export_ofoct.com (1)

[00:02.13] Abidemi: So Jeremy, we both work in Japan, and I was just talking about how it feels like to go home.

[00:08.63] How does it feel like for you, Jeremy?

[00:11.13] Jeremy: Well, when I go back to Canada, really the first thing that I notice is the air.

[00:19.13] And it’s a funny thing to think but I know when I arrive in Vancouver and I walk out of the airport, I can smell West Coast Canada air.

[00:29.88] And it really gives a kind of positive feeling to me. You know, it’s a small thing but you notice how clean.

[00:40.63] I know it’s a stereotype with Canada but it really is such a clean place.

[00:45.38] And also, Vancouver, you have the smell of the ocean and you have the mountains right there.

[00:50.13] So that’s the first that I always notice.

[00:52.38] But when I go back and I visit my parents, it takes me about 10 minutes to get used to where I am being back home.

[01:03.13] You know, it doesn’t take long at all. And I think it’s because that’s the house that I grew up in and just the feeling that I grew up with, it returns immediately.

[01:15.38] You know, it goes away when I’m away when I’m living in Japan but as soon as I get back home, that feeling of comfort comes back within minutes.

[01:25.13] And I look forward to the same thing that everybody looks forward to when they go back home, and food is right at the top of that list.

[01:34.88] You know, I honestly look forward to turkey dinner, maybe more than anything in the world, or prime rib or those types of things.

[01:44.88] But it’s just the small things; having mom make a snack or something like that.

[01:50.13] And just the feeling of being completely at ease and without a worry in the world is kind of what I most look forward to going back home.

[02:02.13] There’s other things when you go out and you go to the stores and you circulate around town.

[02:09.13] It does feel a little bit like you’re an alien in your own town. And I mean—but that’s a feeling that I never mind.

[02:16.13] I have no problem being a foreigner in my own home now. I kind of enjoy the feeling.

[02:23.13] And sometimes, I even wish that I didn’t speak the language everybody else was speaking because I don’t want to hear everybody’s conversations to be honest.

[02:30.38] But you know the feeling of being in my house or my parent’s house is really a feeling that is just complete comfort.

[02:38.63] Abidemi: How often do you get to back home now?

[02:40.88] Jeremy: Well, just because of the cost, I can probably only go back once a year.

[02:47.13] And also, we have an infant boy, and traveling with a one-year-old on a 10-hour flight is—until you do it, you really never realize how terrible it is.

[02:59.88] But it is uncomfortable. It is really uncomfortable. So yeah, we’re only able to make it back to Canada probably once a year now but his grandparents love seeing him so much that we want to do it as much as we possibly can.

[03:15.38] Abidemi: I guess the fact that you can’t go as often as you would like makes it even much more worthwhile when you do get to go.

[03:21.38] Jeremy: It’s true. It’s true, yeah. Just the expense and the time that we have to put in, while you’re there you basically savor every second.

[03:30.38] You don’t want to sleep. You just want to enjoy it. So yeah, it’s a pretty special experience going back home now.

[03:40.13] Abidemi: That’s awesome.