Hello Europe, nice to meet you.: Goodbye Europe, nice knowin' ya.

I arrived back in Canada on April 21, in the beautiful Vancouver airport with my dear friend, Tara waiting for me in the arrivals area. I felt like landing back in my homeland would be something surreal after spending six months away in foreign lands but because I had been travelling around like a madman in those six months and had been on fifteen flights in total, the sixteenth flight just felt like another flight to another excting european destination, only this time the customs guy was super nice. I walked off of the plane thinking, 'Oh man, what do they ask you here at customs?' I am so used to drilling myself with questions commonly asked especially when entering England (scary!) but I had no idea what to drill myself with this time. Well, it ended up going a little bit like this...

Customs man: Hi! How are you?
Me: Oh... good, thankyou.
Customs man: And where are you coming from and what were you doing?
Me: Well, I just came from travelling around 13 countries in Europe for six months.
Customs man: SWEET! Wow, that would be so cool! Wouldn't that get expensive or did you stay in hostels and stuff?
Me: Ya, I have lots of friends in Europe and stayed in hostels so that made a big difference.
Customs man: Right on!

He then proceeded to ask me about what I bought and all that customs jazz and then finished our conversation with a, "Well, welcome home!" It was quite pleasant and I left feeling like the only thing missing was a table and chairs and two cups of coffee.

Tara and I had about a two hour trip home through public transit (I was staying at her place for a couple of days before heading to real home) but that was no biggy for me being used to all of that but it was sure nice having someone with me to chat away with and also to do all the transit thinking. I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I've used public transit in Canada, so as we got on a bus I asked Tara what to do with the ticket. The bus driver overhears this and says, "Uh oh! Lessons!" I still felt like I was in a foreign land, not knowing how to do the simplest task. We made a pitstop at A&W while waiting for another bus and although I didn't order anything I was still thinking in my head, 'Okay what language would I use to say thankyou here?' I had to ask myself this so many times after I once almost said 'danke' in France. I always had danke, merci, grazie, gracious, and obrigado running through my head that even thankyou started to sound foreign to me. Most of the day spent with Tara I kept calculating what time it was at home in Parksville, always counting eight hours back, forgetting that even though I am still in an unfamiliar place, I am actually in the same timezone as my family now. I will also have to remember not to look at a price and estimate how much it probably is in canadian dollars because it will already be in canadian dollars! So I'm thinking this whole back in Canada thing will take some adjusting but it did feel nice to walk out of the airport and smell some good 'ol crisp Canadian air, see buses go by that after displaying their destination also read, 'Go Canucks Go!' and although I adore the European fashion, it feels good to be in a place where I know I will be accepted even if I wear my sweatpants out in public :)

So that is Europe. It is hard to believe that six months has gone by and not only six months but the four years where the dream began to grow and grow until it became attainable. I remember talking to so many people about how I wanted to go and without fail, they would always say, "Do it while you're young, do it while you're young!" And I was like, okay I gotta do this. Now I have. It hasn't been as easy as I thought, but it has all been as enriching as I thought.
I have to send a special shout out to all of the friends and family and strangers I stayed with too...I am so thankful for your outstanding hospitality and generousity and for the oppurtunity to really dive into the culture by being in your homes. Those times were special times. I wish you could know how much I appreciated it all.

So, that is that, I'm finding it hard to sum up six special months into words and feel like I'm on my way into making this sound like an Oscar awards speech so I will end by saying it has been a grande adventure that I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me. I did not deserve it. And what I am even more thankful for is that just because the trip is over doesn't mean the adventure is over. All of life is an adventure when you are walking with Jesus. A trip, a boyfriend/girlfriend, or a stellar pair of jeans may satisfy or fulfill you for a while but Jesus wants to do that for us always. For some reason we often have a hard time believing this but it is true, He came so that we could have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). For that I am thankful.