He said, "welcome home."

So Monday the 8th we left Beijing, China and flew to Tokyo and then from Tokyo to Portland, Oregon. I think we left China around 8:30 AM and we landed in Portland about 8:45 AM. (Those numbers may be off by a couple hours, but nothing too significant.) So it was really crazy... we traveled backwards through time! cool! We had to go through customs, so that meant filling out a card, getting out luggage, passing a couple guards (who could have checked our bags, but didn't) and then we handed our cards to one last guard and when I handed it to him I was officially in America! As he reached to take the card, he said, "welcome home." I grinned from ear to ear. Home. I'm home. After 11 weeks of traveling in Thailand, Laos, and China, I was finally home. We had one more jump from there to Minneapolis, and then I said goodbye to Dr. Larson, Dr. Baker, Sarah, and Bekah, and Bethany and I went with Bethany's parents.

I spent the night there and then the next day after a relaxed start, Bethany and her parents took me to Grand Forks. I met up with Troy and spent the night there. The next day, (Wednesday) I worked with Troy and David, (Troy's father-in-law) putting some things (a highly specialized technical word) in a gym floor to support volleyball poles. Today (Thursday) I helped them again... this time building a wall and starting to put up a wall in a part of the school staircase. Then when we came home my parents and sister were home (yay!) Everyone is doing well, and I would like to give some more details, about my time in China, but the next few days I will be with my family, and I don't know how much time I will have for blogging or email. I will try get caught up with all of that (I haven't even tried yet) as soon as possible. Thank you my dear friends for your patience.

-Luke