Oh the ups and downs, rights and lefts of my life since last fall. That sounds dramatic, but there has been a lot of change in my life since then. I moved several times last summer/fall, then I took of for four weeks of backpacking through what was originally supposed to have been three but then turned into four countries, then back to Tokyo to assemble the rest of my packing, some final farewells and teary goodbyes, some soul-soothing in Hawaii for a couple weeks (really, is there any place better suited to soul-soothing??), and the final step of moving back to America, settling back into SoCal life, even if it's also only a temporary thing.
I've traveled a ton since coming back to the States (Florida, DC, NYC, Grand Canyon, Palm Desert, San Francisco--I'm making the road trip rounds here out west), had some quality mother-daughter Harry Potter nerd time (hence, Florida to the new Harry Potter Land amusement park), caught up with a lot of old friends I hadn't seen since high school or college (shout out to my fellow Trojans and Eagles), and gotten back into writing a bit (I'm working on some short stories and a book idea right now). In the meantime, I've been freelance editing to keep my skills up and income in coming.
Any feedback on the new look/colors/layout of the blog? I need to find another photo for the header because the one that's up there now wasn't shot in widescreen. The beach shot that's up there right now is from my trip to New Caledonia a couple years ago--truly paradise.
I'm slowly but surely peeking out from the state of mental paralysis I've been hiding (hibernating?) in for the last several months. My paralysis certainly did not extend, however, to the physical because I have been a busy girl-on-the-go this year (not to mention my travels from last fall, a post on which I've got in the works), with a DC-NYC reunion tour (I met up with several old college friends I hadn't seen in years), a visionquest roadtrip to the Grand Canyon with another college friend, a trip to the desert to commune less with nature and more with resort, pool-side living with my old roommie, and another roadtrip this weekend to San Francisco with my first roommie ever from my Berkely summer. Now, I'm gearing up for a move east, at least for the summer, with a possible jaunt to Greece (and a quickie stop in Paris) in July. Grad school apps, GRE tests, job hunts, and finding great scotch bars and dance spots in NYC are all in the works for the summer. This time last year, I was certainly in a less sunny place emotionally and geographically (there was snow in Tokyo in April last year!!). I'm looking forward to seeing what the next few months bring.
p.s. I was in the middle of drafting this post when my mom called to tell me Osama bin Laden had been killed. Whaaaaaat?? Whoa!! Weird how things like this have a way of resembling each other. The last time I heard about an event related to OBL, it was a friend who called me in Paris while I was cleaning my apartment to tell me that a plane had just flown into one of the WTC building; last night I was sitting in a Starbucks and no one else around me seemed to have heard the news--even in the information age, good ol' word of mouth still seems to be one of the fastest and most reliable news sources.
I've been happily back in the States for several months now, and have spent a fair amount of that time traveling (in fact, tomorrow I'm off again for a few days!). But, it's definitely time to start getting back to reality and that includes updating this blog in both appearance and content. So look for more regular posts (I have been reeeally slacking off on writing since I got back to the States in December) and for a new look for the site. A few things that are already new (but very much works in progress) are the new tabs at the top: About Me and Projects. I'm planning to use this as a work sample as well as a writing space, so we'll see how that goes.
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...
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.
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!
