Welcome Back, Alessia!

Alessia and I July 2013
Last Wednesday, I finally got to see one of my best friends that I haven't seen in over 2 years. And that was, Alessia.
Alessia, for those who aren't familiar, was the foreign exchange student in my high school a few years ago. We met through a mutual friend at a play one night, and immediately clicked. At the time, I was taking Italian, so she was the perfect resource. We bonded, and soon even took to hanging out without our mutual friend. I got to see her go to her prom, and we often were found getting our fro yo. But, soon enough it was time to say our goodbyes. I didn't know when I would be seeing her next, and that was okay.
 
Flash forward to two years later. When Alessia first told me she was coming to visit in America I was beyond excited. It's beyond amazing that we kept in touch all of these years and so we finally got to catch up over breakfast. (She was craving an American breakfast) On Friday, I took her shopping to some American stores like TJ Maxx and CVS. We even met up with Gabriel for a little while.
 
Alessia is going to be exploring California for the next week or so, but after that we're currently planning a trip to Boston before she leaves in mid-August. I am so beyond happy to have her back, because I really did miss her. However, no matter how far she is, I've learned that she's one of the truest friends that I have.

Reunion

So for those of you who don't know, although I am sure that I've mentioned this before, my best friend (pictured above) goes to college in Minnesota. And, because of that, since we live about 12000 miles away, it's not ideal to see each other fairly frequently. So, in August, I said my goodbyes. And I knew that it would be a long time before he came back. Although things would change, I did realize that something never would. And that was the fact that we would always and forever be close friends. But still, that doesn't make the goodbye come any easier.
During his time away at college, he had new experiences, as did I. I got a job, and changed my major completely. We both grew. We both changed. But you want to know the best thing about this whole thing? Our friendship didn't. We both called each other, whether it was once a week, or several times a week. When we couldn't, whether it was because we were busy or whatever, it was no big deal. We texted and we skyped.
So when he finally came home, we made plans to have lunch and spend the afternoon together. And it was awesome.
Honestly, it felt that we never were apart. (Thank you modern technology.) Getting to see him, in person, not behind a screen was an amazing feeling because I got to be with my best friend. After a hug, we had an amazing lunch, some coffee, and some other food items before I had to go to work.

(us enjoying dessert at Panera!)
Honestly, he's always going to be my best friend. Throughout this whole thing I realized that no matter what goes on, or how far we are in miles, we will always be close. He's my best friend, plain and simple. I know that he will always have my back, as I will have his. It doesn't matter if we live across town, and across the country. We will always fight over french fries, never agree about purple hair, but that's okay. Our relationship is full of jokes that we will never understand, and never actually being serious. That's just us, and it works.
But I am so glad that he's home, and I can't wait to hang out with him more over our long break. Welcome home Hiroki. Love you!