Secret Asian Man: Home Trip '07

As promised, here is the post from my trip home.

This year I got tickets to go home from Nov. 7th until the 18th. Not really a lot of time considering I would be spending a total of about 2 days of that time on an airplane but since my work schedule was sort of hectic, I figured it was the best I was going to be able to do. So I snatched up the tickets, made the necessary preparations, and flew out on a Wednesday afternoon.

After arriving in Chicago, my Mom met me at the airport and we drove home discussing what exactly I was going to do now that I was home. After arriving home and greeting everyone and almost going into a stroke after seeing how much weight my Stepfather had lost, I settled into my brother's room as it was the only vacant room at the time. Then I decided to call Ralph who I knew had the next day off of work.

Once Ralph arrived it was like old times hadn't skipped a beat. We immediately headed over the the closest bar and proceeded to catch up on the last year. After more than a few drinks, we headed back to my house where we passed out thus ending my first day home.

I spent the next couple of days hanging out in the morning with my Mom and Grandmother and doing random shopping, talking and eating. I decided to knock out the remains of my jet lag before the weekend hit because I knew I was going to have a big night out on the town with my friends so I pretty much just laid around and caught up on sleep.

On Friday I picked up Ralph and drove into the city to meet the rest of the people I would spend the evening with. We met up with Marc and though we had reservations at a Brazilian restaurant for dinner we ended up cancelling because we had arrived to early and just decided to go to Hooter's. After catching up over a few drinks and some food, we met up with Mike, Erin and Danny and headed out to the Apartment (a bar club near Fullerton and Halsted) where we started to get our party on.

Ralph, Me and Marc at Hooter's

The night continued on rather well and after getting thoroughly tipsy and partied out, we snatched taxis back to Mike and Erin's house where the night would end. After waking up and engaging in a bit more tomfoolery, Marc and I went to my house and slept the remaining part of Saturday away as I had an early Thanksgiving dinner in my honor the next day.

Danny, Me, Erin, Michelle, Marc and Mike at the Apartment

Sunday went down without a hitch and thanks to all of the hardwork from my Mom, Grandmother and Stepfather, we had a wonderful feast complete with all of my favorite dishes and family members who I hadn't seen in about a year. After eating half of my weight in turkey and various other dishes, I sat around and caught up with everyone and watched the Bears game which they surprisingly won despite the fact that I was in Chicago.

Soon after everyone left, Ralph, Marc and myself carried ourselves to the local watering hole and got down on some darts and pool while enjoying our libations. What happened after that will go down into the halls of pure, unadultered idiocy and I will refrain from describing it here due to the questionable legality of it but I will say that its something the three of us will not soon forget. "GAHHHH!!!"

This was the spread at my early Thanksgiving dinner. *drool*

Marc, Me and Ralph before we got STUPID

After making poor Marc take the train to go to work after 2 hours of sleep, I recovered for the rest of the day. The following days saw me meeting up random friends, family members and old coworkers in my feeble attempt to meet any and all people who actually still remember me. Before I knew it, it was the weekend again and I was left with only 2 days before I had to get back on the plane bound for Seoul.

On Friday night, I met up with Chris to hang out for a while and bullshit about what has been going on with each other. After catching up a bit and meeting up with Marc, we went out to meet Ralph and other Mark at Buffalo Wild Wings to hang out for awhile more. The night ended at Ralph's house with copious amounts of alcohol consumed while playing Guitar Hero and making loud asses of ourselves much to the discontent of Ralph's poor mother. Mark was also pretty pissed after the discovery of all the marker tattoos that blanketed his face and body when he decided to unwisely pass out. All and all, it was a good evening.

Mark, Ralph, Me and Brandon at Buffalo Wild Wings

Mark's sentiment is understandable after you look at the artwork we endowed his face with

The next morning when Ralph had to rush out to work, I had to say my goodbyes to everyone because I would be leaving early the next morning to jump on the plane. It kind of sucked that the vacation was ending so quickly but I'm sure we have all grown accustomed to it as this would be my 4th time returning for a brief period before leaving again. At least I got to spend a lot of time with my homies. I'm sure they would gladly give up the sleep they missed again for the chance to see me. Ha.

My last day at home allowed me to spend some quality time with the family and my Mom hooked up my favorite dinners all in one day so I made sure that I had them before I left. I got to hang out and talk with everyone on a one-on-one basis and it all reminded me that it would be another year before I could see them again. I also got to finish a bottle of wine with my Mom as we discussed the near future plans for ourselves. Overall, my last night there was probably one of my best.

In the morning before I left, my Father came out to see me one last time before I left and we got to sit and have some coffee before I had to get on my way. My Mom, Stepdad and Grandmother were all nice enough to see me off at the airport, which they have done every year I've been back home to visit. Eventually I'm going to have to stop making them have to watch my back disappear slowly in the distance as I head back to my foreign residence. Not too much longer now guys, I promise.

Anyways, this has been my long and drawn out description of my trip home. Overall, it was a short, yet sweet, trip home this year. I can't believe it will be another full year before I get to see everyone again but if history is an indicator, I will be writing another "I'm going home soon" entry into this blog before I know it. Here's to hoping.