The countdown continues

Life is harried and hectic at the moment, but the writing bug has bitten and I feel like jotting down a word or two.

It's been a while since my last international move, so I'd forgotten how quickly things begin to happen the closer I get to D-day (departure day). There are so many people to see, work to finish, loose ends to tie up--loose ends I didn't even realize or remember that I had rear their ugly heads seemingly out of nowhere. Still, time marches on (faster and faster!) and in the meantime I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Only increasing the sense of hecticness is the fact that I moved twice in September, finally settling in with all my junk (where did all this stuff come from??) with my friend New, who kindly let me set up in his extra room. I've been there since Friday and will be there until my real Japan departure in November.

New and I counted it up last night that, all in, I have only about 20 days left in Japan--that's including these days before I leave and the 10 days I'll have when I get back from backpacking 26 days in SE Asia. That time is gonna fly...

T-12 (to Thailand).

Sayonara soon, 日本！

Okay, I'm in official countdown mode. In a couple weeks, I'll be Bangkok bound. From there, I'll head immediately to Phnom Penh for a couple days and Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) for a couple more days. From there, back to BKK to catch a train to Vientiane for a couple more days. Then I'm planning a slow-boat up the Mekong (don't know how that's gonna work). Finally, cross back over into Thailand for some good food, good yoga, possibly an elephant sanctuary, and, of course, BEACH!

can.not.wait.

T-14.

I'll try to keep everyone posted via blog and/or Facebook. I might drop a line or two on twitter every once in a while too.

Okinawhat?

My first escape of the summer was to Okinawa, courtesy of the US Department of State, SkyMark Airways, and Chez Shimizu-Bonilla-Pochito.

what's not to heart?

Okinawa is renowned for its beautiful beaches, spam, and ゴヤ (bitter melon). Based on my experience, it also needs to be renowned for its number of A&W Root Beer fast food joints--they're everywhere!

leonard 5th floor (a.k.a. the coolest floor) representin'

I went down there during rainy season, but we ended up with an entire weekend of beautiful weather. I stayed with two other Leonard Hall alums, college sweethearts who are now Mr. and Mrs.: Risa and Alex (a.k.a. Don Alejandro... it's what he tried to convince other people to call him in college, but somehow it just didn't catch on, though he claims no memory of this--feel free to chime in here, other AU folks). It was the first time for me to see Alex since college (couldn't believe it), but Risa and I have been in touch through the years in DC and NYC. We bond over our "Japanese-ness" (in big quotes in Japan) and suburbanness (Risa loves Irvine, my hometown). Alex and Risa's awesome family addition: Pochi. He and I had a special connection. I call him Pochito. He calls me the bringer of dirty laundry that apparently smells like the closest thing to heaven on Earth for dogs. What can I say? I'm the Pochito Whisperer.

risa strikes a pose by the seawall post-pedicure

Okinawa is awesome because it's like a mini-trip to America. Okay, admittedly, for many people, that's not so awesome, but for me, right now, Chili's, Target-esque and American supermarket shopping, awesome tropical white sand clear blue water beaches, and mani-pedi places that don't cost an arm, a leg, and two hair extensions, and no jet lag are all just what the doctor ordered. The main thing is that I get to stay with Risa and fam, so there's lots of reminiscing and the instant comfort you get when hanging out with friends who have known you since you were actually 18 (rather than just your mental age 18, which, of course, I still am).

Check out our pedis w/ hand-painted designs!

Even though it was rainy season, we ended up with good weather most of the time and got in a great day at the beach. And, because we wanted to be like the cool kids, we buried Alex in the sand. And we did it real classy like, giving him sand boobs and rock nipples. 

alex in his sandy repose

All this to say, it was great and I loved it... so much, that I'm heading there again this weekend!

One step in front of the other

It sounds/feels like something you say in AA, "one day at a time," blah blah blah. I guess that's how we get through it all anyway, right? One step in front of the other, put your pants on one leg at a time. Part of the problem these days is that I'm living for the weekends, just trying to make it Monday through Friday, one day at a time, and then all of a sudden it's Monday again. Whatever the next step, next chapter is, it's gonna be motherf$^#%#&$*$g exciting, because this day in, day out drone life is not what humans were put on this Earth to do.

To that, I say, DJ, blow my speakers up 'cause tonight I'm gonna fight still I see the sunlight. (Okay, this may be the most obnoxious and weird song ever if you actually listen to the words and how she pronounces them--major valley girl alert--but it's got the energy I need to make it through the final hours of drone time this week.)

finishing what i start

I've got at least 5 posts in the line up, just waiting, wanting, to be finished. Alas, I think I'm in dirty dish territory right now and that prevents me from being productive. If I still lived on my own and so had no one else to be accountable to, I'd be eating Ghetto Risotto for dinner probably almost every night. As it is, I've got a roommate and it's hot out, so lately I've either been eating out or just eating lemon ices for dinner.

This post is at least something. One down, 5 to go (and counting, I just found another old one from eons ago while I was digging around for some links... :/ ).

In the meantime, trying to get energized with this #dancewin song (the actual video though is kinda lame-o, sorry). I've listened to this song at least 10 times today and hum-danced in the bathroom at my office (#luckilynoonesawme).

It's summer again... already and finally

The winter seemed like it was going to last for.ev.er.

Growing up in Southern California, I dreamed of leaves changing in the fall and snowy Christmases in winter and bird-chirping spring days. "The weather is so boring here," I'd always complain. This winter is what the kids like to call "karma, bitch." It lasted forever, was miserable and cold and rainy, and seemed neverending. There was snow in April, April!

chigasaki fireworks on the beach

Now the heat is on in Tokyo and it is not kidding around. It seems like it must be record temps every day and guess what... I'm loving it! Yeah it's hot and I have to do laundry like 5 times a week, but I've figured out that as much as I love leaves that change color and snow, I like that stuff in small doses (like other people's kids). I even realized that this may need to be something I factor in as I look for grad schools. I can't imagine trying to be productive and smart and thinking about my electricity bill because I've been blasting the heat to 30 degrees Celsius so I can walk around in shorts and a tank top like it's a California winter. I know, I'm weak. What can I say?

long tail boat and coral beach at long beach, thailand

Last summer, I was enthralled and infatuated with the house my friends and I shared in Chigasaki (I wrote about it here). This summer, there's been no such regular escape from city life. But there has been a relaxing and productive weekend getaway to Okinawa, a fantastic trip to Thailand, and some great days at Chigasaki beach, including fireworks this weekend. Yesterday, I got a surprise last minute invite to Summer Sonic, where Mr. Stevie Wonder helped soothe my winter blues and helped me enjoy the heavy humid Tokyo summer heat.

a fierce pedicure and beautiful beaches in okinawa

marianne and me at summer sonice (that's a tribe called quest in the background)

And then the sun broke through...

I started working on this post in March in Paris for the photoblog I contribute to, but that blog is in a very deep and severe coma, so I'm gonna post this here instead. I love this photo.

toy sail boats near the Louvre

Paris was slated to have a big windstorm because of the storm going across the north, but, luckily it wasn't too bad in the city. There was a lot of rain and wind in the morning, but in the afternoon, the sun broke through as I was walking back to my hotel. I was coming from the Left Bank (rive gauche) and decided to walk through the Tuileries Garden (next to the Louvre). Despite the light rain that was falling and the "breeze" (my umbrella was not happy), there was still a fair number of people out enjoying a walk on a Sunday.

It's days like this that I've really missed since leaving Paris. As I walked under the mini Arc de Triomphe at the entrance near the great Pyramid in the Louvre's courtyard, I heaved a BIG sigh of relief. It felt good to be in a place that felt both familiar and new. I used to walk through here or take the bus all the time. I love the anachronism of Paris, it gives me a little high each time I experience it and it's one of the things I miss the most about living there. Somehow the city's age and history makes it grand and quaint, overwhelming and cozy at the same time; there's always something new among the old. The juxtapositions mean I never get tired of looking around and exploring.

Dads and daughters... and educating us girls

First things first, my dad is awesome and an ode to him would almost be superfluous because just about every one of my friends who's ever met my dad immediately comments on his awesomeness and so, duh, it must therefore be true. Happy Father's Day, Dad! Thanks for being a truly great, awesome, supportive, stable, reliable, fun, charming dad... and for not making us take the dog back when Mom showed up with Tibbie.

I have a love-hate relationship with gift-giving. Every time a holiday or birthday rolls around, I dread gift-buying because I hate the idea of giving someone something that may/might/could/would just end up as some tchotchke they have to worry about getting rid of or finding a place for or it's the wrong size or they've already got one or they're allergic, etc. My dad is impossible to shop for because he has the annoying/convenient habit of just buying whatever techie gadget or opera DVD he wants when he wants it, unless we've specifically warned him to set stuff aside for us to buy him for Christmas or his birthday.

This year, instead of buying him a thing that he'll have to cart back to the States, I bought him $59 of legacy. I donated $59 (the combined total number of years he's been a dad to my sister and me) plus 15% to cover administrative costs in my Dad's name to a group in Ethiopia that pays families to keep their daughters in school. I donated through the Global Giving website, where I looked at the charities that one of my favorite organizations, The Girl Effect, supports.

My dad has always been very supportive of any educational endeavor I or my sister have made. He's always believed that our education (both formal and informal) is the most important thing in our lives and always took an X is no object (whatever X may have been: money, time, etc.) attitude when it came to finding ways to make our education happen. For as long as I can remember, my parents were saving for my sister's and my college educations and they told us they were doing that so that we understood what college would mean. If it meant quizzing us during dinner ("Miki, what's 27 times 14?" It wasn't fair that my dad is a human abacus.), we studied and chewed at the same time. Vacations were educational in terms of life experience and exposure to other cultures, not just beach time (though that was good, too). As soon as I was out of college, my dad started talking to me about planning for my retirement, educating me himself on investing and personal finance (I've since taught him a couple things, too!). And it's never, ever, ever, ever been any question that just because his kids are girls that we deserved anything less than whatever the best he and my mom could provide us to make sure we received the education that would help us to succeed in life. It may not have seemed like it, Dad, but I definitely recognized that early on and have always appreciated it.

Unfortunately, not every girl in this world is so lucky. A lot of parents don't believe that investing in educating their girls is a worthwhile cause. As a result of my parents' great support of education, I've come to understand that education is a human right and something that everyone should have access to. There is a lot of evidence that points to educating girls and physically keeping them in school as being one of the most effective ways to:

• elevate women and children out of poverty
• increase the age of marriage for girls
  
• reduce maternal/pregnancy-related health risks and death due to giving birth too young
• reduce population growth
• reduce the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases
• increase overall economic development by allowing women to be fully incorporated into the labor force
• improve children's health and mortality rates

If you're interested in learning more about how great an effect educating girls and women and supporting women's development can have on global development, the book, Half the Sky, is a great introduction to the topic.

For other great charitable giving ideas for Father's Day, check out Nick Kristof's column on the subject (the rat thing sounds very cool).


So, thanks, Dad and Mom, for always believing in the importance of educating your girls (even though that meant we got better at being argumentative pains in the butt).

My dad's favorite (i.e., most irritating because he was right!) thing to remind my sister and I about was whether or not we were meeting our potential. A "B" was fine if I'd worked my butt off for that "B" (hello, Algebra II). So, to all my ones of readers out there, where are you on your potential? Are you out meeting it every day in your work? In your schooling? In your support of causes that are important to you?

By the way, the touching post about dads and daughters that inspired me to write this post can be found here.

Feelin' a little twitterish

Confession: I got on the Twitter bandwagon. You can follow me here (or by clicking on the cool widget in the sidebar).

It happened a couple of months ago. We had a cool event here at ADBI--Jeffrey Sachs and Joseph Stiglitz spoke. It was probably one of the most entertaining events I'll ever attend on the topic of the global reserve system, a generally pretty dry topic. ;) Anyway, Sachs' super smart assistant, Cindy, was basically live-blogging the event via Twitter. I scrolled through the rest of her tweets, saw some of the people she follows, and realized, hey, there's some good stuff on this thing. So, I signed up.


I had previously thought of Twitter as just a Facebook status update overload tool and I really, really don't need to know what this friend ate for lunch and what their food looked like, or how hot and crowded it is while waiting on the platform for the metro to pull up. Boring! But Cindy's twitter feed is full of really interesting articles, news, and retweets mostly related to international development topics... and little tweets here and there about the cool places she's visiting as part of her job (after Tokyo, she and J. Sachs went to Timor Leste!).

So, now I'm up to 88 feeds that I'm following, mostly related to international development, news, and politics. I can really, truly, honestly, no lyin' tell you that I've learned a lot from Twitter. The prospect of grad school is more exciting thinking that I'll be able to rub shoulders every day with other people who are as quick w/ their twitter fingers as they are with their minds. I'm not sure where or when yet for grad school, but I know it'll be fun.

Most Memorable Moments from the Women in the World Summit - The Daily Beast

Some highlights came from celebrities, but many were from extraordinary women whose names you may not recognize. Here’s our first set of video vignettes, with more to come this week.

Posted using ShareThis

Paris, je t'aime...?

scene from a bus

It's been a while since my last post, but how can I not be inspired to write something when in Paris? I've been in France for just over 12 hours and in Paris for well under (there was some drama at the airport... hence, I didn't get to my hotel until about 9:15).

Way back before I got here (you know, 13 hours ago), I thought I'd be crying with love tears as I walked around Paris, drinking in the ambiance and the warmth that comes with people who aren't stoic and who talk to strangers. One of the first things I noticed when I got on the bus was that there were waaaaaaaay fewer people listening to iPods (and the like) than one sees in Tokyo (including moi... haven't had an urge to listen to the iPod since I got here). People were making noise in real life and listening to the noise that other people were making. It felt less and more isolating at the same time. Because Paris is just such a smaller city than Tokyo is, people/friends/colleagues/schoolmates travel around together much more often than happens in Tokyo. It's not abnormal to have a group of people all going together to the same place via the same route. So, there are people laughing and chatting and arguing all around. Iin a way, it made me feel like a part of the scene--hey, I'm sitting on that bus, too... or at the next table in the cafe, or on the other end of the park bench. But, on the other hand, it also seems to accentuate how much you (I) am sitting all by your (my) lonesome.

Maybe it's just jet lag... or the pee smell everywhere (was it always this strong?)... but I'm not crying the love tears. I guess this is just how you feel sometimes when you go "home," and I definitely feel like Paris is one of my homes--nothing to get too excited about, but all the same, still a comfort to be here and nice to be around the familiar. Even though I lived here for less time than I've spent in Tokyo, I definitely feel more able to be integrated here... for better or for worse (it's definitely sink or swim here).

view from my room

The good thing is that I'm getting a chance to reconnect with people and with places. I've gone shopping already (Gap was having a jeans sale) and will be looking for shoes that I don't need to buy in the tranny store, and I've already got a recommendation for a place to get my hair cut in Florence. The challenge is definitely still here (as with any "foreign" living experience), but somehow it just seems slightly more (and also less... hi there mixed signals!) manageable here. But when the day starts out with a cute old dog presenting its belly for a good rub and scratch in the quaint little hotel lobby, life can't be all bad.

official greeter at hotel