The Messy Emotions

#4 - Life Long Dream

Since Takayuki was fascinated with both western literature and culture, going to western counties was his lifelong dream. One day in the summer break, as Takayuki was doing some stuff in his room, his mom called him to go downstairs as they had something to talk with him. At first, he didn't think much, but knew it was serious when he walked into the living room. He saw his mom and dad in a very serious mood, but they didn't seem to be mad at him which made him a little confused.

"Well, you still remember uncle Tanaka, right?", his mom asked. Takayuki then nodded as he listened to his mom. "Me and mom knew that you wanted to at least go study in America, so your uncle gave this opportunity to you. Since you're already 14, and me and your mom would rarely be at home, I think this might be the time.", his dad explained to him. "So, there's a boarding school in America near where your uncle lives and works. He said it's really international, so you'd get to meet a lot of friends and the quality is also not too bad.", his dad told him. "The thing is, you'll have to stay there your whole high school. Still, we'll visit you, but yeah, that's the only condition.", his mom told him the expected catch to this. Not wanting to let this opportunity fly away, he agreed which set him off on his way to the US.

Around mid August after he had resigned from his old school, and did all the paperwork, his parents flew with him to the US to meet his uncle. Still, he missed his friends, but since he got their contacts, they could still connect. As they got down the plane, they could see Takayuki's uncle right there, waiting for them. All of them seemed to be overjoyed as the uncle got to meet his nephew, and the siblings finally met each other again.

After that, they got into the uncle's car, and they drove back to his house. Right then, Takayuki had gotten his first culture shock. In Japan, people normally drive on the left while in the US, they drive on the right. He didn't have much problem with it, but it was just unusual which made him a little uncomfortable to see people driving on the right. Another thing was the distance between places; it was a relatively far distance for Takayuki since he was used to travelling in the small area of urban Tokyo. Still, he was fascinated with landscape that he could never witnessed in Japan.

About 30 minutes later, they finally reached his uncle's home. Immediately, they were greeted with a Labrador Retriever which came running from the kitchen. It was about as high as Takayuki's waist, and when it jumped right onto him, he forcefully fell backwards. He later got to know that its name was Cole, it was a male dog, and it was around 16-17 years old in dog years. After the family was greeted by the house's beloved pet, they moved on to view the house.

The house was relatively big, and it had 3 bedrooms with a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and bathrooms on both floor. The first thing they did after arriving was unpack their bags, and since there were 3 bedrooms, Takayuki's mom and dad decided to sleep together while giving the last room to Takayuki. When he opened the door into his room, he saw a bed, a closet, a shelf, and a table right by the window. As he began unpacking, and getting stuff into the place that he liked, the room began to get livelier as it was becoming more similar to his room back in Japan. After Takayuki was happy with his room, he flopped down onto his bed, and lied there with joy from the severe jet lag.

The following day, his uncle took Takayuki to the school where he'd be staying in, and he was absolutely shocked. He was fascinated with how the modern the campus looked, and it was relatively huge as well. It got a complete set of facilities, such as libraries, computer labs, art room, music room, a plethora of sporting facilities, a running track, a swimming pool, etc. Basically, anything and everything a student could ever be using in their time in campus. He was also granted a look at the dorms as well, and they were as modern as he could imagine. There were also conveniences near by, such as vending machines, the public washroom, and a cafeteria just by the dorm. Of course, that made the enthusiastic boy even more excited.

After they had gone home that day, Takayuki had made his decision, and it wasn't a tough one at all. He really wanted to study there, and dreamed of way too many things he'd be doing in his time there. So, the following morning, he quickly went there to apply. After a bit of taking the test, and what do you know, Takayuki managed to get in. He was overjoyed, and couldn't even wait to start his first day of school there. He dreamed of his new friends, new school, new experiences, and the new chapter of his life in that very highschool.

End of Chapter 4