Yang asks Elisa if she wants to go to America with me. Elisa says yes because her baba will miss her. Then Elisa begins to pack her little backpack. A little bit later in the morning I’m sitting at Starbucks with Yang before heading to the airport and after a few minutes, Cui ayi arrives Elisa sitting in her stroller. She is looking sad, I want to say forlorn but I don’t really know what forlorn means. I ask her for a good-bye kiss not expecting one since she in general is pretty resistant to it. This time she puckers up and pecks me on the cheek.

I’m in the US for two weeks. The time is split between work and family with a trip down to Houston to watch the final four basketball tournament. When I first made these trips to the US six years ago the thing I noticed was that everything in the US is exactly where I expect it to be. I don’t have to think, everything is just right there, if that makes any sense. The way lines worked, the way people drove, what your order and eat dinner, the visual and verbal cues people give. The contrast to China where everything was new and thus stimulating to the brain. Stimulating in the sense that it was fun and new and stimulating in the overstimulated sense.

Now things have flipped. In China, despite not being able to speak the language I know where everything is. My habits and routines are set (yet evolving) and I’m comfortable in the space. Everything is just right there, like a favorite coffee mug next to your arm chair. After a few days, I just wanted to go home, get back into my routine and see Yang and the kids.

Two weeks later I did arrive home. Yang meeting me at the airport, her Starbucks java chip in hand and freshly showed after tennis. Walking out of customs and into the sea of people I saw her smiling face right away, this despite a hundred or so fans of some asian pop star waving banners and posters of said star. Apparently he was directly in front of me and looking quite a bit older than the photos the girls were waving.

When I got home, Elisa ran up to me and jumped into my arms even before I could put my bags down. She wanted to say something but her English was rusty so she just started at me. Lydia came up and hugged me from the side and smiled. Aidan walked up sheepishly and the headed to his room. They asked if I brought toys from America for them and I really didn’t have time this trip to shop for them. They understood which made me get creative with some of the stuff I did bring back. Elisa got the free mini basketball they gave away at the final four and was super pleased that he was hers and hers alone (the next day telling me, “Elisa ball, not Aidan. Not Lydia). Lydia got primary guardianship over the gifts my mom gave us from her Ireland trip. We ate dumplings for dinner together. I took a bath and then went to bed relaxed.

Home.

Home