Did I ever mention that Jeremy got to go to a conference in Japan in November of last year? Well, he did. Sterling was only about five weeks old at the time and I was still working on my thesis so sometimes I'm not sure it wasn't actually some kind of sleep deprivation-induced hallucination. But I just looked through some old emails, and it did happen.
I was a student in Kyoto during the summer of 2000, and Jeremy's conference in 2013 was not too far away in (I think) Osaka. Altogether, he was gone for about a week, and about two days of that time he spent in Kyoto. He stayed in the same guesthouse I did as an 18-year-old in 2000. He met up with my host family and my two host sisters took him around town. He ate a bunch of Japanese food I miss, saw some sights, and sent me pictures of Japanese lunchboxes because he knows I have a serious weakness for a well-formed bento box.
When he came home, my host family had loaded him up with gifts and goodies for me and the kids. What amazed me the most was that they sent me many of my favorite snacks. That's right - they remembered my favorite snacks from 13 years ago. I was moved to tears, both for the kindness/generosity factor and the pure nostalgia factor. Also the delicious factor.
I didn't serve a mission for my church, and although I'm not at all equating a secular, language/culture-based study abroad program with a mission, it is the only kind of experience in that vein (young, on my own, abroad) that I have. My memories of that time are so precious. So to have Jeremy go to that place and see those things and eat that food and meet those people was a beautiful thing for me. Of course, I only wish I could have done all those things with him!
I was a student in Kyoto during the summer of 2000, and Jeremy's conference in 2013 was not too far away in (I think) Osaka. Altogether, he was gone for about a week, and about two days of that time he spent in Kyoto. He stayed in the same guesthouse I did as an 18-year-old in 2000. He met up with my host family and my two host sisters took him around town. He ate a bunch of Japanese food I miss, saw some sights, and sent me pictures of Japanese lunchboxes because he knows I have a serious weakness for a well-formed bento box.
When he came home, my host family had loaded him up with gifts and goodies for me and the kids. What amazed me the most was that they sent me many of my favorite snacks. That's right - they remembered my favorite snacks from 13 years ago. I was moved to tears, both for the kindness/generosity factor and the pure nostalgia factor. Also the delicious factor.
I didn't serve a mission for my church, and although I'm not at all equating a secular, language/culture-based study abroad program with a mission, it is the only kind of experience in that vein (young, on my own, abroad) that I have. My memories of that time are so precious. So to have Jeremy go to that place and see those things and eat that food and meet those people was a beautiful thing for me. Of course, I only wish I could have done all those things with him!