B Riggs: Going Home

only slightly different from a music special on the disney channel. this is mostly the real deal.

columbus georgia is my true home

and probably always will be

so being able to come home has been a wonderful experience for me. i dont remember the last time i felt as excited as i did that morning three days ago when i pulled into my home after a 17 hour drive. i felt like i had returned after being gone for years even though it has only been four months.

i wasnt able to enjoy being home as much as i would have liked. ive spent a large amount of my time preparing for this trip, which has made me happy but i feel like i have missed a lot of chances to spend time with my parents. oh well i guess. there is always the rest of the summer.

i had delayed coming home days and days from when i had originally anticipated after finishing my school finals. speaking of which, i received my grades today, and they were crap. BUT im grateful those classes are over cause they were the most extremely dull and frustrating set of classes i believe i have ever had during my already mostly dull college experience. not to say my life is dull, cause it isnt, but in my humble opinion, my college can be dull in the affirmative.

because i put things off, it just made my time here more constrained. which is fine. ive worked hard and feel like i am ready to go.

most of the days have been buying things. some trips to wal-mart, greatest store on the planet, the army surplus store and some occasional trips to columbus high school. i was able to speak for two japanese classes taught by my high school japanese teacher, who is of course great.

she kept reiterating to the class that i was one of the students in the class with a constant attitude of hopelessness. i had vowed after completing my high school foreign language requirement that i would never speak japanese again.

but oh my friends, the joke was so on me.

i ended up living in japan for two years, and even though a lot of the time was spent with me still convincing myself it was impossible for two languages to fit into my one huge head, i was able to eventually do it.

my teacher is proud of me for being able to do that but maybe not as proud as myself. ive learned the importance of not putting down or willfully restricting your own potential. i believe that regardless of who we are or where we came from, this potential is constant and neverending.

im just as sad as i have ever been to leave my home. i grew up here and had some of the best times of my life here. the people here made me who i am.

even though i often think columbus doesnt have that pizzazz of big city living or hustle and bustle, this is my home. i thank god every day im from this town, this state and this country.

so i leave columbus at 6am to head for atlanta. from atlanta to washington dc. from washington dc to tokyo. arriving in tokyo at 3pm and from then...?

i love you all and will see you there.