-^-for posterity-^-

i return and the world is happy to see me. it's a wonderful feeling.

the dog is the first to greet me and he runs into the hall and pees all over the floor and licks my face. i say hello to jack and julie and jo. they are all friendly and we smile and ask simple questions courteously.

i go to school the next morning and everyone in the office wants to know about laos. they all smile and ask questions and are sincerely interested. they want to know if it is developed, what the people are like and if i brought any candy back. i didn't because i couldn't find any.

the students meet me in the halls and in coffee shops and they come up to me and want to know what laos is like. did i meet any students? did i meet any girls i liked? they had a lot of questions and we smiled and exchanged pleasantries.

i played basketball and everyone was happy to see me. they all smiled and asked me about the trip and talked about how wonderful the game was on saturday that they played against a rival town. they won in the last second with a majestic shot from the corner. they were glad to have me back.

it's wonderful to come home and be loved. it's wonderful to feel like you're at home when you're just about as physically far away from your real home as is possible.

in the end, i really wonder what home is and if i could ever feel at home on, say, the internet. is this a community?

is this real?