August 3, – September 1, 2013

Love the legroom on JAL!
One way ticket back home
After finishing my 3 years of working at 2 high schools in Japan for the Jet Programme, the Japanese government bought me a flight back home. My mom moved from Miami to Columbus, so I headed to Ohio, the Buckeye state. (I’m not sure what a buckeye is. I think it’s a type of fruit that is poisonous to Wolverines…)
Malcolm and me
The first thing I noticed was how big everything was. The roads are wide even though there wasn’t much traffic. (My flight landed at 20:00 on a Saturday evening.) The median, well… there was a median! There are very few medians in Japan and when there is it’s either on a toll-pike or you get those dinky little poles that won’t give any protection from someone crossing over to the wrong side of the road.
My mom passed a bank on our way home. It had a huge lawn for no reason. It wasn’t a park. No one ever walks on the lawn or even by it. Someone just thought, “Hey, a lawn would be nice here,” and they put a lawn there. They have space like that. I wasn’t in Japan anymore.
Stilt walking
I didn’t travel much when I was in the US. I mostly spent time with my family and did lots of shopping. I dumped all the clothes I had for the past 3 years in Japan, and bought all new stuff, in my size! I bought sun block (it’s cheaper in the states), deodorant, my favorite lotions, medicine (there is no throat antiseptic spray or neosporin in Japan), and chocolate bars.
My nephew always finds a reason to take his shirt off.
We did take a trip to Kentucky to drop off an exchange student to college. She had been living with my family for the past year and got into an American college. This lend to an unexpected visit to the home of some friends of my sister-in-law. They asked if we wanted to ride on their ATVs for a bit. Well, why not!?
Late comers to dinner
My family ate dinner together while everyone talked about their day. I felt like I was in the Waltons. I made dinner for everyone one night. It was cold noodles with ginger and soy sauce for dipping. They seemed to like it. But, my brother liked it more after he microwaved his for a couple minutes. He likes his food hot and his drinks cold.
Saturday night jam session
My brother and his kids played music. I listen and wondered where all this talent came from. The last time I saw most of them they were snot-nose kids who asked a lot of questions and were alway hurting themselves roughhousing. Now they were grown men who drove me around until I got a new American driver’s license. They took me shopping and waited patiently while I tried things on.
I remember arguing with these kids about bedtime. Every night’s argument ended with a, “Okay one more story, but then you have to go to bed.” Now even the youngest one, my niece was a person I could talk to about books and other interesting topics and not just about why she should finish her broccoli and brush her teeth.
My niece proving to her brothers that she is just as strong as any of them.
Kids huh… One day they’re little brats, the next they are fine upstanding adults. Crazy!
How to get there:
You can enter my country by land, air, or sea. But I think flight would be your transportation method of choice.
I have no clue how to get a visa to the US or who needs one. Just assume that you need one if you are not American or Canadian and check with your local US embassy.
Phone:
- Use 911 for the police, fire department, or to get an ambulance
- Use 411 for information (This might cost money.)
Website:
Downloads:
Videos:
- Crash Course:
- CGP Grey:
- Mental Floss:
Books:
- American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot
- Area 51
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- Dandelion Wine
- Girl in Translation
- The Hemingses of Monticello
- The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid
- The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America
- Notes from a Big Country
- One Summer: America, 1927
- Rolling Nowhere: Riding the Rails with America’s Hoboes
- Stealing Buddha’s Dinner
- That’s Not In My American History Book
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
- The Water Is Wide
Notes:
- It’s a big country. You’re going to need a car.
Slate Run Living Historical Farm
- Coordinates 39°44’57.4″N 82°49’51.4″W
Address:
1375 State Route 674 N.
Canal Winchester, OH 43110
Phone:
- InfoLine 614.508.8000
- +1 614-833-1880
Websites:
Cost:
- Free
- You can buy products made here like jams or heirloom seeds.
Hours:
- April and May: Tue-Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 11am-4pm(Memorial Day, noon-6pm)
- June to Aug: Tue-Thu 9am-4pm, Fri-Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 11am-6pm (July 4, 9am-6pm)
- Sept to Oct: Tue-Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 11am-4pm (Labor Day, noon-6pm)
- Nov to March: Wed-Sat 9am-4pm, Sun 11am-4pm
- The Farm is closed:
- on Mondays
- closed on Tuesdays from November to March
- Thanksgiving Day,
- Christmas Day
- New Year’s Day
Map: