Nagoya (August 10, 2009)

After studying abroad nearly 4 years ago in Nagoya, I felt an obligation to visit with those I was once very close to. The itinerary: Friday night with Keiko and the ‘Coffee Hour Club,’ Saturday with Makiko and Chikae, then Sunday to Monday in Toyota with the Ishikawas, my former host family. Aside from everyone having graduated from the free life of college to the restricted life of work, not much seems to have changed. Keiko’s still giggly, Makiko and Chikae are still BFFs, and my host family’s still hosting exchange students attending Nanzan University. I thought I was the same old same old, but my old neighbor would beg to differ. I was told to go to her house to say hi, so I did. I rang doorbell, the wife and mother of the kids I used to tutor opened the door, and exclaimed “You got fatter!! You got fatter right … right??” I didn’t know how to respond as I had thought I had lost weight after the whole malaria incident. I didn’t want to disagree, that would have been rude.