This post is going to be all over the place but so much as happened since I’ve been home so I’ll try to sum it up in a couple of categories:
1. good food (if you haven’t caught on yet from my blog posts, good food is a big part of my life)
2. seeing friends and family
3. thoughts on adjusting back to home
Let’s start with the yummy stuff 😉 Good food since I’ve been home…
eats from Broadway Bites!eats from Broadway Bites! Burnt end chilli nachos and pad thaithis doesn’t look appetizing but bean curd corn soup from the one and only Veggie Heaven=) Fresh Garden Walnut dish, Spicy Girl dish, sauteed spinach and garlic and brown rice NOMMMthe spread at home from the welcome home partyWHITE SANGIRA! Dad’s mastered this thanks to Bobby Flay’s recipe courtesy of googleMom and I are really starting to master this entertaining thing…Peruvian Fries from V-street in Philly. This place was EPIC! Vegetarian tapas and very affordable 🙂 Highly recommend itMoosewoods in Ithaca, NY- healthy options with a focus on vegetarian dishes. Talk about NOMMoosewoods in Ithaca, NY- fava bean dip!Moosewoods in Ithaca, NY- Artichoke Quesadillas… droolingPeruvian Fries from V-street in Philly. This place was EPIC! Vegetarian tapas and very affordable 🙂 Highly recommend itbacon, egg and cheese bagel from Famous 4th Street BagelMollz and I shared this corn beef hash that came up to be 3x the size of our heads. We both took home leftovers. It was pretty nomtasticIchi-Ban sushi near us at home which I know means number one! YES I admit it I like American sushi way better 🙂Salads from Casa Nonna near Madison Square GardenFish and kale pesto on farfalle from Cassa Nonnnavegan truffles by yours truly 🙂Coconut Curry with chickpeas and sweet potatoesPapaya Salad from Room Service Thai restaurant in NYCGreen curry with tofu at Room Service 🙂
Lots of pictures but over the past 6 weeks or so I’ve been catching up on all of the yummy foods I’ve missed most!
2. Seeing friends and family
So I have to admit one of my biggest fears while I was away was that I was going to lose most of my friends when I came back from Japan. It scared me that people would move on and that so much time would have passed that we wouldn’t be able to pick up where we left off.
I’ve learned though this is a part of life. Japan or not, this is going to continue to happen as time goes on. Friends will move, I will move, our jobs and schedules will change… and the fact of the matter is that friendships/relationships can change. As scary as that seems to me now, it’s a part of life. Because with that, new friendships are born with new experiences so the love in our life is constantly growing.
Mollz came to the lakehouse!tubing with my girl
I was so overwhelmed with love when getting back to Japan because everyone was so eager to make plans and see me. Luckily to my surprise as well it felt like I was picking up right where I left off with these wonderful humans.
Met Chelc and enjoyed some mimosasVisiting my Grandma and doing her nails 🙂 She likes being with the in crowd with blue nail polish like me heheSaw Kristin in Philly! We were supposed to see Dave Matthews Band but unfortunately couldn’t go because it was raining too much 😦 Still so nice to see her though!!bahahaha I was staying with Katie a lot here and there when I had to go into NYC for work. I gave her a Japanese face mask and it was just as hilarious as the first time 🙂Yes, King Charles is family
As you saw in the last post, I’ve been lucky enough to come home to a beautiful new home ON DA LAKE! My parents moved this past year from the house I grew up in my entire life. As weird as it is sometimes, it is simply beautiful and I’m still pinching myself. I’m currently writing outside on the deck listening to the water of the stream and overlooking the calm water glistening in the sun. I feel very grateful.
Katie and I conquering headstands on the SUP’sSeeing my broskis for my cousin Laura’s wedding!
Seeing my brothers was also so nice. I’ve always been very close to my family and adjusting to communicating or lack there of with my brothers was hard this year. We had different schedules and we barely got to catch up at all while I was away. This is a big thing I’m still working on. I’m a huge communicator. I like to stay in touch and know what the people I care about are up to. I know not all people are like that, and I’m working on accepting people who like to communicate differently than I do. But especially with my brothers it hurt and I’ve been holding a grudge because we barely talked this year. I also have to remember they are boys… their brains are just different right? And most importantly, there’s no point in holding onto the past just need to focus on the now.
Got to see my friend Adam in Philly!
I got to stay with my friend Adam for a couple of nights in Philly and it was so so fun! I don’t know about you, but I really love Philly. It’s less crowded and stinky compared to New York but there are so many fun bars, restaurants, parks, etc. that you can’t go wrong. Even when Adam had to go to work there was plenty for me to explore and entertain myself 🙂
Udel friends and Kat come to visit!
If you can’t tell, I was beaming with happiness. Some of my friends from UDel came to visit and my best friend from high school, Kat came as well! We enjoyed all the lake activities (I even conquered water skiing!!!!!!) plus good food and each other’s company. I’m so blessed to have such special friends in my life.
Pops and I before seeing Kinky Boots on Broadway 🙂
PSA: IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN KINKY BOOTS, BOOK A TICKET NOW. I was literally laughing out loud the whole show. The kind that your abs even hurt.
Kat and I on the boat ❤
3. #Deepthoughtz
My friend Kristin in college had a blog called #Deepthoughtz so I’m gonna bring it back. There have been so many things that I’m still “digesting” since I’ve been home. There have been these moments especially in the beginning where I thought to myself, “Wait, did I even go to Japan? This feels like it was a dream…” But then there were other times where it felt like people had moved on so much that I felt out of the loop and that I would never catch back on. *But as mentioned above, I’m learning to accept that people come in and out of our lives and that is okay.*
The hardest part about being home was adjusting to social situations. In Japan we weren’t around new people often and let’s be real I hung out with the same couple of friends most weekends. So being in larger groups of people and around people I don’t know it’s like social over shock. For anyone who knows me this may sound weird because I’ve always been a social butterfly. BUT this jut goes to show how much your environment can change the way you think and act. I’m working on not overanalyzing the situation and just being myself to meet new people and enjoy the company of those I’m with.
The biggest one is that transitions are HARD. When there is no routine and nothing in life feels particular stable it feels like the ground can fall from underneath you at given moment in time. Granted I am so lucky that as a teacher we have summers off but with transitioning home with so many variables I feel like a juggler in a circus. I’m anxious to move to New York and open this new chapter. Japan was a difficult adjustment for me and I’m nervous I’ll go through something similar to that again. I’m trying to channel my brave self just about a year ago when I had very little worries and was ready to hop onto a plane to go thousands of miles away to work at a school I had never been to and live with a girl who I had never even met. Even though it was challenging, it was an amazing and unforgettable experience. I’m sure New York will challenge me in ways I don’t know of yet, but I’m sure it will also open up new doors for me in many aspects.
Quick update: I found an apartment and will be moving in September 5th!! WOOOO FOR NOT BEING HOMELESS!! I also start training August 17th so I’ll be bopping around at friends apartments until I move in 🙂 Thank goodness for lots of NYC friends who are so caring ❤ I also got moved up to teach 2nd/3rd grade instead of Pre-school which I’m beyond enthusiastic about. I was petrified of teaching Pre-school to be honest. Props to all you teachers out there who do, I don’t think I could!
This quote says it all. Setting up the building blocks for being back in America 🙂
Holy petunias where has time gone?? It is just about one month since I officially landed in the good ‘ol USA. Here is a bit of a recap of what I have been up to.
San Francisco, California
My travels to meet my cousin, Sherry weren’t all too bad. I was sent off by a fellow teacher, Wakaba and I took the early bus with another teacher, Hannah. I was very grateful for the company! I left Japan and had a quick layover in Shanghai, China. There was such a drastic difference from the people in Japan compared to China. They were SO loud and pushy I couldn’t believe it. They were screaming to each other while standing right next to each other. I survived my layover though and hopped right back on the plane to hit my next destination… Cali baby!!
Wakaba San was such a sweety and met Hannah and I at the airport. She even made one of my favorites, inari!!
You will probably notice a huge pattern in the following pictures… LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF DEEEEEEEELISH FOOD. There were so many first’s of things I hadn’t had in practically a year and I swear every time was just as exciting I thought I could cry.
this salad doe…
Sherry and I hit the ground running just like we did when she visited me in Japan :). We walked many many miles. My biggest surprise? San Francisco is COLD. Sherry did warn me but considering my body temperature is normally 30 degrees hotter than the average human I chose to be ignorant and think I would be okay. I pretty much only packed shorts and tanks to wear so thank goodness I had my other suitcases accessible with me.
LOTS of walking!
Every where we turned there were hills. I felt like I was in the movie Princess Diaries (which apparently they filmed in San Fran) when she is learning to drive stick and slides back down the hill. These were serious inclines, man. But it’s okay cause we got to see a lot, chat along the way, and who doesn’t like a little booty burn?
Couldn’t wait long enough to hit up Japan town
Our next stop though… Japan town! Yes I know this seems silly cause I was just coming from Japan BUT both of us were on a hunt for matcha powder. If you don’t know what it is, google it cause chances are you’ll love it. There are tons of health benefits and bottom line: it’s deelish. I’ve put it in protein shakes or my personal favorite is making matcha tea or matcha tea latte. We were very pleased with Japan town it was like Japan minus Japanese aka WE COULD READ IT ALL!! There were so many yummy restaurants I wish we had more time to go try them. Especially the ramen and the yummy sushi!
as always, girls with ice cream (especially green tea flavored) are the happiest kinds of girls
We found a Daiso!! I couldn’t believe it. This is one of the things I’ll miss most about Japan especially in the city when I could use a cheap store to find random things. Their selection was so similar too I couldn’t believe it.
I’m so jealous that Sherry is so close to a daiso!!! Bring them to the east coast Japan
That same night we met up with my cousin Jay who just so happened to be playing a show in San Francisco. We went with him to check out the venue, “Boom Boom Pow” (LOL) and he told the owner I just got back from Japan and he gave us all tequila shots at 4 PM… cause why not?
We went out to dinner with a few of Jay’s friends at a Burmese place called B-Star. There are a few of them around San Francisco and it was soooo delicious. I can’t even remember what we ate but I will definitely revisit this place next time I’m in San Fran.
totally forget what this was but it was epicI believe this was coconut ice cream with a chocolate souffle… naughty I know“Boom Boom Pow”… says it all
Jay played a 75 minute solo show and killed it. This venue had a bit of a weird crowd, mainly this one chick who dominated the dance floor. She must’ve been on drugs or something because throughout the entire show she was dancing like a stripper and I saw her boobs multiple times. Stay classy San Fran.
I’ll forever be his #1 fan 🙂
Napa, California
What you don’t know is that I was visiting the best possible person to go wine tasting in Napa with. Sherry used to live in Napa and worked in the wine industry for quite a bit. I don’t think I know anyone else who knows as much about wine as she does! It also worked out very nicely that got to meet up with my friend Rachel from college 🙂
I was wayyyy too excited for this bagel but I don’t hate it 🙂Napa, you are gorgeous and I will be seeing you again
We went to 3 different wineries and there were absolutely no disappointments. We also got HOOKED UP multiple times thanks to Sher. The first place gave us a free tasting, the 2nd place was completely free and then the last place was the Cliff Bar Food truck/winery and they gave us an extra appetizer AND dessert. She works at Cliff Bar so that’s why we stopped here. Sher, thank you for knowing peeps so we got treated like queens :).
HOLY BATMAN CHECK OUT DIS SPREADThere were a lot of firsts including this wonderful FROYOpower walking like a champ by myself
I have concluded that one of the best parts about traveling/exploring on my own is being able to power walk the heck out of my journey. I have a tendency to walk extremely fast (sorry I don’t usually have patience for slow walkers) so when it’s just me SAYONARA I’m off on a race.
found it!
One thing I really couldn’t believe in San Francisco was how cold it was and how much fog there was!! I stupidly didn’t believe Sherry when she told me to bring layers. What did I pack? Shorts and tanks. I thought my sweaty nature could brave the cold but it definitely got pretty chilly at times.
the fog did lift I swear
The fog was soo bad I was nervous I wouldn’t even be able to see the bridge. But luckily this day I went and walked my 15 miles it got a bit warmer and I saw the bridge 🙂 At night we went to meet Rachel again for an Italian restaurant near her. I got the eggplant parmesan (I’ve missed a real one) and I was so pleasantly happy. The waiters were from all different places in Italy and their accents were so strong I actually couldn’t even tell what some of them were saying. Nonetheless, DELISH.
Italian food ON POINT
The next day I got another nommy breakfast and walked more! I was taking my time to stroll and relax.
American breakfast options will definitely NOT get oldFamous painted ladies!yet another delicious meal 🙂 Yes, California spoiled me
My friend Chelc told me about Delores Park and said when she went it was PACKED. There were people outside hanging and just enjoying the sun. That must be on the weekends because when I went it was kids from camps or moms with their babies. Oh and then there was me and this guy below only wearing his boxers…
do you spy what is weird about this picture? ….. Yes there is a man playing soccer with nothing but his boxers on. Casual
Sher and I ended on yet another epic meal (seriously Cali wins the prize for best food options ever) with an Indian restaurant. It was very different than Pariwar but yet again I was pleasantly surprised! Such good flavors and not as heavy which didn’t leave us feeling bloated. 🙂
Southern Indian food was a first! This was my first dosa with sweet potato and different chutney’s on the sidemushrooms and truffle oil!
Sher brought me to the airport and I was actually really excited for my flight to hear the Virgin America Safety Video. I didn’t know about this and in case you haven’t please watch it now…
I landed before 6 AM and we hit the ground running. We had a very epic running hug I swear I almost knocked them both over!
SMILES BRIGHT AND EARLY
We went food shopping to make a yummy first meal home! It was definitely not boring when you have your mom wheeling around in the motorized cart…
deja vu- but last time I was the one in her seat
Once we finished we headed home so I could see the new and improved lake house! My mouth pretty much was dropped to the floor. I can’t believe they pulled this off so quickly! They decided on moving here last summer before I was leaving for Japan. Then they moved in 2 weeks after visiting me in Thailand! They renovated so much and did it all in just about 4 months. WOWZA I better find me a guy like my dad for when I have to buy a house…
why thank you!love hearing the sound of moving water 🙂
pinch meDRINK FRIDGE WADDUPSmiles all around 🙂The back of the house is my favorite 🙂 dining roompuzzle tableliving room4 seasons porchZEE VIEW!
So beautiful, right!? If only it was easier to commute to NYC I would stay here longer! Here was our deelish dinner #lotsofveggies
So I’ve been thinking about how I would write this big final goodbye as a way of closing my year here in Japan. To do that it almost feels impossible. How can I possibly describe what my experience has been like in one year in just one page of writing? But it’s something I’ve been thinking about especially when I will see people this summer who I haven’t kept in contact with frequently to describe what my year has been like since I’ve been living here in Nagoya.
When I was on the ferry in Okinawa on the way back to the airport, I was looking up at the clouds just contemplating the different things I’ve experienced this year and how I have changed in different ways. I found a bucket list I made last summer before I came to Japan and all I could do was laugh. I wrote things in such a general way it’s so hard to say if they will ever fully be checked off because things like that I feel like I will forever be striving towards. Exhibit a: continuing to learn how to be more of a minimalist (still not accomplished, but for those of you who know me well you know it probably never will be). I was hoping to post those again and see how I’ve changed but they were so vague it’s impossible to really say.
Before coming to Japan I had pretty false expectations of what this year would be like due to friends in college who studied abroad. I saw them go off to places I have never been to before, meet new friends they never thought they would have met, and also go to places that you can’t believe are real until you’re actually there yourself. And of course all of these said friends would say how their life had been changed and that they were so much more mature after traveling and that they had a different understanding and perspective on the world. To me this sounded wonderful and since I would be teaching abroad I thought my experience would be similar. Not only did I expect to learn more about teaching in an international school but I also had this unrealistic vision of me making friends from around the world, “finding myself” or whatever that’s supposed to mean, and also trying new cultural experiences as often as possible.
I’m not so sure how it didn’t really hit beforehand but obviously work comes first so as it is common for most teachers and especially teaching in a new school as a first year teacher, a lot of weekend time is taken away especially in the beginning. But other than that, in a sense some of those dreams were touched a bit, but mainly learning more about myself and the world. Being in Japan and getting to travel more in Asia has opened my eyes to a part of the world I never really pictured myself entering…ever. I’ve been able to experience different cultural experiences including food, festivals, dances, family traditions, and holidays from all different kinds of places. This has made me appreciate people in general a whole lot more. Regardless of race, religion, language, I want to know peoples stories. Where they came from, what their childhood was like, and what their home country is like. Part of this I think is from teaching in an international school, it’s a community environment that has fostered my love for people who come from all over the world.
But overall this past year has been comparable to a roller coaster ride. When it comes to moving to a new place especially with a language barrier and very different cultural mannerisms, there are going to be times that you’ll be feeling very low. Thankfully I had prepared myself somewhat for this, just not the continuation of it throughout the year. But when looking back my highs have definitely outweighed the lows. I’ve been to Thailand, Cambodia, Korea (if you count that time I vommed in a hostel all day and then flew back to Japan) and traveled all over Japan (Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagano, Takayama, Okinawa, Kumano Kodo, etc.) I’ve been in situations that have taught me some good lessons about traveling and also to make the most of every moment possible. For instance when my parents missed their flight and I took on Bangkok by myself. Or when Katiria and I went to karaoke by ourselves in Nagano because why not.
In terms of myself, I’ve learned I am not and probably will never be a rugged traveler who is okay with fully roughing it. But I’ve also learned that spending my money on traveling is far better than most things. Yes I did my fair shopping of things to bring back to Japan, but I also have seen so much this past year. These memories are the biggest treasure that I will take with me. Even though Japan is not the next step for me next year, it was the perfect chapter right after college. I’ve learned, grown, and seen a lot to prepare me for this next chapter. Will I go back to teaching internationally? Who knows, but I know this travel bug is definitely not leaving for a while and I’m totally okay with that.
Another thing that’s fully been made clear this year is TEACHING IS HARD. Not that I ever thought it was easy- do not get me wrong. I actually have always had inner anger about people who say it’s easy. To all those people, I’d like to see you teach and realize how much actually goes into being a good teacher. It’s really amazing when you stop and think about all that a teacher does. A teacher is someone who can juggle multiple hats and be a conoseour in all subject areas. You know- math, reading, writing, science, social studies, and even sometimes the arts. That’s a lot to specialize in.
Oh and then you can’t forget that every single student is different. A good teacher takes in the needs of all her students. This encompasses the following but is not limited to: knowing about their outside of school life, incorporating their interests into the classroom, adapting to any special needs they might have, and also modifying curriculum to meet the needs of second language learners. Oh but wait I’m not done! Good teachers plan their units and document document document. This can be written or through pictures (holla for anyone who knows Evernote) but it is never ending as learning is constant. Most importantly, a good teacher is a role model. Someone that his/her students should feel comfortable to approach and confide in. That of course is what makes teaching so special. Being the person a child can look up to and having an impact no matter what it may be on their lives.
Sometimes I question whether I was meant to teach but other times I have these moments with the kids and I think, “I was meant to do this.” and I have absolutely no doubt about that. I know it’s normal to question your career so who knows how long this will be my path but for now, this is where I’m meant to be. 🙂 With that said, I’d like to announce that next year I will be moving to NEW YORK CITY baby!!!!! I got a job at a school called Pine Street in Lower Manhattan right near wall street. It’s a newer school and still expanding so I will be starting in Pre-school using Montessori methods and also some PYP (the international curriculum I used this year). Then the following year I will move up to Elementary.
I could not be more excited for this opportunity. It’s close enough to home, it’s the city that never sleeps so there’s always something to do (unlike shitty-yama-ku), I know lots of people in the city (I don’t know what I will do without KK though), and there will be more than 3 restaurants to choose from hahah. I know I will grow as a teacher and I’m sure I’ll learn some life lessons from New York too 🙂
Lastly, goodbyes have been constant all week. We started off last Friday with a goodbye party at Chiyoko’s. She is the woman who we’ve done cooking classes with. We were felt so honored that she insisted on throwing us a goodbye party. KK and I made zucchini lasagna and some white sangria because we thought they were things they wouldn’t eat often. They loved them both it made us so happy 🙂 Her friend Naomi came over with her 2 sons and her husband joined us later. They had bought some sushi, inari (our favorite!), made a salad, Masaki made the most epic vegetable tempura ever (so fresh, and lightly coated I was in heaven), and Naomi made this Korean dish I really liked but I forget what it’s called 😦 We all cheers with a “kanpai!” as a toast. After our meal and being veryyyy full, we got up to teach them some salsa. Things got pretty rowdy when Masaki busted it and fell backwards. I was so close to peeing my pants of laughter. We stopped dancing for some matcha tea and dessert. Katiria and I headed downtown to meet some friends in the pouring rain which was a bit of a bust (as usual for Nagoya) but hey we tried
sushi!Masaki’s DEEEEELISH tempura!kanpai with champagne 🙂salsa lessons with our Japanese friends hehelast final selfie!
On Wednesday the 2nd to last day of school there was a school assembly where the leaving teachers were recognized. Our principal, Paul led the entire thing which was really nice. We were called up one by one to be recognized for our teaching at being at NIS. Even though I was dreading giving a wee speech it was the first time I really sat down and the emotions settled in. We all lost it a bit and had a hard time holding it together. They gave us some flowers, a certificate and a beautiful wind chime to help us think of NIS wherever we go. The 5th grade students performed “Best Day of My Life” which was very fitting but obviously made the water works come even more. Then there was a slideshow which helped bring a smile back to my face. As stressed as I’ve been with school, NIS has been the best possible first start of a first school for me to teach at. I have high expectations for next year and I will miss these kiddos more than words can say.
After school KK and I sent off our last boxes (4 each to be exact) for a nice $350… no big deal just throwing our money into the wind. We finished the week off with sorting trash with the complicated and tedious Japanese system and bringing things to school to get rid of. NOT a fun process I can tell you that, but hey we survived.
cleaning upfaces after throwing all of our money at the post office
The last day was a special one as I was showered with love from the parents and the students. So many special gifts that I know I will truly treasure and wonderful cards from the kids that I also will bring along with me. The last day we had lots of time to play fun games (you know how much I love games) and just enjoy each other’s company. We handed out awards for the students and exchanged gifts and hugs.
my first class will always be my favorite ❤the boys enjoying the class party 🙂the most intricate hot dogs I’ve EVER seen!!! It was like a mini garden it was crazy
Some other goodbyes from this week:
Okonomiyaki as our last Japanese meal with the lovely Hiroko and Hinata. Will miss them both very much ❤work of art
Staff party/last final hoorah downtown:
Dan out for the count
This is the beautiful “Sayonara doll” I received today. If you roll of the kimono there is a scroll where staff wrote beautiful goodbye messages. They were presented today and the people who are leaving nominated someone to speak on their behalf. Katiria and I spoke for each other and were the first ones to go. I didn’t think I would cry but I lost it. It was basically an hour and a half of balling. It was very emotional but I’m glad I had the chance to step back and recognize some of these emotions before I go home. I’m so glad I chased my dream and I will never forget how incredible this year has been. I’m excited to know people all over the world now and cherish our special times together. 🙂
There are going to be so many things I miss and I feel grateful for the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had this year. I’m looking forward to staying in touch and having friends from near and far. I also can’t wait to squeeze all my friends and family from home. Prepare yourself for some big hugs people because I will see you back on the east coast after a much anticipated trip to see Sherry in California!!
Here are some quotes that have resonated with me and I hope to keep them in mind as I close this chapter and begin a new one…
“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.”- Brad Henry
“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” – Ibn Battuta
さようなら Sayonara for now 🙂
Japanese face masks hahahaJUST FOR A GOOD GIGGLE…our full memory jar! KK is taking it back for us to read when she comes to visit me in July 🙂
Wowza what a weekend. I have a reminder of how great traveling to an island was from my very very burnt back. I may or may not resemble a lobster currently…
But this weekend was the perfect last hoorah trip for ending of the year. It was full of relaxation, awe of beauty, which together helped me appreciate my year here in Japan. My only complaint would be that we didn’t have enough time which is usually a common complaint when traveling 😉 Specifically for Okinawa though there are very limited flight options and also transportation within Okinawa doesn’t have many options in terms of getting around. We flew Jetstar which is much cheaper than the other options but the timing options were very sparse. So even though we took off Monday because of traveling we mainly had all of Sunday and then the night of Saturday. We would’ve left Friday if it had been possible but that wasn’t an option. =/
To get to Zamami island, (which was where we were staying) we had to take a ferry after landing in Naha (the main airport). The ferries only run twice per day so it’s either you catch it at night or in the morning. So for both arriving and departing we had some extra wiggle room. Our limited time meant I missed the epic aquarium but that’s okay because Sunday was a magical day. No other words for it. I had to keep pinching myself because that’s how awesome it was. For anyone that’s reading this that is still in Japan, you NEED to make the trip to Okinawa solely for this excursion.
Before the epicness though, Saturday we met Katiria at the airport as she had come to Okinawa a day earlier than us. She gave us a good laugh as she had stood with signs with Kelli and I’s name in katakana (Japanese characters for English words) and also wearing a lei. Only KK 🙂 While we had been waiting for her, Kelli and I enjoyed getting a mini peek of what the aquarium would have been like by looking at their small fish tank. But this HUGE blue fish was in there that was pretty cool to see from even the airport. We headed to take our ferry to check into our guesthouse. Not even one second after getting off of the airplane, I was hit with the insane humidity and heat. That was quite the welcome!
After checking into the guesthouse, we walked to a nearby beach that was absolutely beautiful with very clear blue waters. We had a lovely night swim as we watched the sun go down and the almost full moon appear through the clouds. We headed back and out to dinner for some Japanese food surprises as per usual… We ordered a feta cheese and olive appetizer and a caesar salad to share. The caesar salad had a raw egg oozing all over the top… absolutely disgusting. Then the cheese/olives as a very itty bit bowl that wasn’t bad just little. I tried a seitan stir fry with veggies that I actually liked. The best part? We shared french toast with ice cream NOM!
bae waiting for us 🙂HE’S HUGEEEcan you tell we were excited??WE MADE IT TO THE BEACH!swimming by the light of the moon 🙂I can’t make this up…
We all had wanted to go scuba diving but because of the price of about $120, long time of training and the limited range of feet that they allow you to dive we decided to look at our other options. Apparently whale watching is huge in Okinawa but that season ended in April 😦 so we missed that too. Kelli found us a sick deal that was a very short walk from our guesthouse where we stayed. We paid about the same price as scuba diving would have been but got much much more.
We started with kayaking and Kelli and I were together. I have been kayaking so many times so I wasn’t too worried, but I forgot how it can take a while to get used to synchronizing with another person in the kayak! We eventually got in tune with each other 🙂 Another new part was that the person in the back (me) had to also push paddles while paddling to control the direction of the rudder in the back. This felt very awkward at first but we got the hang of it! We kayaked to one of the islands and put on our snorkeling gear to head into the water. I’ve been snorkeling also countless of times but the last epic place was probably Israel in Eilat this past summer and then also scuba diving in Costa Rica. So I pictured something like those. But this was so much more epic.
my new pal, Sakura the dogready to dive on in!Kelli and I in our kayak!
The water was very shallow so at first it was a bit hard to wiggle our way into the water but that also meant we were extremely close to the fishies. Why this experience was so epic was because the water was so clear and there was such a wide variety of marine life. I have never been in water so clear and with so many shades of blue. As cheesy as it sounds, I felt like I was swimming through the pallet of an artist filled with an ombré of all shades of blues. I also saw so many things I’ve never seen before and was able to get so close I even touched some different things!! One of our guides picked up a sea cucumber which I had never seen before and I held it!! It felt like a furry-ish lufa haha. I I also got to touch a blow fish and a puffy fish which was sooo squishy! We were playing like hot potato passing it around to all of the people in our group.
All of us down below!I FOUND NEMO!How sick is this?There were so many vibrant colors!!HEY THERE TURTLE 🙂
Some other really cool marine life I don’t know the names of but it felt like I was an actual fish in finding nemo. I even saw clownfish in their anemone and dori fish! I also saw blue starfish, a stingray, a couple hugeeeee sea turtles which are famous in Okinawa, and so many more 🙂
It was like a big squishy lufawater snake?SO STINKIN’ COOLsquishy fish!
After our excursion we went out to dinner at another Japanese restaurant and pretty much called it a night. We had a bit of a happy hour with a bottle of wine we bought and some snacks 🙂 We came back and played Heads Up on my phone (google it if you don’t know what I’m talking about) which is always a good time.
The next day we had to check out and head to the port for a 10 AM ferry. We barely made it (we were moving slow) and I enjoyed my ride laying down to avoid sea sickness. This was the FASTEST ferry I’ve ever been on it was more like a huge speed boat that made me very nauseous. So laying down on the top was the best solution. We made it back safe and sound.
Biggest news lately: WE SOLD OUR CAR that night… We feel a bit stranded and are very thankful to all the people who will help out up until we leave. Cause food shopping and getting around town is just a wee difficult without it. -___-
Sayonara Okinawa!seashell collection 🙂 I’m looking forward to making a windchime or somethingAbsolutely unreal…
Only 10 more days until I leave Japan and 14 days from today until I’ll be back in New Jersey. So so soon. Just trying to get through the madness of the end of the year and trying to soak in all of these last special moments. I definitely won’t forget this trip to Okinawa ❤
So weird to think that I’ll be saying hello in Japanese and bowing occasionally for only so much longer. I am leaving in less than three weeks HOLY MOLY.
I apologize for the hiatus in writing but things have been absolutely crazy! Between the job hunt which is actually looking pretty positive right now, (possibly hello New York!) report cards and end of the year assessments, packing things up to move out, etc. it’s been a never ending roller coaster of constant moving.
I pictured this last month to be different. My anticipation was to travel more and revisit a couple of the places I’ve really loved to make the most of every single bit of time. But truthfully any free time I get I just want to sleep 😩 So I’m actually really glad we didn’t plan too much because most weekends have been packed with Skype interviews or planning/grading at school hours on hours.
We have done a couple of fun things though lately. I enjoyed going over another families house of one of my students. She taught us how to make gimbap which we have done before with Chioko (our cooking teacher) but this time I liked it more actually! We made sooo much and as always it was fun to hang out with 2 of our students (since they were having a sleepover) outside of school. We kicked their butts in Uno 😉
check out that huge rolllittle Caroline ❤
Feast your eyes on all the yumminess…
This food made me feel a bit better about missing out on food in Seoul!
Another fun event we went to recently was the NIS Walkathon which is their biggest fundraiser of the year. It was a gorgeous day outside and there were tons of vendors, music and people!! The trail was very short like about a 20 minute walk or so in total but it was just so great to be outside. 🙂
walking selfie!we found Maya!
Things are slowly falling into place and I’m hoping to start enjoying the end of the year and the bliss it can bring this upcoming week. It became more of a reality this week when I had to say goodbye to one of my students who is moving back to South Africa :(. I’m definitely not good at goodbyes I usually like to say, “I’ll see you soon” or “until next time” because emotions either hit me like a wave and I’m a mess but usually it takes some time until I’m removed from the situation for it to sink in.
I have a feeling that is going to be the same situation with leaving NIS. I miss my family and friends so much I’m really eager and excited about going home. But I know once I get home I’m going to miss certain people here from teachers, parents and of course the kiddos. I know I’ll definitely be missing about 99% of the things mentioned in this article as well http://en.rocketnews24.com/…/sweet-sorrow-21-little-things…/ (Definitely worth the read especially if you’ve visited or lived in Japan)
silly facespicture for Caroline’s goodbye cardtheir end of the year gift they don’t know about yet 😉Caroline’s goodbye party!she’s too cute I can’t handle it !!! Caroline-san haha
I’m not ready to write my goodbye post yet but for now trying to enjoy the ending of school. One of the most exciting parts is seeing how much the students have grown over the year. It’s absolutely amazing to see the progress they make!
I’m also looking forward to going to Okinawa next weekend as our last big hooray! We are taking off Monday as a personal day and hopefully the weekend will be full of sunshine, beach, snorkeling and kayaking! 🙂 just what I need!
That’s all for now hopefully next time I check in I will have an official job! For now we have officially sold our car YIPEEEEE! Slowly but surely it’s all working out 🙂
Konnichiwa humans, I am back safe and sound in Nagoya. Disclaimer: this will be a very pessimistic post of very unfortunate events.
It all started last weekend when we went to Hiroshima. Going to Hiroshima was on my bucket list for this year and I was so excited because I have only heard good things. My expectations were not only met, if anything Hiroshima exceeded my expectations and I wish I had more time there. We stayed in an air bnb which was deceiving from it’s picture because there was just about enough room for Katiria and I to lay like mummies next to each other. But oh man where those futons and comforters comfortable, I couldn’t get over it. If I was staying another year I would’ve asked her where she got it 😜
On Friday night we tried going out but it was a bust. Either everyone goes out way later or they just don’t really go out at all on Fridays. We went to this salsa bar but it was mainly just old Japanese men trying to talk to us and I really wasn’t feeling it. After we left that bar we decided to be adventurous and just try going up to groups of people and seeing what they were doing. This sounds strange but I’ve met some cool people and found random restaurants/bars this way while traveling. But the following occurred:
1. The first man said I had a small head and then they proceeded to walk away. This was ironic because I was just telling Katiria how I have a really small head and then that happened LOL
2. The second man and his friend that we approached automatically screamed “WE DONT HAVE ANY MONEY!” … Clearly Katiria and I look like robbers now.
3. The third man approached us asking what we were doing we said we were looking for a bar and then he said “actually never mind…” And just walked away.
We started questioning if we smelled or maybe we’ve turned into hideous aliens. I’m still not sure what the hell happened. But the last group of men were helping us find a bar and we asked if they wanted to join and they just straight up walked away.
I was a bit turned off by Hiroshima like what the heck happened? But the next day was muchhhh better. We went to Miyajima and got to see the famous floating tori gate. It was absolutely beautiful. There are also sooo many deer there which the Japanese love. We have way too many deer in New Jersey but what was crazy here was that they come up to you and will let you pet them! I actually found it kinda creepy. Anyways we really enjoyed walking around the area and we also attempted to go hiking. I say attempted because I actually have no idea what trail we took. We were trying to climb this one mountain but we got so lost at one point we ended up in a random area and almost tried to hitch hike. Yikes. But we made it back and either way we got to be outside in the beautiful weather and do some walkin 🙂 oh and we had some okonomoyaki for lunch which is supposed to be their speciality but it was just meh. However, the sweet potato flavored ice cream I had was NOMTASTIC.
Tori gate at Miyajima!friendly deer 🙂
After Miyajima we headed back and rested up before going back out again. We had a fancy Thai dinner together and shared a bottle of wine. You know, me and bae. Then we bopped around a bit and ended up at this one bar that was so fun. There are so many expats in Hiroshima it was refreshing to see/meet people from other places in the world. However, I got way too comfortable with being in Japan and trusting that people won’t steal things here. So I really wasn’t feeling like holding my bag while I was dancing. There weren’t that many people there so I had it on a chair near me with my sweater over it. I went to the bathroom at some point and came back and it was gone 😦 it had the key to the air bnb place, my phone, and pretty much everything in my wallet. Japanese ID, bank card, health insurance, home driving license, credit cards, etc. etc. I keep remembering more things, it’s never ending and sucks.
After some freaking out and tears, I had to move forward. It could’ve been much worse like some creeper attacking me or who knows what. When it came down to it, it was already done and nothing I could do. What sucked was the woman at the table said she saw a man pick up all the stuff and leave. I wanted to be like well you’re an idiot why wouldn’t you say anything? But then again, I’m the idiot who left it on the chair…
The next day we went to the peace park and the a-bomb dome museum. We were able to learn more about the bombing during world war 2. It was incredibly sad but also very eye opening for me. I’ve only really learned about world war 2 from the perspective of Jews during the holocaust. I really wasn’t aware of what happened exactly in Hiroshima. About half of their population (400,000 people) was wiped out. People burned to death on the spot, others suffered from the after effects. Reading about the children always gets me, so innocent and so young with so much ahead of them. There were a lot of similar things that I’ve seen in holocaust museums like the clothes people had been wearing, glasses, or notebooks that they had been holding. What’s also crazy is this really didn’t happen too long ago. It made me wonder if that’s why sometimes Japanese people have been so rude to me. I’ve been shooed away or looked at like I’m a disgusting piece of filth and maybe they blame all Americans. After thinking about that, I almost can’t blame them because what happened was pretty horrible. If you ever get a chance to go to Japan, Hiroshima is a must!
So after getting over the stolen purse hump, the next unfortunate event hit: I got sick. You surprised? If you know me, probably not. I get sick very easily if I don’t sleep/eat well and also if I get really stressed. It started on Tuesday but I thought I was just tired. Wednesday it was worse and I’m pretty sure I had a fever but we had student led conferences and I couldn’t miss school so I pushed through. I had to go get a new residence card (like a Japanese ID) after school so I could fly to Korea this weekend. However, the woman from school forgot to tell me the immigration office was closed only after I drove for a total of 2 hours and paid $25 in tolls… Cool.
The next day I was feeling much much worse. My fever escalated, I was achy, headache and my glands were so swollen it hurt to swallow, I was in so much pain. After going to the immigration office I successfully got a new card five hours later…. Never again. Then I made it to the doctor and found out I have tonsillitis. These bad boys need to come out this summer because I’ve had tonsillitis wayyyyy too many times to count. So I got the antibiotics and thought I would be golden. But the fever and pain was still going pretty strong until late Friday night I was feeling much better.
I survived the flight to Korea, mask and all. Yup I can tell you I never thought I would wear one but there I was! We hit the hay pretty hard at our hostel to make sure we could get up early to explore. Everything was dandy until after breakfast. I started to feel stomach pain and I knew something bad was coming. This is the last unfortunate event. I still don’t know what exactly happened if it was a reaction from the antibiotic, something I ate, random stomach virus but I think it could be a side effect from the tonsillitis (according to google). But basically for the rest of the day I had severe stomach pains and was vomming my life away. You know I’ve never been pregnant but I can only imagine this is what contractions feel like. If so, I do not want to give birth. This was EXCRUCIATING. From about 8 am-1 PM I was basically rolling over in pain in this little hostel with occasional runs to their bathroom to vom. At one point I had to push a man out of the way to get to the bathroom first, I am so sorry but at least I didn’t throw up on him.
view from the plane!Rocking my mask 😉
At about 1 I couldn’t take it anymore I needed help. Being sick alone in Japan was one thing but being sick and in pain in another country alone is actually miserable. I never wish that upon anyone. I sent a plead for help to the owner of the hostel. An hour later he kindly escorted me to a clinic. Seoul is probably one of the worst places for a sick person. It is sooo crowded and people are actually a bit rude. I got bumped into pretty hard a couple of times and no one said sorry. But yeah I tried to push past the crowds even though I was sweating like a maniac trying not to hurl all over people. There are also sooo many restaurants and food stands. Between that and the pollution smell or whatever it was, my stomach was doing back flips and giving me the finger. I made it to the office got some medicine which I have no idea what it was. They also gave me a nebulizer afterwards to calm down because I was crying so much because of the pain. The owner sadly didn’t wait and I got lost on the way back like a sick old dog trying to find home.
I made it, took the medicine after eating two crackers and it came right back up. Fun stuff. I decided food was not going to happen. I couldn’t really bare the thought of being sick in a stuff hostel for another two days. I switched my flight and made it back on Sunday. It started to get better on Sunday thank goodness.
All I can say is, thank goodness for this puppy who made me smile and kept me company. His name is Tor and I love him. Such a nugget minus his annoying teething. But anyways, I’m alive and I’m ready for some positivity. Please no more losing stuff or getting sick, I’m over the unfortunate events!!
my little love bug ❤
I hope one day I can look back and laugh about the time I went to Seoul, did absolutely nothing but be sick and then come back. Because right now I feel like I just threw a bunch of money into the wind and wasted time 😦
Keepin my head up and next post should be more positive!
Someone recently asked me where I’ve been due to my brief lack of posting. My apologies. I’ve been so consumed with applying to schools and taking time to focus on me (meditating, working out, cooking…) that I’ve been MIA. But hey I’m back! This is going to be a REALLY random post of recent happenings but we’ve done some pretty great things more locally lately.
Time is going by slowly but very fast all at the same time. We haven’t been traveling too much since Cambodia just a couple things here and there. Like I said there’s been a lot of job applying and I just have to laugh when I get questions like: If you were a kitchen utensil what would you be and why?
bahaha… I have to laugh or else I’ll cry from all these applications I’ve worked on
I’ve been enjoying every sunny day there is. Sadly April has brought much more rain than I’d like but when there is sun I’m a million times more happy 🙂
cause why not make a wish on a flower!?the beautiful sakura ❤ I miss the flowers already!
2 weekends ago we had a teacher Keg and Karaoke event at school. It was fun to get to chat to people I don’t normally see every day that work in other areas of the school. Afterwards, Katiria, Kelli, and I decided to sleepover at school cause why not. It felt like we were kids having a slumber party. So yes I did 2 things that felt so strange to do at school: drink (obviously without kids present) and then sleep in Kelli’s classroom!!! One for the books.
being kids and climbing up the jungle gymnbd just a school sleepover
NEWSFLASH: I filled up my Pariwar (favorite Indian restaurant) punch card!!! Mission accomplished.
filled up my entire punch card!!!!
I’ve been a bit homesick and even though I don’t want to rush my time here and all of the exciting adventures that are still planned/yet to come, I really miss my family and friends. So it’s the little conversations like this that truly make me happy ❤
skying with my Mollz 🙂
Two weekends ago we went to Fujigaoka which is about 20 minutes away from us where there are a lot of restaurants. For some reason, we have neverrrrr been there. We went out with Annika and just wandered around until we found this Korean BBQ place that ended up being so delicious! It gave us a little taste to the food we will be eating in 2 weekends when we go to Seoul!!!
Korean BBQ!you must try bimbimbap… new fav
Last weekend we also did another cooking class with that same lady Chioco. This time we requested some things we’ve been wanting to learn how to make. We learned how to make gyoza (Japanese dumplings), gimbap (Korean sushi), and clear soup.
back with Chioco cooking!the Gyoza sensei
Chioco invited her friend, Naomi over who has a lot of Korean friends to teach us how to make gimbap. Naomi teaches English and has her own business so she was very excited to chat with us. She brought over her 2 kids and this one was our gyoza teacher he was so cute.
gimbap for dayzzz- she even packed us leftovers! She is such a sweetheart look at that gyoza 🙂
I loved being in a Japanese household it feels so nice and comforting. I’m looking forward to going back next month for a BBQ with her!
After that we were really classy and played some drinking games with fellow humans in our apartment complex. The best part: beer got spilled on the table and someone may or may not have slurped it up via a straw. Keepin’ it classy. We all never really hang out so it was really nice to be together!
pretending we are all in college againbut real talk… give us the sun!BOY SCOUTS!! They exist in Japan too
Last Sunday we went to this fruit park nearby. We thought it was going to be a hike but it was more like a festival to look at the trees, buy fruit/food and just play/lay by the trees. It was totally okay by us and we each took a shooshie (nap) and just relaxed.
fruit park lovin’A letter from one of my students: I’m going to cry like a baby when I need to say goodbye to these kiddos 😦Girls throwing up the sakura at recess…they are too darn cuteTAMAGACHI’S EXISThow cute?!
Last night we had game night as a Primary school event. The students rotated in groups to different activities. I was in the gym with the Pre-school-1st grade students. I played 2 games: Stuck in the mud, very similar to tag and fishy, fishy, cross my ocean aka a version of sharks and minos. It made me realize I know I could definitelyyyyy not teach kids younger than 2nd grade but they are so darn cute to play with I was having so much fun. I haven’t run around like that in a very long time. My ankle hates me today but I had so much fun.
At the end I taught Zumba and then the kids did Pinata. I felt like it was my big Zumba debut it was so fun. I only did 2 songs and of course (if you know me you won’t be surprised) I was dripping sweat. I actually think I scared some of the children because they have never seen someone sweat so much. But hey I was movin’ and groovin’ so it’s all good.
I LOVE POTLUCKS
This was the second potluck we had at the Grecu’s and I hope we keep having them because it is so darn good. You get to eat a little bit of everything!!!! I think my favorite was the coconut roti that Sylvia had made. Nommmmm 🙂 We made sangria, mediterranean cous cous salad, and thai chicken curry.
This is just a random breakfast from last weekend and it’s just so beautiful I had to share it 🙂 Dorin gave us some of his fresh baked bread to take home and eggs have become my weekend treat. So with some veggies, goat cheese, avo, and siracha I’m a very very happy camper.
This weekend we have dinner with a student and her parents tonight. Tomorrow we are doing a BBQ with 2 students and their families and then strawberry picking afterwards!! Lots of student loving this weekend 🙂
Next weekend we go to Hiroshima, then the following weekend we go to Seoul for Golden week where we get 2 extra days off. Our last big hooray will be Okinawa in the end of May! Andddd probably one more weekend in Tokyo. So much to look forward to!!!
Sorry this was like word vomit all out of order, I’ll try to be better about keeping up on blogging.
So I felt the urge to write because I’m been so overwhelmed with feelings this week, I just need to write it out.
The week back after a vacation is always a rough transition. But truthfully it was much more positive considering this week started off with the weather in the 70’s and the beautiful Sakura (cherry blossoms) beginning to bloom. However, I’ve been pretty down this week because it has been so beautiful. I know that sounds so silly but it’s because I feel like it’s a constant reminder of what I’ll be missing next year.
My heart has grown so fond for NIS and living here in Japan it’s hard to tell why exactly though. Is it because I haven’t found another job yet? Is it because it took just about a year (like most people said it would) to adjust and now I am finally “adjusted” here? Or is it simply because “you don’t know what you got until it’s gone?” Maybe it’s one of these or maybe it’s all of these, I’m still not sure.
It’s crazy to think that this process has been going on since October. OCTOBER!!!!! That means I have been thinking about whether I’ll stay at NIS and where I’ll be for next year basically right after I got here. Since the international school job recruiting starts so early, we were being asked by staff so early on if we would be staying. I felt crazy for how drastic my opinion changed. In the beginning I was 100% in, I couldn’t imagine not staying. I love my kids, I have a supportive staff, and the school is at a place where there is so much room for growth- we are all learning together, it’s quite special.
But then after digging deep, I realizedI felt I lost a part of myself here. I think it’s gotten better but for a while I felt like I didn’t know who I was anymore. I know that sounds drastic but it felt like I was in middle school again trying to figure out who I was. Truthfully the community of friends here is very limited which is something I’m not used to at all. I think I’ve been a social butterfly since approximately coming out of the womb so adjusting to a place where the social community is slim to none was extremely hard. I can’t remember the last time I was only really close with a couple of people- probably elementary school. Ever since that, I’ve always had a couple really close friends but then I love being friends with multiple groups of people. Since going to both public and private school I had those mixes of friends, camp and then that pattern continued in college as well. So not having that here has been really hard. I am very grateful for the few people that have been so supportive this year- I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if it weren’t for them ❤
On top of that, even though we live in the 3rd biggest city in Japan we aren’t exactly “in town”. To get downtown it takes 35 minutes once you get to the nearby train station which is about a 10 minute drive away. Around our area it’s more of the suburbs so there isn’t too much going on. That means we don’t go downtown all too often but also partly because I find a hard time meeting people even when we do. There is a barrier to break between meeting Japanese people sometimes. I can either feel like I’m a monkey in a zoo being stared at or they just want to practice a little bit of English and that’s that. It’s that lack of socializing where I have felt like my personality was crushed a bit. It made me feel like something was wrong and I had to trust my instincts and know that I needed to be a bit closer to home, closer to a city, and in an area where I knew at least a few people.
When I look around and see couples or families teaching here, I look at them in awe. I can picture myself working here in about 10 years much more settled in my life and this being the absolute perfect environment to live and work in. Not only that but with teachers moving all around the world next year, I envy them. Because of course I have my doubts about teaching abroad after this year, but I have become so passionate about this teaching program and the remarkable opportunity to travel and live around the world.
But, I need to remind myself to stop thinking what if. I said “no” for a reason. I trusted my gut and that’s what brought me here and in the end it was a great experience. I need to just trust this crazy roller coaster we call life. Yes, I know I sound ridiculous. You’re thinking- Lindsay, you’re crazy. You just moved to Japan you are so brave, you did something I could never do. It looks like so much fun!!!
Of course it has been fun and it’s crazy to look back to see that I have changed in many ways. In some ways it felt like it was for the worst, but I’d like to think that mostly for the better. 🙂 I will try to keep my chin up and hope for the best wherever I might land next year. It’s just been hard with not many schools replying back/not seeing applicable jobs posted yet. I’m trying really hard to go back to a school with PYP but those options are smaller so I need to keep an open mind but I also don’t want to throw this new passion out the window. I want to keep learning how to be a better inquiry based teacher because I have seen such strides in the kids and it makes learning so much more exciting and meaningful!
I’m going to stop blabbering but I hope this resonates for any friends out there having a rough time transitioning after college, or maybe unsure about what your next step is in your job or even your life.
Here are some random pictures of all the Deelish food I ate and some of the fun activities.
The ultimate highlight of the trip: the Cambodian circus. This show was so mind blowing, I even bought the CD. It was so so good. The story behind it was about a young girl overcoming her nightmares of growing up with the Khmer Rouge and channeling all of her emotions through art. We did learn at the end that there is a school that does this in Cambodia, so cool!! The acrobatic skills were off the chart and the music could get you to shake your whole body in a matter of seconds. The cast was so lively that I wanted to be their friend and hang out with them… Next time 🙂 but really there was dancing, performing, live painting, and music making. So much to see it was truly remarkable and I was jumping out of my seat with joy.
live painting!! He was painting things and then putting them in the background to set the scene. On top of that he was also acting, it was incredible!How do their bodies do that? Makes me miss acro and dance so much
2 PEOPLE BALANCED ON ONE PERSON!!!! HOW!?!?!this picture couldn’t be more embarrassing but it’s too good not to post. I love them all.
Art experience: we went to a ceramic place and played around a bit on the wheel and also painted some things. It was KK’s first time on the wheel which was exciting! I personally was brought back to the camp days when wheel was my thang. Shout out to willow lake day camp! We would’ve had to pay extra for what we made on the wheel but the package we bought let us get the lesson from someone for help on the wheel. We also painted two things that were put in the kiln and then delivered to us the next day!! So cool 🙂
I made the one on the left and they gave us the one on the right. My other one I made is too ugly to share hahaworking it in action. Can’t say I’ve used the wheel before with a bare foot pushing it back and forth
TREAT YO SELF- Massages/Nails: they have ranged from foot massages to three hours treatment. I’ve loved them all and wish they were this cheap at home. Obviously the ultimate was the three hour shiatsu, feet and back, and facial for only $35 total. Hell yes
Sadly as always the manicure didn’t really stay but my toes are still nice and it always feels good to be pampered and cleaned up, right!?
Floating Village: So I was quite lucky that I actually went on the RIGHT floating village tour. Apparently there are a couple of these villages, but one of them is a complete scam. Like they just parade you around asking you to donate. Like a kid could be playing with a snake, they could show you a fake school, etc. etc. How do I know this for sure? Well this was the only piece of advice our friends who went to Cambodia last year told us. They got scammed and paid wayyyy too much money so they told us to make sure not to go there. Anna, Leah and Katiria all went on Thursday but I wasn’t feeling well so I went Friday. Sadly to report, they got scammed and went to the wrong one!!!
I went on a tour for $16 that included a van transfer with AC which was nice since it was quite a far drive. We left at 1:30 and didn’t get back until almost 8. I’m so glad I did it though because it was so cool to see how some people live like this all of the time. I can’t imagine what it’s like when it’s the wet season and the houses are actually floating. It also made me sad at some times because they really need better sanitation as well as medical care. There is no help really in this village. But it also amazed me how people still live so simply, even there house is made mainly of sticks and leaves- how crazy!?
off to go into our boat!mandatory selfiethe architecture of these houses were amazing, especially since they survive in order to float when it’s the wet seasonthe kids were so cute!!Normally this house would be floating on water…floating restaurant!casual crocodilesgorgeous to watch the sunset 🙂
Food (NOMZ): So random and lots of food but my favorite part was that Cambodia had such a diversity of all kinds of food. Japan doesn’t really have that and I miss that luxury that I’m used to in the states of having all different options of food to eat. Or even different ingredients to cook other kinds of food! So overall, the food and drinks were very cheap AND delicious.
Indian food for 20 peopledipping sauce for veggie samosa!Pariwar, you have competitionwarm coconut yucky haha$1.50 margaritasfeta “salad” slightly better than Japan but still kinda weeksimple mixed greens but so fresh and tasy!Khmer chicken curryFRUIT SMOOTHIES MY HEAVENhappy pizza … you can’t get that in JapanPad Thai!!delish egg burritoshopping in the market for food!
YUCKKKKKKYI was like a child covering my eyescasualold schoolveggies to prep!COOKING CLASS CREATIONS!! Banana flower salad and chicken with bok choy… so damn goodso beautifulChef Lirwin
I missed real breakfast!!!more happy happy pizzanot a fan of the chips but if there’s guac, I’m indon’t like shrimp but the veggies were good!love the presentation!fresh fruit!!
Overall, I am so glad I got to go to Cambodia. I was wondering how it would compare to Thailand but they were a bit different. Cambodia had a more powerful impact on me in terms of their history with the Khmer Rouge. It is also clearly evident to see how poor the country is, how young most of the population is and even civilians who still suffer with missing limbs from the landmines. However, I felt warmer vibes in Thailand even though it was more touristy here. In Cambodia I felt like I was being pressured to buy things constantly and felt really guilty if I didn’t buy something because so many people were so poor. This week also reminded me how grateful I am for my childhood and really all of my experiences that I have had thus far in my life. I couldn’t feel more blessed for this year and seeing more parts of the world.
I felt ignorant while I was there that I really didn’t know much about Cambodia and it’s history whatsoever. But, it also excited me to realize how much is out there. When it comes down to it, we are all people but with our cultural backgrounds and history, there is so much to learn from one another. Even though I know I’m definitely going back to the states this year, every time we make one of these trips I feel so alive and empowered to continue traveling. There is still so much to see and experience for myself, I can’t freaking wait.
For now, I will make the most of every single moment of my journey here in Japan with only about 11 weeks left. Absolutely mind blowing!!! Until next time 🙂
Since being here we really wanted to give back to the community, so we were looking for ways to help volunteer. Our last hotel was affiliated with a nearby school and hospital so we thought that would be a good place to start. However it didn’t end up being as fulfilling as we had hoped. The school took us on a tour and we got to see some of the adorable children but sadly the kids have classes in the morning and the afternoon. So we missed the kiddos =\ womp womp womp. So interesting to see classes with no doors and basically having class outside! It seems nice but I think I might personally melt down in about 5 seconds. All the power to them though. Seeing a class of about 40 kids with mixed ages and one teacher makes me want to move to a place like this. Even though there are so many schools where I would rather work, these kids need help. The new generation since the civil war here in Cambodia has so much drive to learn and to be successful it’s apparent everywhere we have gone this week.
kiddos handprints 🙂
Apparently 85% on the country is illiterate and most of the people we have spoken to this week are going to school for English but then want to go do something else. Katiria and I keep saying how lucky we are that English is our first language. I can’t imagine my native language not being commonly spoken like Khmer (what they speak here in Cambodia). That looks so difficult to learn as it is! Their language looks very similar to Thai with very intricate characters and specific pronunciation of the language.
The hospital if anything was worse than the school. They had us watch a DVD about how their hospital was founded. The hospital was funded by a Japanese man who saw a need to help the children here medically in order to save the country. Since the Khmer Rouge had wiped out 25% of the population, most of the people killed were older and the more educated people that they saw as a threat I suppose. Which means that now 85% of the population in Cambodia is under 15 years old. The video explained that the kids aren’t dying usually of abnormal diseases, they are actually illnesses that can be cured quite easily like pneumonia, diarrhea or even a fever. But the cost to just get to the hospital can be pricey for locals and sometimes too far from where they live. After seeing the video the lady working there walked us outside to see the out patient area with people just waiting around to be seen. So many sick children I could barely look. I felt uncomfortable like this privileged white lady being paraded around just looking at sick people. I had hoped we would be able to volunteer so I could feel like I was making a difference as much as possible during my time here. That wasn’t the case so we each made a donation and then ended up donating blood at another hospital later :)! Definitely felt more fulfilling giving back in that manner because it felt like we were actually saving lives.
the shirts that probably won’t fit us because Cambodian people are so tinyselfie with our nurses holla
Angkor wat on the other hand was breathtaking. I didn’t realize how freaking huge it is!! I though there was one main area that you could go to and just bop around all of the temples but that is not the case whatsover. You need a tuk tuk driver to take you around to all of the different temples. We only went twice but I’m so glad we broke it up in chunks. We also got to see it at two different times of day. The first time we went around late afternoon and stayed until sunset. We had a guide walk us around the main area of Angkor wat and learned a bit more about the history behind it. I was really taken a back by a couple of things. How other nations help support buildings across the world, currently the Japanese, French and German are funding some of the building/renovation. Another thing that took me back was learning that the holes in some of the rock were from the civil war and how clearly you can still see them. We enjoyed walking around (minus the extreme heat) and just taking in how incredible huge and precise the architecture is. The crowds and construction definitely took away some of the beauty as we were walking around. Especially at sunset we had climbed this up this huge structure to overlook all of the land and watch the sunset. However, there were so many people who were all taking pictures that it was difficult to tune them out and enjoy.
day 1!
love the reflection on the water!
I had to buy a t-shirt in order to go in and even at 5:30 PM I was still melting…
Which is why I was glad we also went in the morning. We woke up at 4:30 and I’m sad to say that the sunrise was quite anticlimactic. Buttttt there were less people and not as hot so in my eyes it was worth it. I think the weather was too foggy but we still knocked out a lot of yoga pics and basically had a nice photo shoot as we conquered the area together. We got blessed by a monk after we donated and I just realized how interesting it is that they give you a piece of red yarn just like you get in Israel. I need to look more into the connection here 🙂
like a Thneed from the Lorax!!!
What killed me the most about Angkor wat is how intense the selling of different items was. Trust me I love to shop, but I also like my space. It’s always hard when they are in your face about buying things but even more so when it’s kids who are selling. It breaks my heart and I want to give them all my money. But once I gave to one, then they all flocked and it was just so sad. Apparently, I also didn’t know that the best thing to do is ask them why they aren’t at school. Because if they continue to beg and receive money, they will be less likely to actually go to school. There is so much need for help here, I can’t wait to see what it will be like in 5-10 years once they continue to keep growing and building.
also seeing people from the land mines with missing limbs also makes me so sad 😦 They are all amazing musicians though!!we saw an ellie!!
Bayon Temple- temple of 1,000 faces 🙂
big smoooooch
I don’t regret my shopping because I have soo many gifts and things to remember my travels, I just hope I can make it on the plane without being being charged for extra weight. I will never learn…
these will be such a nice addition to my room!! #namaste
The Traveling Teacher 
