. i filled it as best i could, and i'd say i did pretty well. than you to mommy and daddy for giving me the green light to get on the plane, and to anthea for pestering me with many an "akaaa..." and wide-eyed, reproachful stares. thank you to everyone who took time off their busy, busy schedules and put work and friends on hold to make time for me, especially mommy, daddy, anthea and ying (although i had to wake you up more than once! i still appreciate you making the effort. =))

i think one of the biggest things i got out of this trip is, rather ironically, the diminishing of the romanticized notion i had of home. after a few months in eugene with sneezing rain, cold and minimal sunlight ask me again and you'll probably find that the romantic notion has resurrected, but for now, i remember home for what it is. don't get me wrong, i still love home and eugene hasn't overtaken subang in my heart. i doubt it ever will. it's just that for now, the gap is narrowed somewhat.

at this point, i feel that this is a good thing. by letting go of (not forgetting) some of the romantic memories i had of home, i think i'll be able to enjoy my last 9 months or so in eugene more fully. we'll see if the theory holds. =)