Long Time No Write...
Greetings long lost readers! I just want to say that it's been since March that I've written and I'm so sorry I've neglected you awesome readers and this blog that I used to be so good about keeping up. But I'm back and plan to be more consistent about blogging especially because it's amazing that you readers even give me the time of day!
So since my last post in March, many things have happened. I'll try my best to update you via this post so let's go!
Since March, I started a new job. As some of you may remember, for the past two years I was an ALT for Japanese public schools in Nara Prefecture. Those two years were tough as I had to adjust to being in a strange country and completely new lifestyle but I grew personally and learned so much my first two years. After being here for two years, I felt like I wanted a new challenge so I started to apply for different jobs. Luckily, I got offered a job to be a nursery school teacher for the international school, Kinder Kids.
It's been about eight months since I've started as a nursery school teacher there and I have to tell you, it's hectic. The first couple of weeks I wanted to quit. I really did. You don't realize how daunting it is to watch over babies until you're put into a room with more than five of them. The kids I teach are at least one years old and turning two, so they are as helpless as infants but with the ability to walk, grab things, and get into more stuff than you'd like. The first few weeks my body was aching and I would hear kids crying long after I was already at home. I constantly asked myself, "When would it get better" Would it get better?" When seeking advice and encouragement from my mother and best friends, they told me that it's ok that something doesn't suit you, that it would be ok to just find another job, but I didn't want to accept that. I know that advice may be true, but being the stubborn person I am, I did not want to accept that I couldn't do something I said I would do.
So I stuck it out. Now, eight months later, I know my kids much better, I see them grow week by week and have a better grasp at this job. Even if everyday is nearly the same and the crafts these kids can do is very limited, I'm happy that I didn't quit. I promised a year so I will give them a year. What I found helped a lot is just changing my attitude and mind. I know that sounds cliche but it's very true. You change your thoughts and your mindset and everything will become much better. So of course I still have days I want to just walk out but being with these kids five days a week, you start to grow an attachment to them. Even though these kids will not remember who I am and some maybe don't even know my name, it's a commitment I made in April that I would do. With an addition to that, the kids are incredibly cute and it IS truly amazing to see babies change from infants to tiny humans with big personalities, wants, habits, and even a sense of humour.
Along with the new job, since March I've also done a little bit of traveling. In May, during Golden Week, I was blessed with a trip to Seoul with some of my favorite people (May 3-8). I had never been to South Korea before so with the days off, I felt like I shouldn't waste it and should go somewhere. So I planned a solo trip to check out Seoul for a few days. I figured it a tourist friendly city so I should be fine going alone. But luckily for me, a few friends were visiting Japan a few days before who were on a month long Asia trip and had Seoul on their "to-go" list as well. So we situated it so that we would be in Seoul at the same time. On top of that, a good friend of mine said that he would join in all the way form Texas! I was already thrilled to know I would be having three other friends from Texas joining but then, a few weeks before the trip, I found out my older brother, Andrews was coming too!
So for about a week, the five of us booked an AirBnB and explored the city of Seoul together. We ate Korean BBQ many times, went out and had drinks and nights out in Hongdae, checked out nearly all the tourist spots and structures and even attempted to do some shopping. It's been a few months since this trip so exact names and places aren't so fresh in my mind but some things do stand out. Before going to Seoul, I thought it would be like Osaka or Tokyo but really it's much more grungy than I thought. Parts of Seoul reminded me of Indonesia or Thailand, with the runned down buildings, trash on the streets and smell of garbage, but then parts of Seoul were really modern and clean, such as Tokyo or Singapore.
Some memorable perks of Seoul were the late night open hours and convenience of city sections. It seemed like even after drinking or being out late, you could still sit down and get Korean BBQ or even go shopping if you wanted. Also, the city being sectioned off as it is, it's easy to go out and do things with out having to hop all over the city.
If you know my siblings you will think this is funny, but if you don't then just know my older brother is usually the "go with the flow, don't plan anything" type guy, and this trip he totally surprised me. Andrews actually looked up a whole list of things to do and see! One of those things turned out to be my favorite things in this trip, and that was the Noryangjin Fish Market. We got to browse around at the fresh seafood vendors, choose the creature of our liking and then have it taken to a near by restaurant to have it prepared as we chose. At first we weren't sure of the process so just bought a couple octopi to have sashimied. After such a fun experience, and seeing other people's lunch, we decided to go back and get more. In our second run, we purchased a big crab, large shrimp and massive scallops. Luckily all of us are big seafood lovers so the whole experience was awesome.
A funny thing I remembered was the Korean style of the youth there. All the guys, aged from about 20 to 30 had the same hair cut and same black-circular rimmed glasses and all the girls, around the same age, had similar hair cut and color as well as lip shade. It was crazy how similar everyone dressed. It was like a city wide dress code if you fell in between the ages of 20 to 35. At the end of the trip, I was happy and thankful that I got to see pieces of home in a foreign place and make new memories with some people I love. So thanks you guys who made the trip!! Will I be back to Seoul? Sure why not! The airline was actually not so cheap if you don't mind a cramped flight ( I flew Peach Airlines) and the city itself isn't too expensive. But maybe if I visit South Korea again I will check out another city such as Busan.
So since my last post in March, many things have happened. I'll try my best to update you via this post so let's go!
Since March, I started a new job. As some of you may remember, for the past two years I was an ALT for Japanese public schools in Nara Prefecture. Those two years were tough as I had to adjust to being in a strange country and completely new lifestyle but I grew personally and learned so much my first two years. After being here for two years, I felt like I wanted a new challenge so I started to apply for different jobs. Luckily, I got offered a job to be a nursery school teacher for the international school, Kinder Kids.
It's been about eight months since I've started as a nursery school teacher there and I have to tell you, it's hectic. The first couple of weeks I wanted to quit. I really did. You don't realize how daunting it is to watch over babies until you're put into a room with more than five of them. The kids I teach are at least one years old and turning two, so they are as helpless as infants but with the ability to walk, grab things, and get into more stuff than you'd like. The first few weeks my body was aching and I would hear kids crying long after I was already at home. I constantly asked myself, "When would it get better" Would it get better?" When seeking advice and encouragement from my mother and best friends, they told me that it's ok that something doesn't suit you, that it would be ok to just find another job, but I didn't want to accept that. I know that advice may be true, but being the stubborn person I am, I did not want to accept that I couldn't do something I said I would do.
So I stuck it out. Now, eight months later, I know my kids much better, I see them grow week by week and have a better grasp at this job. Even if everyday is nearly the same and the crafts these kids can do is very limited, I'm happy that I didn't quit. I promised a year so I will give them a year. What I found helped a lot is just changing my attitude and mind. I know that sounds cliche but it's very true. You change your thoughts and your mindset and everything will become much better. So of course I still have days I want to just walk out but being with these kids five days a week, you start to grow an attachment to them. Even though these kids will not remember who I am and some maybe don't even know my name, it's a commitment I made in April that I would do. With an addition to that, the kids are incredibly cute and it IS truly amazing to see babies change from infants to tiny humans with big personalities, wants, habits, and even a sense of humour.
Along with the new job, since March I've also done a little bit of traveling. In May, during Golden Week, I was blessed with a trip to Seoul with some of my favorite people (May 3-8). I had never been to South Korea before so with the days off, I felt like I shouldn't waste it and should go somewhere. So I planned a solo trip to check out Seoul for a few days. I figured it a tourist friendly city so I should be fine going alone. But luckily for me, a few friends were visiting Japan a few days before who were on a month long Asia trip and had Seoul on their "to-go" list as well. So we situated it so that we would be in Seoul at the same time. On top of that, a good friend of mine said that he would join in all the way form Texas! I was already thrilled to know I would be having three other friends from Texas joining but then, a few weeks before the trip, I found out my older brother, Andrews was coming too!
So for about a week, the five of us booked an AirBnB and explored the city of Seoul together. We ate Korean BBQ many times, went out and had drinks and nights out in Hongdae, checked out nearly all the tourist spots and structures and even attempted to do some shopping. It's been a few months since this trip so exact names and places aren't so fresh in my mind but some things do stand out. Before going to Seoul, I thought it would be like Osaka or Tokyo but really it's much more grungy than I thought. Parts of Seoul reminded me of Indonesia or Thailand, with the runned down buildings, trash on the streets and smell of garbage, but then parts of Seoul were really modern and clean, such as Tokyo or Singapore.
Some memorable perks of Seoul were the late night open hours and convenience of city sections. It seemed like even after drinking or being out late, you could still sit down and get Korean BBQ or even go shopping if you wanted. Also, the city being sectioned off as it is, it's easy to go out and do things with out having to hop all over the city.
If you know my siblings you will think this is funny, but if you don't then just know my older brother is usually the "go with the flow, don't plan anything" type guy, and this trip he totally surprised me. Andrews actually looked up a whole list of things to do and see! One of those things turned out to be my favorite things in this trip, and that was the Noryangjin Fish Market. We got to browse around at the fresh seafood vendors, choose the creature of our liking and then have it taken to a near by restaurant to have it prepared as we chose. At first we weren't sure of the process so just bought a couple octopi to have sashimied. After such a fun experience, and seeing other people's lunch, we decided to go back and get more. In our second run, we purchased a big crab, large shrimp and massive scallops. Luckily all of us are big seafood lovers so the whole experience was awesome.
A funny thing I remembered was the Korean style of the youth there. All the guys, aged from about 20 to 30 had the same hair cut and same black-circular rimmed glasses and all the girls, around the same age, had similar hair cut and color as well as lip shade. It was crazy how similar everyone dressed. It was like a city wide dress code if you fell in between the ages of 20 to 35. At the end of the trip, I was happy and thankful that I got to see pieces of home in a foreign place and make new memories with some people I love. So thanks you guys who made the trip!! Will I be back to Seoul? Sure why not! The airline was actually not so cheap if you don't mind a cramped flight ( I flew Peach Airlines) and the city itself isn't too expensive. But maybe if I visit South Korea again I will check out another city such as Busan.
Along with my spring travel to Seoul in May, I also got the pleasure of traveling to the Philippines in August for my birthday! If you guys have been following me for a few years now, you'll know that every year on my birthday my goal is to be in a different city than the previous birthday. Last year, it was spent with my siblings in Okinawa and this year I got to spend it with my good girl friend from Houston, Julie in Coron Island in the Philippines (August 7-12). I had never been to the Philippines before so when thinking of my 2016 birthday trip, I decided to go there. Originally, I was going to go alone so I booked a four day, three nights tour package for Coron Island. But to my surprise, again, a friend from back home wanted to join! Julie and I had been friends since college. Since then, we have grown closer and even though I am away, she has been someone who when we get together it feels like no time has passed. So unlike me, Julie has not done much traveling over seas. She decided to join me to the Philippines as part of her month long Asia trip. I'm always happy when I see loved ones branching out and traveling so I was glad to be a cushion in her first solo trip.
On the trip, we also spent some time in Manila. Manila wasn't really part of the vacation and more so a transiting city but I got to met some really interesting people so was happy about that unexpected occurrence. The time in Coron was wet, very wet. I know that summer time is always typhoon season in Asia but I continue to book birthday trips in hopes that those days will be dry. Well, I was wrong. It rained everyday in Coron. EVERYDAY! It was crazy because we still did nearly everything on the tour, just in the rain. Luckily, the tour group company I booked with had really friendly and funny tour guides that made the trip extra fun. I was also thankful that I had Julie by my side through the rain. She has a very unique sense of humor and I'm always laughing with her. So even in the rain, wind, and no sunshine, the birthday trip to Coron was full of new things and memorable moments. I kept thinking that the island would be so much more beautiful with sun. So, with that thought, I am definitely making a trip back to the Philippines. With so many islands, I feel that it's a must to return and check out another island.
After Coron, I continued to accompany Julie on another part of Asia I was more familiar with, Tokyo. She had never been to Japan before so after leaving the Philippines, the both of us flew back to Kansai. Shortly arriving in Osaka, we took the bullet train to Tokyo with another friend of mine, Michie. The three of us had a fun girls weekend in Tokyo that was filled with days full of shopping in Harujuku, food hunts for colorful lunch sets and ice cream topped cobs of corn, and late night drinks and a random foam party. Being that I had been to Tokyo a few times before this, I was really trying to make sure Julie was having the time of her life. My summer holiday this year was really great. It might not of been perfect weather but I always feel so blessed to even have the opportunity to do such things and to have awesome friends to share the memories with.
Speaking of Tokyo, I also had the chance to return in September to visit a good friend of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time, Susan. Originally, Susan and I had met on my first year in Japan on Mount Fuji (some of you may remember that post). Since then, Susan and I became really good friends and try to visit eachother when we can. So in September (17th to 19th) I booked a seat on the night bus and made it out for a weekend just to chill. We didn't do anything crazy but just found ourselves more comfortable sipping coffee in cafes or hanging out in her room talking. The one thing we did that was really fun though, was go to Disney Sea! I had never been before so I figured why not go now! It was a chance to just be silly and be a kid. So we set out for Disney sea, arrived and immediately got matching headbands and did that thing where we hold hands, skip to each ride and have a grand old time. As I get older, I really realize that genuine friends are hard to come by, so the ones I do have I really want to keep and make efforts for. This trip wasn't completely needed being that I had just visited Tokyo but for solid friends like Susan, it was all worth it. Also Tokyo is always fun to visit so why not!
This past spring and summer season have been wonderful. Along with the big travels to Seoul, the Philippines and revisits of Tokyo, I've also got the chance to do many wonderful things in between. I've got the chance to be apart of photo shoots, hiked with good friends in Kyoto, experienced spear fishing for the first time in Kishiwada, and continued to celebrate life with nights out in Osaka.
Along with all the wonderful things that spring and summer had brought me, I also got another special delivery from the man upstairs in the form of a back flipping frog, also known as Caoliang. Caoliang and I actually met this past summer. At first we were just friends, catching up over dinner and keeping in touch when we could. After a while though, it became apparent that there were other plans for us. Since the seasons have changed, so have we into this beautiful thing I am happy to call my relationship. Caoliang actually has one of the more interesting jobs, he's an acrobat for the touring show Totem that's currently in Japan. Being that his job is most of his life, I've got the pleasure of meeting the most interesting and talented artists and have been able to watch Totem a few times from the front as well as backstage. The life him and his colleagues live is so different from anything I've ever known. It has been such a pleasure to be able to have this opportunity in my life.
So yes it's been about a year since I've been in any sort of relationship and the time before this was spent really being single but I'm so glad that time period is over. I do agree though that being single is important. In the time I actively chose to be single, I understood what it meant to be alone and really sat with that feeling. I used that time to do my own thing, not bother with having to impress someone or keep up with someone else; I learned that I really rather be alone then spend time with someone I didn't really care about or saw no point in. But I also learned that time period was a sad place and that I really did want to be with someone, someone that understood me. With prayers and patience, I am so blessed that He was listening to me and sent me Caoliang now. Our story may not have a fairy tale beginning, maybe in modern days it could, but it's really turning out to be one. I've been so blessed to have met someone so sweet, funny, hard working, and unique to now call my boyfriend. I don't want to get so mushy or too personal but I do want to include him on this life update post because he has become such a huge part of my life and am excited to see where life takes us from here. (Check out this cutie!)
So that's been me guys! Sorry again it's been ages since I wrote but I really do appreciate your time to sit down and read this till the end. Oh one more thing! With the kindness of my parents, I'll be coming home for Christmas this year too! So just under two months, I'll be sitting in my parents house catching up with any of you Houstonians who wants to come kill some time with me. Really excited to be back home for a bit and to see everyone again. But I'm hoping to post at least one more post before that so please stay tuned. I hope everyone has been doing good and that this year has treated you well. I can't believe it's nearly 2017!!! Really is crazy how time flies.
How blessed have I been to have such an amazing year. Truly thankful to God for this chance to live this life. Out of of the lives I could of been given, He chose to give me THIS one. Thank the Lord!!!
Well guys, I think I've made it long enough. But thanks so much again for your time. Please feel free to write or leave comments!!!
xx
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