Until now, I've been in environments foreign in at least some significant way — language, customs, currency. More than anything, each new place always gave a sense of uncertainty, a sense that was harder to get rid of than simply learning a few words or downloading some obscure app to pay for things. Those around me were a mystery, much like the space we temporarily shared. Even while on the flight to Houston, I still felt as if I was in Japan. But then, with touchdown, and the English conversation in an Uber, and the slightly-louder chattering of those around me, I realised the portal jump had been successful, and that I was finally in a place a lot closer to home. I felt closer to the environment this year had started in — another place alike, but not exactly, to home; yet everything I had been carrying was different, was gone. Other quick reports: French practice, some high percentage shots, quite a bit of wandering, Alex's rum cake, and a day trip almost certainly being in the works (North Carolina or Costa Rica, quite an uncommon dichotomy).