The class trip that had felt both long and short ended without any huge hiccups. Prior to all this, I hadn’t been sure if I’d be able to enjoy going on such a long trip. But after it had ended I felt like it had gone by in the blink of an eye.
In fact, six days and four nights even seemed a bit short. As a class trip it was perfectly fine, but we all felt as if we had left things undone. There were places we wanted to go but couldn’t, foods we wanted to eat but couldn’t, and things we wanted to do but couldn’t. Hawaii was like a meal we’d eaten only an eighth of, full of a charm that made us want to stay there for just a little while longer. I could completely understand, now, why it was such a popular travel spot.
At the same time, I was also starting to feel an undeniable desire to head back home. I admit the first thing I did when our plane landed safely back in Japan was sigh in relief.
I wanted to stay in Hawaii for longer, but I also wanted to go home. Maybe those contradictory feelings were a part of what made traveling so enjoyable.
At least I’d promised Nanami that we’d return to Hawaii, so I was sure that I would go back at some point. To do that, though, I would have to prepare. I needed to look into learning how to drive and getting my license. The trip would come sooner than I knew it—just like this first visit had.
And just like that, we finished our class trip and returned home...but the first thing we all said when we landed ended up being the same. Despite the fact that we’d each experienced and enjoyed the trip in a different way, our hearts became one in this final moment.
The first words out of our mouths were...
“It’s cold!”
Those two words were something all of us said.
Seriously, the moment we got off the plane, we all started saying how cold it was, like we were all part of one giant chorus. I was so shocked by the chill that I couldn’t help saying it too. I mean, what was going on with the temperature? We’d all heard ahead of time that it was cold, so none of us were lightly dressed, but we all still felt it.
It was true that, when it was cold, that was all you could think about. We thus tried desperately to hold on to the last bit of Hawaiian warmth in our minds as we stood there battling the Japanese cold. Even though I was attuned to the scent and the difference in the air when we landed in Hawaii, this time, landing back in Japan, all I could think about was the temperature change.
“Seriously, why is it so cold?” I murmured.
I didn’t think I usually felt this cold. What was going on? Was it because I’d just spent the past few days basking in the Hawaiian sun?
Even though it had just been six days, four nights, the trip had been nearly a week long. It seemed entirely possible that our bodies had gotten used to the temperature there and so found the weather in Japan to be colder than usual.
Nanami was hugging herself as she walked. Even though we’d got back home, it felt like we’d arrived in a foreign land. But that also could have been because we were walking through the jet bridge connecting the plane to the terminal, which meant we were practically outside.
“Nanami, are you okay? It’s cold, huh?” I asked.
“What in the world, it’s cold...super cold. I wanna eat something warm,” she returned.
“Seriously. Ramen would be so good right now,” I muttered.
“Oh, that’s a great idea. Should we get some before we head home?”
Nanami’s agreement made me want ramen for real. We hadn’t encountered any in Hawaii...though I guess we did see some cup noodles. Despite Nanami’s very appealing suggestion, though, we weren’t actually going to disperse as a class at the airport, so the odds of us actually being able to act on it was low.
I should have thought better than to mention this at all. Now I totally had ramen on the brain.
People around us were also naming warm comfort foods—oden, pork and veggie soup, udon, soba...just a variety of Japanese foods. Maybe we were just rebounding from our time abroad.
But as we continued walking through the jet bridge, our heads filled with the thought of warm foods like The Little Match Girl, we finally understood why it felt so cold.
“Wow, it’s snowing.”
That’s right: snow.
I guess someone had mentioned it while we were on the plane, but I’d never expected to see my first snow of the year like this.
Outside the window, white snow fell slowly from the sky. It wasn’t piling up on the ground, and there definitely wasn’t a snowstorm or anything, but at least I finally understood why it felt so dang cold.
“You wanna wear my jacket, Nanami?” I asked.
Even though we were almost out of the jet bridge, if Nanami was cold, then...
“Hmm. I think I’d rather do this than have your jacket,” she replied.
“This?” I asked, then added in confusion, “What?”
“This!” Nanami said, taking my hand and dexterously entwining her arm with mine. We had our arms linked, in other words, but it seemed like we were much closer to each other than what arm-linking would allow. We also had to walk more slowly, which made us stick even closer together.
“Tee hee, it’s so warm,” Nanami whispered.
“Dude, we just got back,” I thought I heard someone mumble, but I decided to pretend like I didn’t hear it.