EEEkkk!

So I just looked at my blog and realized that I still had not updated my blog. I expected to have a few days of free time last week to do it (over a short holiday), but I ended up traveling to Tokyo for a job interview. I'm suppose to hear back from them next week. I also have another job possiblity, not in Japan, but in the area. Hopefully I'll know more soon and have a little free time to write.

I love you and miss you all.

I lied...

Sorry everyone, but I just don't have the energy to write a blog about India and Nepal right now. This week I have to finish my final reseach project for my class on Global Terrorism and next week I have my final for my Middle Eastern conflicts class.

I will write about it eventually, but I just can't bring myself to do it right now. I spent hours writing for my research project today and can't do it again! I'm doing well though, just busy.

I love and miss you all!

March News

So, life has been going pretty well lately. Grad school is more amazing than I expected. The only downside I see is that I started with the 2 classes that interested me most and I'm worried the next ones will be a disappointment. The class on terrorism is my favorite. The great thing about these types of classes is that I'm not just gaining knowledge of isolated, unrelated events. Everything I learn I am able to apply to what I hear and see on the news everyday. Not only are my views changing on certain issues, but I'm able to see things from different perspectives and really scrutinize the news. I no longer feel like I have to simply believe everything I read in the paper. I know enough to ask the right questions and realize when the information I'm reading is probably flawed...which is often. So, as you can see, I'm still loving my classes (and doing well, all A's on everything!)

This past weekend was fun. Saturday started with our St. Patrick's Day parade in Ise. Two of my 4th grade students were there and I made them do an Irish dance with me! I'll post a picture after I download them, maybe next week. Then on Sunday, Shun and I had made plans to play tennis with another couple we're friends with. It ended up being 8 people for an entire afternoon of sports. We played tennis, soccer, and threw a baseball around. I had a great time!! We've already planned to do it again this weekend. It was seriously the most fun I've had in a very long time.

Soon I'll be leaving for my trip to India (14 days) and Nepal (4 days), leaving Japan on March 20th. I'm going with my friend Erica. Still not exactly sure what all we'll be doing there, but I know it will be amazing. India was one of the top 5 countries that I wanted to visit. I can't wait to see the Taj Mahal. Expect to see lots of pictures of it! Not sure what the internet situation will be like there, but I'll post if I can.

The only downside to my trip is....it's during the NCAA tournament! Do you think people in India are big college hoops fans? Maybe I'll introduce the nation to the amazingness that is Carolina!

Tomorrow is my Junior High's graduation ceremony and next week is my elementary's. I'm really sad to see my 3rd year students go. I'll really miss them, some more than others of course! I think it's actually one of the hardest parts of teaching for me. I get really attached to my kids. I hate to see them go. This year I gave some of them my email address, so hopefully at least a couple will keep in touch.

In job news, still no news. I'll probably be here another year. I'm going to take my last year here to really travel around Japan. I'll probably only do one big international trip, as well as try to come home one time.

Alright, it's late and I need to go to bed. Sorry if there are lots of typos. I'm really sleepy.

I love and miss you all......and Go Tarheels!!!!!!!!

quick update

It's sooo late and I need to go to bed, but I took a nap and can't sleep....so I figured I'd write a quick update. Life is going well recently, besides being really, really sick last week. Now all is wonderful. Grad school is going amazingly well. I almost forgot how much I love school. It's also a ton of work though. I've noticed myself letting other things slide. School is always my first priority and I get my school work done fine, but I have to start managing the rest of my life as well. Hopefully I'll adjust soon.

This past week was Valentine's, my favorite day of the year. Yesterday we had our JETs Vday ball and it was great being able to get all dressed up. I'll post pictures soon. Also, it's been snowing like crazy here, very unusual for this area. It's snowed over ten times this month! I don't think Ise has ever had this much snow. Last year we didn't get any. Shun says it's extremely unusual. I've enjoyed it though. If I have to suffer through the cold, at least I can play in the snow!

As far as the job search, still no luck. Most schools finish hiring in March, so if I don't find a job soon, I never will. For now it looks like I'll be in Japan another year. Assuming I stay, I'm going to have to set some more goals for myself, finishing grad school being one of them. If I take summer and special winter (over christmas break) session classes, I should be able to finish by summer of 09. I set some goals for this past year and accomplished about half. I travelled internationally alot this year, started grad school, read lots of books I'd been putting off, learned to cook...only a few new things though, etc. In the next few months, when I'm 100% sure I'll be here another year, I'll start thinking of what I want to do my 3rd and definitely last year in Japan.

Pretty soon it will start to warm up and I will begin exploring Japan more. I hope to climb Mt. Fuji this summer, visit Hiroshima again, and go to at least one new place in Japan, maybe one of the other Islands. Anyway, that's all for now.

Oh, one more thing!! Someone, anyone, would you please send me some easter egg dye?? I want to celebrate Easter and teach my students about it. They know about many American/European holidays, but most have no idea about Easter!! So dye or any other Easter related items would be great. Pretty please!!!

I love and miss you all!

A Wonderful Reminder!

http://habitatjp.org/CO/CO_pdf/newsletter_pdf/hfhjnl_v07e.pdf

Please go to the above link and look at the site! Scroll down to page two and look at the picture and short article under the heading "Thank You."

Reading this and seeing that picture and that little girl almost made me cry. She was so sweet and just wanted to be held and played with. She was so starved of love and attention. I hope she is doing well, maybe even found a home...but I doubt it.

Since I started grad school and had to pay tuition, I can't afford to go on this year's Habitat for Humanity trip. I'm still going to India with a friend, but couldn't come up with the money for Habitat. I'm extremely upset I can't go again. Maybe I'll talk to Erica, the girl I'll be traveling with, and see if she wants to spend a day in an orphanage. It was such a wonderful experience.

My Trip, continued...

Ok, so I'll pick up where I left off. (Read my last post first if you haven't already.)

I woke up at 4 am and met my driver. Oh, did I mention that in Siem Reap I usually had a moto driver intead of a tuk tuk. That means I was raced around town on a dirt bike. It was scary at times because there is so much traffic, most of it being dirt bikes though. Anyway, we arrived at Angkor Wat very early. I was one of the first 4 people there. The other 3 were each also traveling alone. There was a girl from Australia, a girl from Holland, and a guy from Singapore (I think). We all started talking about our trip and instantly connected. We hung out the rest of the morning. There were young men bringing coffee to people and we each got a cup and sat down front row at the lake across from Angkor. We talked while we waited for sunrise and the thousands of other people arrived. The sunrise was amazing, although there weren't any clouds so it wasn't as colorful as it often is. After, we were all heading off in different directions. We exchanged emails and I made plans with the girl from Holland to meet up for dinner. As I was walking to actually enter the Angkor teample area, I ran into the guy from the plane, Luke. I ended up spending half the afternoon exploring the temples with him. The temples were amazing. I don't even really know how to describe them. Ankgor is the most famous, but there are many other temples, each with their own unique qualities. One has the famous silk trees with the amazing roots, one the faces (Bayon, my favorite, and so on... It really is the most amazing site I've ever seen. It was more amazing than the Great Wall in China, and I thought that was pretty incredible. Really, it's hard to imagine anything ever topping it. I even got to see wild monkeys...well, wild in theory. They were so use to people that I was able to walk right up to them to take a picture. The one I posted isn's zoomed in or anything. Well, many people take 3 days to explore Angkor, but I only had one day. There was so much I didn't get to see. I would definitely go back to Cambodia again!

Around mid-afternoon, my early start to the day finally caught up with me and I had to go back to my guesthouse and take a nap. I woke up just in time to get ready and meet the girl from Holland for dinner. I had also invited Luke and she had invited a couple friends of hers from Phnom Penh. We ate at the Dead Fish Restaurant. It was the coolest place I've ever eaten. There were all these platforms with tiny staircases leading to the top. There were so many different levels. Some had just one big table on them, others had a few. We were at one of the highest levels and we could look down on the entire place. There were no rails of any sort and our table was right at the edge. We were seated on pillows on the floor, but it was still fairly comfortable. If we looked over the edge behind our table, there was an alligator pit. Glad no one fell. We all had a great time talking and exchanging travel stories. Everyone had such unique experiences traveling the world. I love meeting people like that! I was able to get some great future travel advice as well as share my own stories. After dinner, the girls headed off and Luke and I grabbed a drink across the street. We talked about politics, religion, etc. I enjoyed it and have kept in touch with him via facebook. He has one of those huge cameras (like you Kelley), so I'll be stealing some of his pictures.

The next morning I was off again on a 6 hour bus ride back to Phnom Penh to catch my late afternoon flight. This time I was seated beside a family of college professors. One used to live in India and I asked all sorts of questions for my upcoming trip this March. I had a little extra time before my flight and made one last stop at Phnom Wat temple and then headed off to the airport. My friends from Japan were finally arriving that night and we were meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. On the flight there, I met another university professor, this one from Australia. He was around 65 and very intersting. We ended up having dinner together in Bangkok and I really enjoyed talking to him as well. (Actually, I probably met about 6 or 7 professors on this strip, kind of strange..but cool!) By the time my friends arrived, it was time for bed because, you guessed it, another early bus ride. We had to leave at 5:30 for Koh Phangan. It's the Thai Island made famous by the full-moon party and the movie, The Beach. I was finally traveling with friends, Jamie, Steph, and Brian. We had to take a very long bus and boat ride. Luckily, I was seated beside a girl from...somewhere in Europe, but she had lived everywhere including South Africa, Tanzania, and was currently living in Spain. We talked for most of the trip and again, she was fascinating! We took a Jeepney/Bus to our hotel, which was at the far end of the island and down the most dangerous dirt hill I've ever seen cars actually go down. When we reached our beach front resort, it was all worth it though. The sunset was beautiful and we had our own 2 person bungalows. We had plans to head out to the town, but our resort told us that taxis won't travel to our far end of the island at night and we would be stuck. So we ate and hung out for the night at our own little bar and restaurant.

We met some cool guys from England and hung out with them for the next few days. The next day (Christmas Eve) we spent laying on the beach and in the pool. When I realized I was getting burned, I decided to get a beach side massage and facial, since it was under a canopy. Unfortunately for me, just as my 2 hour heaven session was starting, the Sun moved down just enough to fry me as I lay there covered in oil and honey. That night I was really starting to hurt as we headed out to the famous Full-moon party. There were more people on the beach than you could imagine, thousands. There was everything from large group fire jump roping (which I sadly missed getting to join...next time!), fire throwing, tons of DJ's, body painting, etc. Everything you could imagine. Steph, Jamie, Brian, and I spent the night dancing and having a great time. We planned to stay all night, but we gave up a little after 4 and headed home. The next day was Christmas, but I was so burned that I had to stay inside for most of it. By that night I was feeling a little better and joined everyone at the restaurant for Mai Tai's to celebrate the holiday. We had a great time and I was sad to leave everyone.

The day after Christmas, I went back on my own and headed back to Bangkok. I met a couple guys Mike and Steve from Canada and England while waiting for the boat and made plans to hang out in Bangkok because our guesthouses were very close. They were spending an undecided amount of time traveling around Asia, Australia, etc. They had both went on their own trips alone, met in Thailand, and had decided to start traveling together. The traveling community in Asia really is amazing. I was staying in the popular Khao San Road area, so there were tons of people around. It's a very touristy area, but I still enjoyed it. After 14 hours of bus and boat, we were all tired so we just had dinner and coffee and said goodnight. The next day I went to the Grand Palace (the pictures with all the gold) and it was better than I expected. I didn't realize how large it would be. I spent all afternoon walking around the palace grounds and then went back to Khao San for some shopping. That night I met up with Mike and some other new friends for drinks. We ended up leaving after one drink and walking across the street to get outdoor 30 minute foot massages. We then went back to the bar and spent the rest of the night laughing and having a great time there.

Sadly, all the traveling started to get to me on the last day of my trip. I wasn't feeling well at all. I had gone to meet Mike, Steve, and Jeff, but ended up sleeping in their hotel while they went out for...you guessed it, more massages, lol. I finally started feeling better and went out to meet them that night to go dancing. As I was walking, I randomly ran into my friend Tom from Japan. I talked to him for a minute, but then left to go meet my other friends. I danced for a couple hours, but then I went back to my hotel to get a few hours of sleep before my flight.

So...I know lots of that info probably seemed random to you guys, but it was stuff (and people) I want to remember when I look back on my trip. I have already started forgetting names and places and I know I left lots of stuff out. But that's all I can manage for now.

I can say, without a doubt, I will travel back to Thailand. It was amazing and there was so much I didn't get to do. Because I wasn't feeling well my last day, I missed out on riding the elephants and seeing a Muay Thai fight. I also only went to two places in Thailand and there is so much more. So Caren, we can go together if you still want to go. Not sure when I'll go back. I guess it depends on whether I can find a new job or not, and where that job is! As for traveling alone, I enjoyed it so much more than I ever expected. It is something I would definitely like to do again. You meet so many more people when you are alone and it really gives you alot of freedom to travel as you choose. I know it helped make me a stronger and more independent person, which is always a goal of mine.

I love and miss you all!

Ok, I'll try...Thailand and Cambodia

Ok, so if I do one more ounce of homework today I will die. Grad school is sooooo much work! I'm exhausted and it's just the first week. But, this means I have a few free minutes before bed, so I'll try to write a little about my trip.

First off, Daddy, don't freak out. I ended up traveling by myself for a good bit of the trip. I knew shortly before I left that I would be and I was ok with it. I've met so many people recently who travel alone. It's completely normal and common among women from Europe, Australia, and even Japan. It was something I wanted to do while in Japan, but I just didn't know it would be this particular trip. Because I wanted to come back to Japan for New Year's, I needed to leave earlier than everyone else. My school allows me to take off whenever I want, very unusual for Japan. So I left several days before my friends. I started off by flying to Bangkok. After my taxi driver pretended he didn't know where my hotel was and tried to take me to several expensive ones he knew of, a scam I was well aware of, I finally convinced him it was useless and he took me to my hotel. It was around 7 pm when I finally arrvied at my hotel and I threw my stuff down and headed out. I had an early flight the next day, so I was staying in a nicer part of town, close to the airport. I walked around my part of the city, eating dinner at a very Thai place, Subway I believe it way, lol. I was exhausted though, so I went to bed early.

I had to be up at 4am the next day to take an early flight to Cambodia. I met a guy from Canada who was also traveling alone, Luke, on the plane. We talked a bit about our plans and it was nice to have met my first fellow backpacker. Before I left, everyone told me it would be fine because I would meet so many people. They were right! I said goodbye to Luke at the airport and headed out. My hostel told me it would arrange airport pickup, but I didn't know it would be in the form of a Tuk-tuk, haha. It's small carriage type thingy pulled by a dirt-bike. I'll post a picture of it. I was spending only one day in Phnom Penh, so I wanted to make the most of it. I took a half-day tour my hotel offered. I went with a couple from England who were spending one year traveling around the world together. They were my age and I really enjoyed talking to them. We first went to the famous Killing Fields. Honestly, until I decided to go to Cambodia and started doing research, I had never even heard of what happened in Cambodia. It's sad how sheltered Americans are from the rest of the world. If you don't know about it, you should look it up on Wikipedia or just google it. It was such a tragedy. The Killing Field was basically a place where they exterminated people. There were mass graves everywhere, There were clothes and hair still sticking out of the ground in many places. There was a tree that they would beat the children's head against to kill them. I can't even begin to describe everything I read and saw there. The monument there was full of skulls of the victims. To say it was a sad sight doesn't even come close. In the interest of trying to write about as much of my trip as possible, I'll move on. But really, you should all read about it, at least a little bit. It really deserves not to be forgotten.

As if an effort to lift our spirits, our driver chose to take us next to the Russian Market. It was a huge flea market type area where they sold everything from food to autoparts to silk to paintings. Basically, anything a local or tourist could ever want. We shopped for a while and then headed to our last stop. We went to the famous S21 prison. It's where the Khmer Rouge brutally tortured and murdered thousands of people. As you can see, there is a lot behind the tragic past of Cambodia. It's hard to imagine that this happened so recently. The people of Cambodia are really trying to move on and I hope they can succeed. They are such a poor nation now and have so far still to go. I wish I could do more.

That night I went out to dinner alone. A friend of mine in Japan, Amy, had suggested a restaurant called Friends. It's a wonderful place that is part of a bigger organization trying to help the youth of Cambodia. They take street kids and train them in the hospitality industry. These kids are either former drug addicts, prostitutes, were kicked out of their houses, or abandoned. I know some people don't feel much compassion for drug addicts or street workers, but these are children, some very young children. Some girls were forced into the sex industry by their families in order to survive. They face realities we can't imagine. This organization first gives them a place to live. Then they give them counseling and education and work to re-integrate them into the public school system. They train them to work in restaurants, hotels, etc. All of the waiters, cooks, etc. at Friends restaurant are former street kids, ages 15 to 20 I would guess. They also have training in making hand crafts and their is a store next door that sales them. I bought several things from that store as well. Besides being a good cause, the food was great. It was a tappas menu and everything was amazing.

The next morning I got on a 7am bus for a 6 hour trip to Siem Reap. Lucky me, I got stuck beside a woman and behind a little girl that both got car sick. It wasn't pretty. The ride was so bumby that I wasn't feeling to well myself. We stopped at a small market type place that had various fruits and foods for sale. That's where I did it. There was a lady with a huge plate of soy sauce fried tarantulas. If you know me, you know I don't eat anything, not even seafood. So as I watched a man from my bus purchase one and take a bite, I had to take a picture because I knew I wouldn't be eating it. But as I stood with his girlfriend taking pictures, he said here take a bite and his girlfriend quickly took my camera to take a picture. I guess the whole traveling alone in Cambodia got the better of me and my ambitious spirit caused me to take a bite. Luckily for me, it didn't taste bad. It was very chewy though and hard to bite through. All in all, not a bad experience. I'm really glad I did it!

On the way, I met a great couple from Washington DC. That reminds me, I forgot to email her back....anyway, it was nice to feel like I was making friends. I was meeting many amazing people and didn't feel lonely at all, which I was a little nervous about. When I got to Siem Reap, I bought my tour for Angkor Wat. I went to watch the sunset there as part of my ticket for the next day. There were so many people, but it was a beautiful sight, although quite a difficult and even dangerous climb to the top. I enjoyed freaking out the Japanese tourist by joining in their conversations with my limited Japanese ability. That night I went to a dinner show to watch Apspara dancing. It was such a great show, as you can see from the pictures. I went to bed early because I again had to be up at 4 to go back to Angkor Wat for the Sunrise.

Ok, that's all I can do for now. I'll pick up next time from my day of exploring Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. It was the most incredible part of my trip, so I want to make sure I don't rush through it. Hopefully I'll be able to write soon!

I love and miss you all.

Yuck

So I just started sending out my resume yesterday and I'm already convinced I'm never going to find a job at an international school. The more I research, the more I realize how hard it is to get a job there. I've sent out around 12 to 15 resumes so far, with probably about 100 to go. If I don't find a job, I'll stay in Japan another year. I'm not ready to come back to the states yet. I really want to leave my current job and Ise though. I'm ready for something new. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Hopefully I will have a better idea within the next month. That doesn't mean I can't find a job later, but if I've only had negative (or no) responses by then...it means the chances will be slim.

School is going great so far. Made an A on my first paper, yah! It's alot, I mean ALOT of work. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't also spending half my time looking for a new job. I hope the job thing miraculously works out quickly so that I can concentrate on school. And so you guessed it, I still don't have the time or energy to write about my trip. It may just have to be saved for phone conversations.

I love and miss you all.

Still no time!

I still have no time to write about my trip. Sorry! I could rush through it, but I feel like it was too amazing of an experience not to dedicate an appropriate amount of time to. Between going back to work, starting grad school, getting my resume and related documents ready to apply for jobs...not to mention looking for jobs to apply for, well, I don't have time for anything. Today was a national holiday and I spent the whole day inside working on school and trying to clean up my apartment. I will update my blog again as soon as I can. It will probably be after I finish applying for jobs, or at least get the first wave of resumes sent out.
Wish me luck!!

Thailand and Cambodia Pictures

Well, sadly I still don't have time to write. It's after midnight and I've spent the past 4 hours downloading and sorting through pictures. I took over 600 on my trip! But I am going to post a couple slide shows to show you a little of what I did. It was really hard to make a slide show because I have so many amazing pictures. I may download the entire album onto my picaso page, if anyone wants to see them all.

Tomorrow Shun and I are going on a short trip to Kyoto. So, it will be a few more days before I can write about my trip. Hopefully I will have time to tell you all about it soon.

I love and miss you all.

First, Cambodia....

And Thailand...

Travels and Grad School

It was so wonderful to be home in NC for a few weeks around Thanksgiving. I actually didn't do very much besides sleep and watch tv. I wish I could have spent more time with friends and family, but I really just needed to rest and hang out at home! It was great seeing those of you who came out and hopefully I'll catch everyone else next time around.

As if a trip to America wasn't enough, in 5 days I'm going on another trip to Thailand and Cambodia. I'll be to Phnom Penh, where the famous Killing Fields and S21 prison of the brutal Khmer Rouge are found. I'll then go to Siem Reap to tour Ankgor Wat. In Thailand I'll be spending time on the beach in Koh Phangan, where I'll be going to one of the wild Full Moon Party's on Christmas Eve (ever seen the movie The Beach?). I'll end my trip in Bangkok, where I will visit the Grand Palace, watch Muay Thai fighting, and take a day trip to Tiger Temple and go on an elephant ride. Well...those are my plans anyway. As I've learned from traveling around Asia so far, anything can happen. You have to be flexible or you'll be miserable!

I'm coming back to Japan early so that I can spend New Year's Eve in Japan. New Year's is really the only big holiday in Japan, so I wanted to spend at least New Year's here. I get back the night of Dec. 29th. My boyfriend and I are having our own Christmas Eve/Christmas on the 30th/31st, and then celebrating New Year's Eve. My city, Ise-shi, is home of the most sacred shinto shrine. This makes it the best place to be in all of Japan for New Year's. I can't wait to visit it. I've been many times, but this should be an entirely new experience.

In January, after all my holiday travels and celebrations, I will be starting a grad school program through UNC Greensboro to obtain a masters in Liberal Studies. My first two classes are 1) Dangerous Minds: Terrorism, Political Violence, and Radical Orthodoxies and 2) The Middle East: An Historical Perspective. I'm really excited about both of these classes because they deal with topics that are of great interest to me. I know it will be a ton of work though, so my blogs will probably get even slacker next year, if that's possible!

Well, that's all for now. I'm really going to try to update my blog frequently while traveling. I not only want to share my experiences with my friends and family, but also use it as a travel journal so that I can remember all the amazing experiences I'm having in Asia! I always try to write when the trip is over, but it's too overwhelming to write about an entire trip at once and I always forget the details. I hear when you turn 30 you really start to forget those things...is that true Caren??? heehee

The Golden Ax

I teach at Yushu Elementary School one day a week. Since I'm not there very often, I usually teach one grade per visit. About once a month I also teach the school's special education class. Recently, however, I've been teaching the special ed class every week. This has helped me to realize many things.

When I was deciding what career path I wanted to follow, my dad and I talked about special education. I told him that I did not think I could handle it. I thought it would be too upsetting for me. I've always felt uncomfortable around people with special needs. At Yushu, there are 4 children in the class. I am honestly not sure exactly what special need each child has, but there is one in a wheel chair who has serious physical disabilities and mental ones as well. There is also at least one who has down syndrome. Their mental levels differ, but it is easy to tell that all 4 have serious disabilities. I admit that I was a little uneasy the first couple times I had to teach the class, but without me realizing it...it has become my favorite. The children are really incredible and they love English. They have such sweet dispositions and I think it would be impossible for anyone not to fall in love with them. When I think about eventually leaving Japan, it is missing these 4 students that makes me want to cry. They have taught me far more than I could ever teach them. It wasn't that I thought less of disabled people, it was that I didn't think I was capable of working with them without being emotionally wrecked. They have taught me that I am capable of more than I realize, just as they are capable of more than other people realize.

I found out that the reason they had scheduled me to visit this class more recently was because they were having their big festival for all the special education classes in Ise city. Each class had to do some sort of performance. The special education teachers at my school had decided they should perform the Golden Ax, a small play in English that we had been working on. So every week we practiced our 5 minute play. On the day of the festival, there were special needs children from all over our area there. Since I was the only foreigner, they were all very excited and interested in seeing me. I met so many amazing children. Their performances were so much fun to watch. I know I'm a little biased, but I really think my students had one of, if not the best performance of the day. They did such a great job! I was so proud of them and so happy that I got to be a part of their huge success.

I love you and miss you all back home!

Random

The pictures I posted are just random ones from the past month or two. I have more that I will post if I ever download them from my camera. So, lots has been going on...but I guess I just don't feel like it's anything too special because it is my normal life now. I love it, but it just doesn't seem extrordinary anymore...so I don't feel the need to write about it. But here's a very quick update. I had my first tournament as the new captain of the Mie Mamas soccer team. Going into the final game, we were undefeated and never even scored on!! We went into overtime, but ended up losing 2-1. It was a great time though and we got a 2nd place trophey. My schools had sports day again this year. Feels strange that I've been here long enough to start having the same experiences over again. Anyway, it was fun as always. One day before school started back this fall, Shun and I went hiking on a mountain near Ise. There were all these shrines and sites along the way. It was amazing. I'm not use to seeing stuff like that in the middle of a mountain. I'll write a little more about what I've been doing when I post the pictures.

Today I did hear some disturbing news. I heard that Glorietta mall in Manila, Philippines was bombed. Over 100 hurt and 8 dead. When I was in Manila with Emily and Cally last May, we spent a whole day mall hopping between the mega malls and spent a considerable amount of time at Glorietta. It's so weird to see the pictures of it now and a bit scary as well.

I'll have a slow weekend, so hopefully I can post again soon. I'm staying home because I'm trying to save money for my trip to Thailand in December, Yah! I do have to plan another hip hop dance class for my school. They asked me to teach a special class for culture festival again. It will be fun, but alot of work too. I hope to talk to some of you back home soon! I love you and miss you all.

My Birthday

I know it's a bit late, but here are the pics from my birthday. As I've already told a few of you, I had one of my best birthdays ever! It started the night before. My friend Katie who lived in Ise last year was spending the week with me. (She finished her JET contract and was just hanging out for a while before moving back to Canada. I'm really sad she's gone. I miss her!) At around 10:00pm, I told her I was tired and was going to lay down. I was laying on a futon on the living room floor and she was on the couch. I drifted to sleep while we were watching a movie. I wasn't at all paying attention to the time. I was suddenly woken by a strange sound. I sat straight up and so did Katie. I had no idea what the noise was. I leaned over and opened the living room door. Shunwas standing in my kitchen holding a cd player which was playing the Birthday Song by the Beatles. I realized it was exactly midnight. He came in and gave me a birthday present and Katie ran into the other room and grabbed a gift that she had for me. I was completely surprised. It turns out that they had been planning it for the past few days. Shun gave me silver earrings and Katie gave me flowers. I put on the birthday hat that my friend Mami had given me the day before and my birthday was off to a wonderful start.

My birthday was on a Monday, so I was a little worried that no one would be able to come (especially since many of my friends had just moved back to their home countries.) But I was so lucky and so many people made it out, even some who travelled from over an hour away. We started with dinner and drinks at Nanaimo. The picture I posted from dinner only shows a few of the people that were actually there! Shun had his mother make me a cheesecake because he knows I love it and good ones are hard to find in Japan. After dinner, we went out to Karaoke and sang until the early hours of the morning. It was really a great night and a birthday I will always remember! The only thing missing was my close friends and family from back home.

I love and miss you all.

China

Here are some of my pictures from China. I was having computer problems....again, which is why it took me so long to get them up here. The final days of my trip to China were great, but extremely tiring. We went to the Forbidden city, which was larger than I thought it would be. It's amazing that no one was allowed in for so many years. We ended up not being able to go to Xian because of train issues and just stayed in Beijing one extra day and went back to Shanghai one day early. Our last day in Shanghai, we just shopped and walked around. We were all so exhausted and actually ready to go back home.

I'm going to post more tomorrow about my birthday and the past few weeks....check back soon!!

Love you and miss you all.

I'M IN CHINA!!!!!

So, I had hoped to write after my first couple days in China, but the computer I was using was too slow. So unfortunately, I'm going to have alot to talk about. Ok, so on Friday night, I went with Juan and Gen to the Osaka airport because our Saturday morning flight was too early for us to make it by train. We slept in the airport, which was actually better than I expected. Phil missed his train, so he was going to meet us at the airport on Saturday morning. Long story short, Phil is an idiot and went to the wrong airport. Somehow, he made it on the plane right before it took off. He did have to spend over one hunderd dollars on a taxi and run like a crazy person through the airport. But in the end, all worked out fine.

When we arrived in Shanghai, we quickly dropped our stuff off at the hostile and started to explore. We headed for an area by the river called the Bund. There is a great view of Shanghai and it's one of the area's most popular spots. It was quite crowded and we headed off to an outdoor shopping area. We then went to the French part of town which was really nice and really expensive. A coke was around 6 dollars. But I was so exhausted, I didn't care. After a quick rest, we found a great Tapas restaurant (with an equally great happy hour) and had dinner. After dinner we came across a few massage palors. All 4 of us got massages. Phil and I got massages from blind people, something I never realized was common. As always, I loved it. We are getting them again when we get back to Shanghai on Saturday. When we got back to the hostel, we were told by several of the girls in our room that we had a mouse which was found on a girl's pillow. When we told the front desk, they said "yeah, we heard." Thank goodness I was on the top bunk because even though we forced Phil and Juan to look for it, they couldn't find it. So yes, I slept in a room with a mouse. Yuck.

On Sunday, we spent the morning booking train tickets and eating at a local restaurant. That afternoon we went to the antique market and wondered around some extremely poor areas of town. In shanghai, they have one of the most extreme cases of have and have nots that I've ever seen. (but still not quite as much as Bolivia.) I'm really glad that I have the opportunties to see things like that. I think that over time, it changes who you are, I hope in a good way.

That night we took the overnight train to Beijing. We arrived and tried to get a taxi to our hostel, but everyone wanted to charge us a fortune and we refused. So, we walked forever (until I could barely manage another step) when a cab driver offered to actually use the meter like the are suppose to and take us to our hostel. This hostel is so nice. After we finally settled in, we headed off to Tiananmen Square, where the famous tank incident occured. We also saw several of the government buildings and the famous Mao painting. While we were walking around, several asian children came up and asked to have their picture made with me. For some reason I completely don't understand, parents like to take pictures of their children with foreigners when they are on vacation. The kids are always cute, so I never mind. That evening, we had dinner and went to bed early becasue the next day we were.....

going to climb the Great Wall of China!!! We were climbing the Si Ma Tai section of the wall. It's not restored as much as the rest of the wall and is extremely steep. They say it is the section that hikers prefer. It was utterly amazing. We started by hiking up a large part of the mountain just to get to the wall. The first half of the Great Wall was all uphill and very difficult to climb. I was panting the whole way. Juan and Gen got ahead of Phil and I who stopped to eat before starting the climb, so it was just Phil and I climbing up the wall together. Although the pictures might not look as nice as others you've seen because our section of the wall was much more rundown and in areas, even completely missing, the hike was much better than if we had climbed another area. One of my new goals in life (which I will definitely reach) is to see all of the new 7 wonders of the modern world. 1 down, 6 to go!

That night, I wanted to do some shopping so I went out alone to have dinner and order my tailor made traditional Chinese dress. I hope it looks ok on me... Anyway, today we went to the summer palace. We thought it was just a palace, but it was actually a huge area with everything from temples and huge Buddah statues to gardens and beautful bridges which you will see when I post pictures next week. We only got to see a small portion of the grounds, but it was one of the highlights of my trip so far. Tonight, Gen and I went to the Beijing opera, which was not at all like an opera. The costumes and masks were so detailed and beautiful. The singing was really strange though. I can't even describe the woman's high pitch way of singing. It sounded nothing like a traditional opera and the instrumental music was really strange too. But they really didn't sing that much. Over half the time was dedicated to dancing, acrobats, and sword tricks. It was really cool. I would recommend it to anyone going to Beijing. After the opera, we headed back to the hostel to do laundry, have dinner, and just hang out. There are several bars/restaurants in our hotel, which is nice since it's been raining every night!

Ok, I can barely keep my eyes open now. I just wanted to write a little on here so that I wasn't overwhelmed next week. I'll write again and add pictures when I get home. Love and miss you all.

Still saying goodbye and going to China...

Well, this has been such a hard week. On Tuesday I had to say goodbye to Kristine. As many of you may remember, she was pretty much my first friend here. We talked by email before moving to Japan and then met at the orientation in Tokyo. We spent our entire first month together shopping and exploring Ise. Although we both got caught up in our own lives for a while, we started hanging out more again recently and I was so sad to see her go. John, Taylor, and I went to the train station to see her off. Watching her ride away really made me feel like the first part of my Japan experience is over. I'm kind of in the inbetween stage now, waiting for the next chapter of my life to start. Today I had a goodbye lunch with John and Taylor. It feels weird to think that they won't be here anymore. I think I took them for granted. Honestly, I'm not too sure about the new JETs moving to Ise. I'll be happy if we can all get along even half as well as everyone did this year.

Tomorrow I leave for China. I'll be there for around 9 days. I'm going with my good friends Genevieve, Juan, and Phil. We are going to Shanghai, Beijing, and maybe Xian. We really haven't planned the trip out at all. The only things we know we want to do are to climb the Great Wall and visit the forbidden city. We are all very laid back travelers so we just decided to take things as they come. It's definitely going to be a very cheap trip. We are staying at $6.00 a night hostels and plan on spending as little money as possible (since none of us have that much money to begin with).

I return to Japan on Sunday, August 5th. As soon as we get back, I have to rush to catch the first train and get back to Ise by 6:30. After a quick shower, I'm going to meet the first group of new JETs at the train station and will take them to dinner. I guess China will kind of be the turning point where I feel like my new life in Japan starts. When I get back, so much will be different. The 2nd half of the new JETs arrive a few days later. I'm both excited and nervous to meet them. I'm sure I'll be writing more about that later.

Alright, I won't be able to update my blog from China, but expect lots of pictures and stories when I get back. Love you all!!!

Saying Goodbye

So it's almost time for many of my friends to leave Japan. For some reason, it hasn't really hit me until just recently. Although the Camp Inn was the last time I would see many people, I knew they would still be in Japan for another month. Now, the time is almost hear and saying goodbye is getting harder. Yesterday I went out for one last night of Karaoke with the Ise crew. There was only a small group of us, but we had a gret time. On the drive there, Kristine and I started talking about when we first arrived. I couldn't help but tear up. It is going to be hard to see so many of my friends leave. Unlike when I had to say goodbye to my friends back home, I'm not sure which of these friends I will see again. They are moving back to not only all over the US, but also England, Scottland, Canada, etc. I hope it will not be the last time I see them. The one nice thing about meeting people that live all over is that you always have an excuse to travel and see them! I hope after I leave Japan I will be able to do this.

Why I will write more...

Recently, Kelley started a blog of her own. It puts mine to shame. She updates it all the time, maybe even every day. Mine is so incredibly slack. For now at least, I am motivated to start updating mine more regularly. There are 2 reasons really. One is how connected I feel to Kelley when I read her blog. I remember my dad telling me after I first moved to Japan that reading my blog made me seem less far away. I had the same feeling when reading Kelley's blog. I want my friends and family to still be a large part of my life, no matter what corner of the Earth I am living in. The 2nd reason is because I want my blogs to be more detailed. When I wait so long to write, I have too many things to talk about so I just skim the surface of each topic, never really writing anything of substance. Not only do I want to share a more complete account of my experiences with you all, but I also want to use this blog as a journal. When I leave Japan, I want to look back at my blog and remember how I felt and not just what I saw. So...hopefully you will see a big change in my blog.

On to my latest adventures. After I wrote last, we had our huge Sayonara party. It was the first event that I had to work as part of my new responsibility as social chair for Mie JETs. The party was great, but it's definitely alot of work. Shun went with me and we had an amazing time dancing and hanging out with friends. Ok, so I know I just said that I was going to write more detailed blogs...but since it has been a while, I will just give a brief overview one last time, hopefully. The next weekend was the huge Camp Inn. Over 70 Jets and friends of Jets went to the south of Mie, Miyama. We had gorgeous cabins to stay in. I was able to share a cabin with Shun, Taylor, John, Kristine, Audrey, Tomohiro, and Tom (the Ise crowd). It was great to have a weekend with all of my Ise friends since they are all leaving at the end of the month. We got there on Friday night and spent the entire evening talking with everyone and dancing. When we woke up Saturday morning, it was raining! Even so, we went to the river, which was gorgeous. It was full of these enormous rocks that made getting to the river very difficult. There was a certain area of the river where the rocks met in the middle to form a small waterfall. Some of my friends were literally riding down the waterfall. It wouldn't have been as scary if there wasn't a huge rock facing the bottom of the waterfall. It took forever, but I was finally brave enough to go down it. It took 20 minutes of Phil holding me and promising not to let me go until I was ready...but I did it! That evening, we had a huge cookout, yakiniku style. It's where there is a grill and everyone puts individual meet and vegetables on it. That night, there was a Tanabata (star) festival. We had all written wishes on these colorful pieces of paper that were tied to small bamboo trees. The trees and wishes had been out for the previous week or two. At night, we went to a huge bridge in the middle of the mountains and watched the fireworks. While the fireworks were exploding overhead, there were what seemed like thousands of traditional Japanese lanterns floating down the river below us. I'm constantly in awe of the amazing sights presented to me in Japan. Later that night, we again hung out and danced the night away. It was the last time I will see many Jets who are moving back to their home countries. I will miss many of them so much. I hope the friendships will carry on beyond Japan.

This weekend was suppose to be the huge Hanabi (fireworks) in Ise. It's one of the biggest fireworks around. Sadly, we had a typhoon, so it was postponed until Sept 8th!! More on that to come. On Monday, however, they were able to have a matsuri (festival). It was great because it was a small local festival in the area where all of my students live. I was able to see over a hundred of them. The fireworks weren't huge, but very unique. We were standing on a traditional Japanese bridge (red...the kind you picture when you think of Japan) and the fireworks were coming from two tiny boats on the river below. They started from opposite directions and slowly moved towards us, passing several other bridges on the way. When they got to our bridge (the main one), they took turns shooting off fireworks. They also used gold fish fireworks, ones that move through the river. They got as close as only 10 yards from either side of the bridge. At the end, they both shot off fireworks at the same time. I don't know if I've explained it well enough, but it was a wonderful sight.

Friday is my last day of work for 5 weeks. I'll be busy all summer though and will do a better job of keeping you updated. I won't say I will write everyday, but I will try to write 2-4 times a week. As you probably noticed, I also added some more pics from the Philippines, soccer, etc. Hope you like them.

As always, I love and miss you all.

I'm back!!!!! Sumo, Hanami, Philippines, Tokyo, Soccer and more....

Ok...I know it's been forever. Sorry everyone. But honestly, the reason I haven't written lately is because I've been busy having the time of my life! Since February, I've really started to feel at home here. I've made so many new friends and been having such a great time. So, I'll try to give a quick run down of the past few months.

Back in March, there was a big sumo exhibition in Ise. It wasn't one of the huge real tournaments, but I loved it. We got to see them practice in the morning and then in early afternoon, local children sumo wrestlers got to wrestle the pros!! Only a couple schools have sumo clubs and my elementary and junior high happen to be sumo schools. So, I got to see 4 of my students wrestle. It was amazing. My favorites were the tiny 6 year olds. The sumo wrestlers just picked them up by their mawashi and slung them around. It was so cute! The kids loved it. I also got to have my picture taken with Kakuryu, who Shun says is really famous. Do you know him daddy?? March was also Hanami time. It's when the Cherry Blossom trees bloom for about a week or so. It symbolizes a time or renewal. I can't begin to express what a huge deal it is in Japan. One of the other Jets was going to India and a teacher at his school couldn't believe he was going to be traveling during Hanami! Shun took me around to several popular Hanami spots to see the Cherry Blossom trees. They were beautiful, but really just reminded me of dogwoods back in NC.

Ok, now on to my Habitat for Humanity trip to the Philippines. I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was. It was truly the experience of a lifetime. I'll could never accurately describe what it was like. I went with two girls, Emily and Cally, a couple days early to spend time in Manila. Manila is just like most other big Asian cities. We went just to shop and eat out! Having American food was incredible!! (I really miss American food...) We had a great time shopping at the Mega Malls. The malls just go on and on forever. I've really never seen anything like it before in my life. We also went to an outdoor market which was a great experience, although there wasn't much there we wanted to buy. At night we either went to the boardwalk and hung out at one of the many outdoor bars with live music or went clubbing. It was a great way to adjust to being in the Philippines and unwind before Habitat started. After the rest of our group arrived, we all flew into rural Bicol. It was exactly what you picture the real Philippines to be like. We were greeted at the tiny local airport by the local volunteers. They were all either students or professors at a local college. They work with all the volunteer groups that come to their area. They were an absolutely amazing group of people. The kids were ages 16-25. Many of them don't have too much themselves, but they still realize the importance of helping others. They were truly inspiring.

We stayed in a local resort, or so it was called, in little bungalows. Everyday we took a Jeepney to the work site. The college students played music for us on their guitar and sang to us the whole way. Building the houses was the hardest thing I've ever done. Our jobs included things like hauling water, laying bricks, shoveling gravel and sand and then using it to make cement, pouring cement, etc... What made it so extremely difficult was the heat. It was the middle of summer for the Philippines and I felt like I would pass out many times. They actually fed us 5 times a day to keep our energy up. When we got there, one house was half built. We finsihed that house and built half of another house. The houses are for families that now live in houses made or straw. Everytime they get a big monsoon or typhoon, the houses are destroyed. Over 70% of Bicol lives under the poverty level in unsafe housing. The houses we built were tiny, but made of brick. They have only one room and a bathroom. To the people of the Philippines though, these houses change their lives. We got to meet some of the families and children that will be living in the houses we built and it was such a humbling experience.

While in the Philippines, we also visited an orphange. It was by far the best part of the trip. There were around 50-75 kids living there. Several had severe disabilities. We had pooled all of our own money together to buy balls, jump ropes, games, etc. to donate to the kids. They were so excited to play with us. We took them outside and they literally wore us out! Their smiles made it all worthwhile though. We also had two days of R&R built into the trip. One day we went to a remote island where we were pretty much the only people on the island. We snorkled and laid on the beach all afternoon. The other day we went to a waterfall which was gorgeous. We also went to this area where they have natural hot springs and spent the 2nd half of the afternoon relaxing there. I could go on about my Habitat experience forever, but I have so many other things to talk about. So, I'll just say that it was worth every ache and pain I suffered and I feel extremely lucky to have had the experience. I have already decided to go on next year's Habitat trip which will be in India!!!

After habitat was over, we flew back to Manila and Emily, Cally, Melissa, and I took another flight to Boracay Island. Boracay is absolute paradise. We spent three days swimming in the bluest water I've ever seen, drinking cocktails while getting massages on the beach at sunset, and just enjoying paradise after all of our hard work! It was the perfect end to the vacation. Getting to see the big city of Manila, the rural areas of Bicol, and Island paradise in Boracay made for an unforgettable trip. I can't wait for next year's trip!!!!!

Ok, on to other news. Right after I returned to Japan, it was time to go to Tokyo for the recontracting conference. This time I really enjoyed Tokyo! When I was there before, when I first arrived in Japan, I was so out of it from Jetlag and just the shock of it all that I really didn't enjoy Tokyo as much as I could have. This time I was going with friends and much more confident and knowlegable about traveling through Japan. We went to some really great sites like Yoyogi park where bands and street performers played everywhere. We also went to see the crazy people of Harajuku (see the pics to see what I mean) and explored various areas of Tokyo. We also ate amazing food at Thai, Indian, Mexican, Greek, and American restaurants and got Starbucks everyday! I miss having so many different types of food so close by!

2 days after getting back from Tokyo, I left for Awaji for our soccer tournament. We had so many girls wanting to play that we had to create 2 teams. Since I am taking over as captain of the Mie team for next year, I captained one of our two teams. We had a great time! I ended up getting to play in the tournament for both teams and we came in 2nd and got a huge trophy and case of beer, which I would have enjoyed more if I actually drank beer...but someone enjoyed it. So, now I'm really excited for the fall soccer tournament.

Over the next month I'll be busy with millions of goodbye parties. All of the Jets who didn't recontract will be leaving at the end of July. Friday night we are having our huge Sayonara party and next weekend we are having a huge 3 day camping trip. Hopefully I will be able to write about those in the next few weeks. All of the new Jets will be arriving in August. For the coming year I am taking over as Social Chair of the Mie Jets organization. I'm excited to be planning all of the events, but it will be a lot of work....not to mention planning soccer tournaments and fundraising for next years habitat trip.

As I said earlier, I am really happy right now. I have settled into my life here and it feels like home. I'm so happy I decided to stay an extra year. I promise to try to write again soon. I know there is more I have to say....but I've been on the computer long enough! Love you and miss you all.

Ok, I just made a slideshow to put below...but there were soooo many pictures. It was taking forever! So, I just picked out a few and I'll try to make another slideshow next week if I have time!