Chris' surprise

Well it turns out in the end that my "surprise" wasn't really a surprise at all being that his brother told him I was coming and his parents confirmed that I changed the flight. But he still let me play along, enjoying that I was going through the work of keeping it from him, plus he didn't know exactly when I would be arriving. My flight landed and I have to admit it was cold and rainy and Detroit did not look like the prettiest place, plus our dinner at Red Robin was a bit circus-like with the tvs, colors, and balloons everywhere (In France they don't decorate a restaurant to cater to kids). I had my very American meal of a burger and fries and a milkshake and then the waitress found out I was coming back from France and asked if I wanted them to sing to me. I very pointedly said no but then she wanted me to say "That was a good hamburger" in French and thought it was amazing and wanted to know if I wanted a free sundae..sigh.

After a good night's sleep and some unpacking I got my things together for a weekend in Grand Rapids and drove for the first time in over 7 months. Luckily Chris' roommate was getting his groceries out of his car when I got there so I put a sign on the door that said "Congrats Chris" and then headed inside to plant more clues. I put Zizou, the tiger stuffed animal he gave me on his bed with a note that said "We did it" and then a note that said "Want me to help you pick out something to wear?" and hid in the closet to where I could see him when he came in. He didn't get the hint and ended up yelling at his roommate to tell him where I was, and when Bobby played dumb he ran outside and started driving to find me until it occured to him I was in the closet!

After that it was like I had never been gone and I had a wonderful weekend going out with friends and celebrating Chris' graduation. It was filled with tons of "American" things; meals in pubs, Koney after a night dancing at McFaddens, big breakfasts, oldies and country concert by Kathryn's dad's mens choir, fancy and clean public restrooms, Mexican food, and ice cream. Home sweet home.