My two days in Seattle with ever-gracious hosts flew by and I was hunched in a plane seat once again before I really noticed it. My flight back to Atlanta was highlighted by the guy in front of me all but shitting his pants every fifteen minutes (ladies and gents, the rest of the world appreciates that you don't down burritos before getting onto a cramped plane for the next five hours). All of the overnight flights and time travel has me still on a very strange internal clock and constantly double-checking what day of the week we're on. It's wonderful to be home, even though I'm still processing that I'm not going back to the people and place that have been my home for the last two years.

I fly at the asscrack of dawn in the morning. I'll be back, moon.

Yesterday, a well-trained team of ninjas movers came and took just under two hours to get my slew of shit packed out. The moment in which they noted my mountain of books in Japanese was fantastic, especially because it was mostly comprised of buttporn. They seemed excited to be able to conversate while working, though, and likely would have finished everything in half the time if we hadn't joked around so much. One of them took an extreme liking to my large stuffed Batman and danced around the halls with it.

Empty room, no phone, tv, or internet service. I spent the weekend with friends who all had their own ways of saying goodbye, and I've seen more grown men with puddly eyes than I'd care to. I'm out in four days and I can't help but feel as if I'm forgetting something.

I spent this evening watching Star Trek with my boys, and this morning (in two hours, actually) I'm going to teach them all how to play a bit of rugby. It's going to be such glorious chaos.

I'm going to really miss the brothers I have out here, and every day is another slew of reasons for me to never want to leave. This family that we have, as strange as it is, may be the sort of thing that makes me reconsider getting out of the Corps.

This evening, I took some of my juniors to the exchange after a long day of running around. In the back of the store, while we were browsing the selection of video games and DVDs, the power went out. I don't know what sort of thing would happen anywhere else, but what occurred there was a smattering of laughter ("It's the zombie apocalypse!"), and no panic or disorder; we just pulled out flashlights or cell phones and kept browsing and joking as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. For half an hour. We dissolved in a fit of giggles as we found a Bleach DVD boxset with a yellow sticker proclaiming we could win a trip to Japan, and shortly after the power came back.

Being able to trust the decorum and discipline of a store full of people for thirty minutes is something unremarkable to the little bubble we live in, but thinking on it more I have to wonder if it's because we're all too stuck in a limbo of morality and disciplinary terror to do anything else. If you had been in a busy department store when the power died, what would you expect?

Two weeks from now, I'll be on a plane back to the US. I'm flying into Seattle, and from there will be headed to Atlanta for a homeward visit before I go on to my next duty station in Miramar (San Diego), California.

Next week is the last work-intensive span of time at my Unit, and it's in preparation for an exercise that will be some of my little brothers' first chance to get field experience. I have to finish finalizing everything before Thursday next week - sell my car, settle bills, and all the other moving-related chores - because everyone will be out in the field starting the following Monday. I'm not expected to participate, but I can't go without making sure my boys are all set.

I have no more internet of my own, or cable, which leaves me pirating and reading lots. Plus, packing. Packing and more packing.

Ladies and gents, if you want anything from Japanland let me know and I'll make an effort to procure on your behalf before I leave.

While I've not spent nearly enough time mastering my Jarate, the Sniper and Spy updates to Team Fortress 2 are spectacular. Spy finally having his intro video? GLEE.

Japan you need to start loving this game so you can start churning out doujinshi like the dickens. I'm trying to make as many asians love you as I can, but its not nearly enough. : < I shouldn't have to explain the humor behind a "Your Mom" joke, Japan.

You know how when you're a kid, you've got all kinds of dreams and aspirations and hopes for what you'll achieve?

I just knocked a chunk of mine out of the park and it feels amazing. This past week, I was able to go and visit with one of the best friends I've made in my years, and ramble around Osaka like it was a second home. We met because we shared an adoration for Fushigi Yuugi and the damn series can't seem to stay out of my life as a positive influence. I can't even remember half of the silly things we used to talk about doing when we got older, but someday we'd be in Japan together and we'd go have fun; we did it. Here's to all things nerdy and making your own dreams a reality, and having damn good friends to share it all with.

Sunday was the first day off last week for me, and it was spent with my shop in the best way possible: seeing the new Star Trek film. The first fifteen people in line who arrived three hours early to see the film? Yeah. That was me and the best family of fellow nerds in the whole damn world.

I'm still riding such a fantastic high from it all.

MY BUNK.

I'LL BE IN IT.

We usually do PT (physical training) all together on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Individually it's an everyday thing, but it's a good feeling to train together as a shop and encourage one-another. We'll discuss what the plan for PT is the following morning before leaving work the day prior, so we all know what to prepare for (going to the gym and working out for muscle groups versus a long run). This morning, we had all prepared for a gym session and possibly some basketball afterward. Not an eight mile run. In the rain. This brings up a phrase that glosses the lips of every one of us from time to time: "Semper Gumby" - Always Flexible.

My car has recovered just fine since the radiator crapped out, though cleaning the steamed-on egg off of the engine block was a bit of a chore.

I've finally retired my beat-up pair of running shoes that I've had for nearly three years; I have no idea how many miles they've seen, but it was high time. It took a good week to find a decent pair of replacements, and I had to make my sense of aesthetics take a back seat to what my feet were telling me. The new pair has a glorious toe sex-inducing feel and are featherlight with just enough support; their only drawback is the lurid neon-green design scheme. Comfort over looks, they're excellent, and I've taken to thinking of the bright accents as a safety feature to keep cars from making me a road pancake.

Much as we all thought we were leaving Korea behind, the next few weeks have us all still on edge as to what the North and the rest of the world decide to do. If anything comes to a head over there, we'll be the first ones in to do our job as 'America's Shock Troops'. Lots of CH-46 training in the meantime, and fastroping until our hands fall off. WHEE.