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Our ANA flight has arrived at Houston Bush International Airport (only an hour late, despite a two hour delay for take off), and we're anxious to see how Tie-Dye did on the flight.  I had looked online to try to understand where we pick him up, but I couldn't discover any information.  I'm unsure if we'll get him at the airport or if we'll have to go to the cargo facility. (For example, United Airlines states on their website that pets on their flights are picked up at cargo for Houston, regardless if they're checked or cargo.  ANA is a partner of United, but I don't know if they follow the same procedures for checked dogs).

We enter immigration, and we're happy to see it's only a short line for the kiosks.  Unfortunately, once you finish there it's a looonnngggg line to see the immigration officers.  There is one shorter, priority-type line, and since we've had to answer "yes" on the form because we have a live animal, we're happy we're  sent to that section.  When we reach the desk, we mention we have a dog waiting, and the gentleman nicely tells the people in line he'll be right back, and he escorts us down to a special section of customs (I feel bad for the people stuck waiting in line, but he's only gone a couple of minutes).

We meet with another officer there, and he explains he'll have someone pick up our four checked suitcases, then we'll get Tie-Dye and process through customs (again, we're in a special customs area, separate from the regular one - it's a restricted area).  The attendant who's going to the carousel for our luggage asks if Steve can help, so he goes with him - which is useful because Steve knows what our bags look like.

I'm waiting for about 10 minutes at the desk, when I look through the glass walls and I can see Steve walking back from the giant baggage claim area.  He's still a distance away, but he has his arm up in the air with a "thumbs up."  I figure he's indicating all our luggage made it, but then as he gets closer I see Tie-Dye's kennel on his cart - he has him!  And he's okay!

In addition to zip-tying the door closed, Japan also put a plastic netting around the entire kennel, but the holes are about 1 cm square, so we can still reach in and touch him.  The paper lining the bottom is pretty dry, so he may not have been panting too much (which he does when he's stressed), and he hasn't used the bathroom, but his water bucket is dry.  I don't think much (if any) spilled, but he had a lot of water for the trip - it's a 64 oz container and I had at least 50 oz of water in it.  I specifically have a bottle of water ready in case it's an issue, and I pour some in through the netting and door, which he immediately drinks.

We're now ready to go through customs.  I hand the officer Tie-Dye's rabies certificate and his Japan export papers, and he barely glances at the rabies form and says, "It's good until 2018?" and hands it back to me.  It's a little less rigorous than entering Japan!  All our suitcases go through an x-ray machine, and we're given the green light.  We're officially back in the US!

We exit through the same doors as everyone else, into the lobby of the Terminal E International Arrivals Hall.  There's Mom and Dad!  They've come to be extra sets of hands and help get us organized.  We go outside, to a covered parking lot area.  Steve and Dad hop on the car rental shuttle to get our (American-sized) minivan.  Mom and I rescue Tie-Dye from the kennel.  Right around the corner the sidewalk continues, and there's some spots with grass and weeds growing through (we're beside the road circling the airport).  Tie-Dye is finally able to relieve his bladder.  It's not an area that has a lot of foot traffic.

Once Steve and Dad return with the minivan we're able to load it up.  It all fits!  We then caravan over to a nearby gas station with a big grassy area, so Tie-Dye can finish going to the bathroom and we can eat lunch.  Mom manages to grant my wish - she picked up Chick-fil-a biscuits that morning, and kept them warm in a cooler.  They taste just as good as I remember!

I should be glad there aren't
relighting candles on the cookie cake!

We drive a few hours to my sister's house, where we're reunited with my nieces and nephews, who we haven't seen for almost three years.  Mom has cooked a homemade lasagna just for us (well, we share with the family).  We also do a quick late birthday celebration, then send the kids off to trick or treat.  I'm exhausted (I barely slept on the plane, so I've only gotten about six hours of sleep in the last 60 hours), so we leave early to go to the hotel for the night.

Kids and company, ready to collect some candy!
Wait, where's Mom's costume?

We spend the next day taking care of business, like getting my phone set up to use in the US and going to Walmart (where I can read all the signs - they're in English!) to pick up supplies for when we return to our house - it's empty because everything's in storage or on a container ship.  (Steve maybe tries to do some work, too.)  We spend the evening with family, and discover my sister is a genius at the game Boggle - something everyone else already knows, since they had made a rule that she only gets half the points for her words - and she still manages to win most of the time.  We collapse exhausted again that night, as we're still adjusting to the time change.

The next morning, after breakfast with my parents, we drive a few hours to our friends' house.  They take the afternoon off from work so we can visit with them, and Tie-Dye is excited to be reunited with one of his best dog friends.  They obviously still remember each other!  

Finally - a dog my size I can play with!

US steak again...yum!!

Our friends also grant our requests, to cook armadillo eggs, US filet mignon and corn on the cob.  It's delicious!  Beef is very good in Japan, but it's so rich in fat you can't eat very much without getting sick.  It's scrumptious to enjoy 8 ounces of perfectly cooked, medium rare steak! 

That night, it's nice to have an entire room in a house to ourselves.  Everything feels so spacious after our 1100 sq ft apartment. 

Everyone looks very comfy on the bed...but where will I sleep??

The following day we're off to drive the rest of the way home.  I spend most of the trip on the phone, taking care of chores - calling to change the mailing address for the utility bills, etc.  As we get closer, the excitement starts to build.

Along the way, we stop and pick up one other item I've been craving while in Japan - linguine with red clams from my favorite local Italian restaurant!  Bliss!

My favorite takeout

The preferred bathroom spot!

As we pull into the neighborhood Tie-Dye starts to look around - he must recognize the smell.  We reach the house, and it's still standing!  We arranged to have it cleaned and the yard work taken care of before we come home, so it's empty, but ready for us.

What an adventure we've had!  In Japan, we spent time in Tokyo (obviously), Hakone, Kyoto, Miyakajima, Sapporo, the Japanese Alps & Matusmoto, Hiroshima and Miyajima.  While living there, we were also able to take advantage of Tokyo being a starting point closer to Asia/Oceania than the US to travel internationally - New Zealand, China, Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, the Maldives and Alaska (hey, it's international from Japan).  We weren't able to visit everywhere we wanted to go (Jeju Island in South Korea - I'm thinking of you) but we checked off a lot of places on the list.  We'd talked about taking an around the world cruise when Steve retires, but after the past two years, I told Steve I didn't think it was necessary - so maybe we manage to save money in the long run. :)  

However, Dorothy has it right - there's no place like home.  I think Japan is one of the best places to be an expat - it's an exciting major city, but also very clean and safe.  You're treated wonderfully by the people there, but you're still always a guest.  You just don't have the same comfort level as you do being in the United States.  We're overjoyed we had the opportunity to experience living overseas for a couple of years, but we're happy to be home.

Home!

I'm unsure how often I'll be posting from now on - life is generally less exciting for us here (in a good way).  I may have some updates on adjusting back to being in the United States (I have to drive again!) and some quilting or book posts, but it won't be as frequent.  If you've been reading the blog, I hope you've enjoyed our stories.  If you're doing research for living in Japan or overseas (or even just for recommendations on fabric shopping in Tokyo) maybe knowing about our experiences makes it a little easier for you.  Occasionally it felt like a chore to keep up with the blog, but overall it was a pleasure to look back and record our narrative.