Busy

It's the last week of the school year here, so after having months of free time (too much), I am now swamped with work. Schedules, book lists, report cards, and homework creation at work. Resumes, applications, cover letters and research for my life. Trip planning for Mom (next week!!!!) and Cheney (July!!!!). Busy. But, it's good. Things are good. It's spring here! Yay! This weekend I went to lunch with a conversation exchange partner on Saturday and on Sunday I went to Harajuku. If you read about Tokyo, you'll probably come across Harajuku. Crazy fashion and shops. I was there for an Irish Parade in honor of St. Patrick's Day. I went with Shane, that Irish guy I went to the aquarium with last month. Emma's friend. Emma from China. Anyway, Shane is going back to Ireland this week, so I went to say bye. It was the first nice day since fall, and it was beautiful. So, to sum up the rambles. Good weekend. Busy week. Mom comes next week.

Dad has a really cool youtube video that Ian made. It's so cute. Makes me cry and makes me homesick. But it's great. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EgVKOOyc2M&feature=youtu.be

Pictures and some of my own videos. The first is my friend making lunch, the second are some big ass crows taking a bath.

 

Maiko making lunch. Essentially cabbage and seafood fried up with something delicious.

Japan/Ireland parade.

Timon. Yeah, it's a Meercat. Who knew?!

Shane and Me in a beer tent.

 

 

 

And its March again

Happy March! Man time flies. What's been going on here? Ok. I'll tell you. I did February with no chocolate and no ice-cream. Logically I had ice-cream for breakfast on March 1st. Work is good, been getting new students, which is always good for small schools. Marco came back for a weekend to pick up his stuff, play Frisbee, and watch Psych. Mom's coming in 25 days and I can't wait. I'm editing a fantasy novel for a coworker. I'm trying to save money for traveling and so I have a bit of breathing room when planning for next year, so obviously I bought a new computer bag. I'm trying to get Cheney to sit down and plan our July trip, but it's Cheney, so it's hard. Yesterday it was sunny and 70 degrees F, today its rainy and 40 again. Booooo. I've been researching/applying to jobs all over the world as well as all over the job spectrum. I change my mind every 38 seconds about what I want to do and where I want to go. Last I heard, Dad's campaign was doing well. I'm trying to convince Sophia to travel with me this summer also in order to celebrate 4 years of friendship. This summer is my 5 year Wooster Graduation reunion. That blows my mind. That also means that August is my 9 year friendship anniversary with Jess, Molly, and the rest of Wooster. Also crazy. AND! Cheney is graduating from college soon and Ethan is turning 21. Holy cow. I just freaked myself out. Anyway. Things are good. All is well. Nothing exciting as of late, but with the spring weather should come some new adventures, so stay tuned. Love to all!

I've been eating Kimchi and Tofu as a snack.

I cooked some real food this week!

Dude. Tetris fruit snacks.

A game and a snack!

My new computer bag that I got the same day I decided to put myself on a tight budget.
I'm an idiot.

Winter time.

Right. So, this is a standard, cheap draft beer with frozen dark beer on top.
It's weird. Not real delicious, but way better than what is expected.
It also looks like poo, or Enko, if you want to speak Japanese.

 

Sunlight and Snowfall

It has snowed twice here this year. The first day it was the rainy/slushy/snow that is just gross. I promptly fell on my behind. The weird part of that is that it was 5 years, pretty much to the day, after the ice fall that broke my leg. **SQUIRM** Yesterday was the second time. It snowed big flakes all day, about 2 inches on the ground. However, it is now sunny and 4c, so about 40F. I have high hopes that the snow and ice will be gone soon.

Things are good. I'm attempting February with no chocolate and no ice-cream. Valentines day in Japan entails girls making and giving chocolate to boys. Then there is white day in March where it is the other way around.

I've been planning some things. Getting ready for mom's whirlwind tour of Japan. Trying to work things out with Cheney for our July travels. Deciding what I might want to do next year. BAH! THE FUTURE!

Dad's campaign in up and running and I'm very proud of him.

Happy birthday to Granddad. (February 15th)

Love and snow pictures for you!

I made a snowman.

Blue skies.

7am walk about in the snow.

The bridge. Check out that reflection!

Shrine/Temple across the street from my house.

 

What happened to January!?

Happy winter! Hope everyone is staying warm. This has been the most mild winter of my life and I love it. No snow. No ice. Around 9C during the day, down to maybe -2 c at night. Very nice.

This month, Marco has been here. Marco and I did track together at Wooster, his facebook status is what put Korea in my head, and he gave me this current job. He is getting his Masters in Korean now, and on his way to Korea for a year of intense school, he stopped by Iwatsuki. It's been a good month. He introduced me to a lot of his friends and showed me some awesome places to eat and to play. Its also been nice to have someone to talk to and he gives me hugs. You don't realize how important physical affection is until you go months with out it. Japanese people are very reserved, even the kids, so hugs have been really good.

What else...MOM is coming to Japan during my spring break at the end of March. I'm really really excited. I've even been planning...that's hard. I've also been speaking to Cheney about some traveling together in July, which is also very exciting.

BigguyBill and Neda came to dinner. They live in Korea and were in Tokyo for a week. It was great to see them.

Japanese lessons are going well. I'm not good at studying during the week though, so it's slow. Real slow. But it's all right. I'm getting there.

I think that's it really. Just hanging out. Living. Laughing. Learning.

Thursday moms and kids came over for lunch on Saturday.

Me, Marco, Taka at an Izakiya.

Marco and I in a traditional area.

It was a beautiful day.

Meeting some Iwatsuki friends.

People who live very near me. Yay!

Weird space dogs?

We made Korean food one night. And Marco was introduced to Making Bacon Pancakes.
He thanked me for that song.

Marco's "welcome back to Asia party"

Marco's main drinking buds. And me.

This is a video from the traditional town that we were tromping around. We stumbled on this show. It was interestingly weird.

 

Country number 15

December 25th, I took the 5:15 am train from near my house and got to the airport just in time to check in for my 9 am flight to China. I had a 5 hour layover, and I got to Bangkok at 10pm. I then took a taxi to my hostel. Nice place. I was in an all girls, 2 bed dorm. After checking in, the host invited me to the Christmas party that all of the guests were at. I said I would go down after I took a shower. However, after I showered, I lay down to type an email. Next thing I know, it's morning! Whoops.

December 26th. Woke up around 7:30. Two other girls in the room, one who had been in Bangkok for about a week and was just relaxing and one who had gotten in about an hour after I had. She is Canadian and is working in Korea for the year, so we teamed up and saw the sights of Bangkok. We took the river ferries around instead of taxis and managed to avoid the protests. Bangkok is a nice enough city, but I felt that one solid day was plenty of time. I went to be at 10 because I had to get up at 4 the next day.

December 27th. Woke up at 4 to get a taxi to the airport for my 7am flight to Krabi. I passed out before take off and woke up after landing. From the airport, I bought a shuttle bus ticket that the sign said would take me to a ferry. It did not. It took us to a hotel, where we waited for about 2 hours for another bus that took us across two ferries and dropped me off at my hostel, on Koh Lanta, an island in the south. Checked in and went to the beach! Nice hostel. Mixed, 6 bed dorm.

December 28th, Woke up at 7 and went snorkeling around 4 different islands via a longtail boat. It was loud and wet, but I enjoyed myself. I obtained a bruise on my shin during this trip because while I was snorkeling, a Swedish woman decided that it was a good time to feed the fish, so a parrot fish promptly swam right into me. After the last snorkeling spot, we all put on life jackets and swam into a PITCH DARK cave, After about 7 minutes in this cave, we came out into what looked like the inside of a volcano. It was beautiful, but I have a hard time with caves.

December 29th I slept in until 7:30, then I got up and explored the island. I just walked around for a few hours, bought gifts for my boss and coworker. Then, I went to the beach! When I was done, I went to a bar for dinner and a beer. Starting chatting with an English dude. Hung out with beers on the beach until 2. (That's late for me on vacation!)

December 30th, Beach day. Delicious food, and more beach.

December 31st, Beach and food. Traveled around to various beach bars and parties chatting with random people. Made it awake until 12:16. Saw the New Year Fireworks and went to bed.

January 1st, got up at 8. Checked out of my bunk, went to the beach. Had all my favorite foods one more time. Said good bye to the ocean. Went back to the hostel, had a shower and hopped on an airport shuttle van. I was in the very back, in the left hand corner. About 20 minutes into the trip, he backed right into a palm tree, right in my corner. Scared me pretty good, not going to lie. Flew from Krabi to Bangkok, used the free shuttle bus to switch from the small Bangkok airport to the big one, made it to my flight with 4 minutes to spare.

Turned into January 2nd, Flew through China again. What happened in China immigration/passport control? I opened my passport to find it SWARMING with red ants. 1. that's not great anyway. 2. that's especially not great in immigration. 3. that's terrifying in China. But it was ok. No problems. Don't know where those suckers all came from, but it made the next 8 hours of traveling go by with my skin crawling! I was also worried about getting back into Japan, as I wasn't sure if my visa was processed, but it all worked out fine.

Books I read: The Dinosaur Feather ( I like), Gone Girl ( I like), The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (I like), Home ( I didn't love), The Sea Sisters ( I like, but wish I hadn't read while traveling SE Asia alone), Slapped by an Angel ( I did not like), The Engagement ( I did not like, but I can't stop thinking about the mindfuck that it is), The Kingmaker's Daughter (on the fence about) and that new one by the Harry Potter lady that she wrote using a pen name, The Cuckoo's Calling ( I like).

Good trip. I will consider going solo again. It was hard. I was about 60:40 loving:hating it. It was hard when the sun went down because at the point it's either go to a bar and hope or go to bed. But I enjoyed myself a lot. I wore sunscreen everyday, so no burns. I have about 4853 mosquito bites.

Pictures: (they're chronologically backwards)

Koh Lanta, Thailand

American, Chinese, Japanese, Thai.

Happy New Year!

Obviously I wasn't allllll alone.



Toilet in the middle of the room. It seemed important to document on NYE.

Inside the volcano thing. Cave behind me.

I survived a cave!

Snorkeling break to play with the camera.

That's me!

Dino's in Thailand

Can you see that red mark in the shadow of my hand? That's from the fish.

Snorkel trip lunch on the beach.

The Longtail boat we were on.

They came too.

Koh Lanta.

First lunch on the beach. Book, wine, dino, Mango.

Bangkok from the top of a Wat.



Giant, reclining Buddha.

Line of Buddha's in Bangkok.

That's me.

Dino up high in Bangkok.

Reclining Buddha.

Thailand Architecture.

Bangkok-Korea buddies.

Dinos in Bangkok.

Beach flowers.

In front of the Grand Palace. We didn't go inside because it cost 500 baht. The other
Wat's cost about 100 baht to get in, so we did five smaller ones instead.

Thailand.

Shiny!