Mike and I ate dinner at Dad's house last night. While we were sitting at the table eating bean burritos and tacos, I got that nervous pang in my stomach and decided it was time to break the news about Alaska.
Dad was really happy for me, but very surprised.
"How long is the program?" He asked.
"It's 3 years."
"3 years? You were only in Japan for one year."
Beyond the years I'm guaranteed to be in Alaska, there's the nebulous After Grad School realm that we didn't talk about. When I studied abroad, my parents knew I would be coming back to finish my undergraduate degree. But when I leave for Alaska, I'm leaving Alabama without knowing if or when I'll ever live here again.
Yet, I think I will actually see them more after I move away. When I come back to visit I will be dependent on them for a place to stay and transportation. Thanks to crap jobs, the last few years I haven't been able to spend more than two days at a time with my family. I'm not sure exactly how different grad school will be from undergrad, but if I am able to be off for even half the usual vacation time it will be much much more than I have seen since getting my diploma.
Dad has promised to visit at least once. He said Alaska is a place he has always wanted to visit, but never thought he would have an excuse to go there. Dad visited Japan, so I'm pretty confident I'll be showing him around the campus before a year has passed.
And he's already springing into action: offering to share storage space with me, and making plans to move into the mouse house after Mike and I leave. One project I want to complete before we leave AL is to get my ham radio license - so we can have a channel of communication open with Dad all the time.
There were many things I did badly the last time I was living far away. They're still fresh in my mind, even though it was 4 years ago. This time, I'm determined to do better. At the top of the list is keeping in touch with my family, and showing them through pictures and stories what my daily life is like.
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