three weeks

Hoot is home for 21 days.

He's the neurologist based in Milwaukee, WI and NWA flew him in last night from Narita. Those of us who ride the same airline to and from the US are familiar with this route.

I've been going to theUS for a decade now. My first US trip was with him and my dad. It was Hoot's second trip. I went there basically not to enjoy Disneyland or Universal Studios or Magic Mountain but because it was more like seeing my brother off. He was to be left behind to pursue his residency in Chicago after graduating from the UP College of Med.

Since then, I went back and forth to visit him. I've been to LA, Chicago, Indiana and Milwaukee. Other trips were meant to meet up with former highschool classmates. One was based in Indiana and the other in SF. We all decided to meet up in downtown Chicago and it was in this state where I had my first TGIF and Lil Ceasar experiences. Meanwhile, it was in LA where I first tasted my Sbarro pizza.

Frequent trips qualified me to enrol in the mileage membership clubs of UA and NWA. The mileage I earned most came from domestic flights.

I would go to the US for a summer holiday. I wouldn't take summer classes and opt to get away from the country. After all, it's only in the US where I do my shopping (I don't really buy much and most of the spending are courtesy of my aunts living there).

There was one summer when, after arriving at the Manila Domestic (I was enroled at Silliman then), my dad picked me up only to hand me my passport. He parked the car at a nearby chinese restaurant where I changed my shirt (you've got to wear comfy clothes for a 13-hour flight) and had only about 30 minutes to be with him. We had to rush to the NAIA so I wouldn't be late for my US flight.

Before tonight's dinner, Hoot asked about my US visa. I told him it expired last year.

My mom frowned at me. She asked me why I didn't tell her, which I did back in January 2001 before my visa expired.

Anyway, both of them want me to renew my US visa.

They want me to do it before the hospital my brother works for applies a greencard for him.

Well, alright.

The reason why I deliberately didn't renew my visa is because I didn't think I'd go to the US again. It felt like I had too much of it, I guess.

I wasn't enthusiastic about the visa renewal. But because my brother said he'll pay for the fees, I'd be a fool to let that opportunity pass.

* * *

kids should know that...

Milwaukee's location in the Great Lakes Region means that it often has rapidly changing weather, and the city experiences the full range of the seasons throughout the year. The warmest month of the year is July, when the average high temperature is 82°F (28°C), with overnight low temperatures averaging 66°F (19°C); January is the coldest month, with high temperatures averaging 27°F (-3°C), with the overnight low temperatures around 13°F (-11°C). Of the 50 largest cities in the United States, Milwaukee has the second-coldest average annual temperature, next to that of Minneapolis. (wikipedia)