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Well yet again we have failed to update our blog in a timely manner. We appreciate your forgiveness :o) The last few weeks in Cambodia were hectic: boxing things up, cleaning all the nooks and crannies, finishing up school, doing report cards, packing and re-packing suitcases, spending time with good friends, closing bank accounts, making the "last trips" to local markets, etc. We finished well, although it was hard to close out one stage of life while anticipating the next one. It was my prayer to keep my "head in the game" until the end, not neglecting any part of Cambodia or our life there. We both were anxious to leave and travel to Japan, then home....however, we thoroughly enjoyed our last days where God had us.

Once we left Cambodia, we boarded a short flight to Bangkok. We met up with friends there, and had dinner in the city. We were taken back to the airport where we spent a sleep-less night, then boarded a plane to Japan at 6:50am the next morning. After an easy 6 hour flight, we landed in a place surrounded with more green then we'd seen all year. Japan was amazing!!! We re-enjoyed simple pleasures: walking on sidewalks with flat paths, smelling the ocean air, being COLD, wearing jeans and sweatshirts, eating street food that we didn't need to be concerned about, and public transportation. We stayed in Tokyo 1 night and walked around that part of the city. Next, we stayed 3,000 feet up in a mountain town called Hakone for 2 nights, and fell in love with the peacefulness and the scenery there. We spent our last night in a hotel near the airport, and enjoyed sleeping in and having a hot shower. All of our tuk-tuk, train, car, airplane, shuttle, and bus transportation had gone very smoothly up to this point.

When we boarded the flight in Tokyo, we were excited. See, we were flying on stand-by passes and were unsure if we would get on the flight in the first place. This was our LAST leg of a packed 4 days of traveling, and once this leg ended, we would finally be HOME. We were so lucky to get to sit in Business Class (1 step down from First) and we were enjoying the leg room and menu choices for the 9 hour flight. After sitting in the plane for 30 minutes past our scheduled departure, an announcement came over the loud speaker: "We are having some maintenance issues that will soon be resolved, we should be leaving shortly." We didn't care- we were in nice seats and were ready to try and sleep for the flight. Two hours went by, and the flight crew began pulling first class passengers off the plane; we knew something was wrong. All passengers with connecting flights began to be rerouted on to other flights, and we still sat. We were told by one of the flight attendants that we needed to stay seated even though the entire 747 plane would be asked to get off. We had no clue what was happening! Passengers were leaving, and as it turns out, the captain allowed all stand-by and employee passengers to stay on the flight. The problem? Five out of fourteen toilets were broken. They were going to just take the plane back to SF without anyone on it, but the captain knew the trouble it would cause the stand-bys. We were beyond blessed and extremely thankful that he was gracious enough to allow us to stay. Finally, after a total of 4 hours waiting on the plane in Tokyo, we successfully pulled out and took off for San Francisco. On a 747 plane that was originally 80% full, it was just us, an entire flight crew, and 20 passengers. We were so privileged to be given the seats on the plane and the chance to get home....especially after a long year of being gone.

We arrived 4 hours late into SF on June 4th...our 4 year anniversary! We are so glad to be home. We have enjoyed a great weekend full of family and friends, excellent healthy food, walks to town, having "Christmas" as we find the things we left behind for a year, and figuring out what our new life here will look like. Brian has started putting his name out there to do computer work, and I am pursuing a teaching job for the fall. We will continue to update this blog, but with a new flare: life back in California! We thoroughly appreciate your prayers, thoughts, comments, encouragements, and friendships. We would love to get together with you, so please don't hesitate to call or email us!