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My trip to America was very nice. I first stopped in Salt lake City to visit Amy, Kirk, and Merry. We had fun watching videos, going to Brewvies, talking smack to a waiter, watching the Bulls win the Championships, and going to the Salt Lake (which smells, I might add). But it wasn't all fun. I had no problem with jet lag the first night, but after that I started having problems. I had a cough before I left Japan. It got really bad by the 2nd night in Utah. I could barley talk, and was awake all night with a cough and runny nose. So I went to the doctor as soon as I got to Champaign. He gave a me 3 different medicines and told me not to talk until Fri. It was Tues. Needless to say, I was concerned. I was home for the 1st time in almost a year. I wanted to go out and talk to my friends. A 10 min conversation was very painful for me. Plus, I came home to sing at my friend's wedding. My friend Cathy had been telling me for the past 9 years that some day I would sing at her wedding. (Although she didn't pick the songs until after I had arrived in Champaign). So was really stressed. The wedding was on Sun, and I needed to rehearse the songs. So as the week went on, my voice got better, and my cough wasn't so severe. I went on shopping marathons, ate fast food every day, rented movies that hadn't made it to Japan, saw the X-Files movie, talked to a few of my friends, went water skiing, did all the pre-wed Allerton Park. There was no way I could sing very well, and be heard in that place without a microphone. So They played a CD, instead of having me sing. It was disappointing, but there wasn't too much I could do. But the wedding was fun. I invited my high school choir director to be my date. I saw my favorite high school English teacher :-) and his family. My brother and I danced a bit and even did a karaoke number together. Got to talk about Japan all I wanted. Had lots of yummy food, and saw people I hadn't seen in years. After the wedding, I said good-bye to everyone, and hours later got in the car to go to the airport. A long 10 days, but not enough Valerie Straayer |