turkey in duck. 2

on friday morning we checked out the wright brothers memorial. they have a cool little museum, a giant monument, and lots of open space for photo shoots. the younger boys ran around and the girls and i tried to catch up.




my family is really good looking.

turkey in duck. 1

just got back last night from the most wonderful thanksgiving celebration!

turkey day was spent playing outside on the playground and at the beach. we made an attempt to play volleyball and blake taught us how to use his "ripstick". i kept calling it a dipstick, which seems more appropriate considering how difficult i found the task of riding it.

the aunts and uncles cooked an amazing thanksgiving feast, filled with all the foods i love best. we all ate together in the upstairs level of our gigantic house [seriously, who thinks of making a house that can sleep 19 people?!?!]

my cousins are seriously hilarious. i adore spending time with them: laughing, playing outside, working on puzzles, swimming, and even watching goofy TV.

i pretty much decided i never want to live in a foreign country by myself again. i can live in a foreign country for sure. but not without family.

before we left yesterday afternoon, grandmom said to me, "we're a pretty special family. we all really like each other, in addition to loving each other"

i completely agree!

[stay tuned for more photos from friday, post-thanksgiving]

happy thanksgiving

i'm soooooo thankful.

for my entire mom's side of the fam being together in 1 house.
for laughter.
for sunny weather.
for good health.
for my wonderful job.
for photography.
for old movies.
for delicious food [turkey&mashed potatoes, specifically!]
for cutie, hilarious cousins.
for a comfy couch and a good book.
for unconditional love.


happy thanksgiving!!

can't wait

tomorrow at 1pm mom, dad, allen, and i will be on our way to duck, NC. we're having the first full kelly family get-together since summer of 2006. it's been FAR too long and i absolutely cannot WAIT to see everyone!

yippee!!


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

hilarious

totally forgot about this!

the kids were supposed to listen to Mom's speech and write down things she said. omgolly my students were absolutely hilarious!

feast your eyes on this

fiiiiiinally got some photos of my students <3


with lucrecia and lisette

"let's play school" [myyyyyyyy pleasure!]

whole class with me as the photographer.

aren't they SO beautiful?!

hilarious cuties LOVE to take funny photos, too!

giving credit

i should be put to shame for a total blogging no-no...

the photo of all those shoes on yesterday's post was stolen from facebook. it was taken sometime last year by my friend ally. [oops!] sorry for not giving him credit as soon as it was posted!

a year ago tomorrow

on november 19th of last year, i had the following blog post title: 10 things i love about japan.

it's INSANE to think about my life in the past year!! i can hardly believe i'm at where i'm at. it blows my mind to consider where i've been, what i've done, how i've changed.

just to name a few things...
i've been to thailand, okinawa, nashville, rochester, buffalo, & boston. i've applied for a million jobs, interviewed for one new job, started two new jobs. i've made some new friends, seen two pals get hitched, started attending a new church, spoken spanish a little, spoken japanese a little more. i've purchased an ipod, a replacement digital camera, tons of car repairs, a new [old] bike.

i think japan changed me in a million ways. here are my observations:
1. i'm much more relaxed now. i don't mind hanging at home on weekends. and i don't get so super nervous/ awkward when i go places alone.
2. i'm more conscious of cultural differences & language barriers. i can understand people who are studying english. i think i'm a little more sensitive to various customs and communication styles.
3. i appreciate my loved ones more. some days and nights in japan were super duper lonely. now that i live in the same country as most of my friend and family, i value them even more highly than before.

on that note, i'm off to teach my night ESLers. hope class flies by bc i'm wiped.

little things i love

songs i love, heard while flipping through radio stations.
vests and hoodies: especially when worn together.
being woken up by my mom instead of my alarm.
get-to-know-you questions.
tagged photos on facebook.
car ride conversations.
sunday afternoon naps.
home decorating blogs.
homemade bread dough.
photographers' blogs.
aviator sunglasses.
the glow of a fire.
wedding photos.
good smiles.
bike rides.
magazines.
hugs.

if i were a boy.1

meliss introduced me to beyonce's new song. so hilarious.

http://www.beyonceonline.com/

i'm going to be on the lookout for things i would do if i were a boy.

#1: ... if i were a boy, i'd ask my english teacher if she needed help moving the textbooks to the room across the hall.


b/c it made MY night when MY 2 guy students did it last thursday!

ESL lesson

last night i did the coolest lesson with my adult esl class. we were practicing the "present continuous" tense in groups. i gave each group a magazine picture with at least one person in it. they had to write sentences in the present continuous about their pictures. here are some examples they wrote [so clever!!].

"they are advertising gucci"
"he is wearing sunglasses"
"she is drinking coffee in a yellow cup"
"the girls are holding pom-poms in their hands"
then, the absolute best: from my lowest level student...
"she is wearing a short dress"

he even knew how to spell short dress!! haha. so hilarious.

but then, when his group got up to present, he said something innocent about her singing and made his friend say the naughty sentence!! the whole class was cracking up.

anyway, turned out to be a pretty fabulous lesson. feel free to steal my idea :)

10 reasons i love the city

cities in general. philadelphia in particular.


10. people speak so many different languages: spanish, chinese, french, german...
9. artsy city style
8. bike paths <3
7. awesome architecture
6. everything's so close together. you've got drug stores next to electronics shops next to cafes.
5. ethnically diverse dining options. thai food, sushi, soul food, yum.
4. public transportation: buses, subways, trains= the best!
3. well-organized layout [well, at least in philly. thanks, william penn!]
2. pets and children walking around looking city-ish and cute
1. amazing night-time views!

sunday in the city

on sunday i explored philadelphia a little more. on foot. by myself. without a coat. all those things made for a less than perfect afternoon, but it was still pretty great! i went to the art museum [sundays= pay what you wish!], the free library and starbucks. it was a GLORIOUS day; a tiny bit chilly but perfectly bright and sunny!

the library was really cool. big, old, quiet, well-organized. i watched a teenager sketching a statue for a while. he was really into it and patiently waited for people to move out of the way before he continued to draw. when i left the library, i saw the biggest dog in the entire world waiting for his owner on the sidewalk.

it seems like it IS always sunny in philadelphia.

matchmaker, matchmaker

this morning i was chatting with my student olivia about my new class. she goes "you are too busy for a boyfriend"

i DIED!!!! then said something like "you're right, olivia. but what can i do? how can i meet guys? hahaha"

she thinks for a minute, then says... "pedro's teacher... is the same... 24..."

i said "oh, and she's single too?"

"NOT SHE...HE!!"

i DIED again! iryna said her suggestion was for us to wait for the next parent-teacher conference and have olivia pretend she couldn't speak english so she needed a friend [aka:me] to come along. we all had a great laugh considering the idea of me being matched up with pedro's teacher. but i'm sure he wouldn't fall for it, considering olivia CAN speak english and my spanish is horrendous. <3

after-hump day

i've got long day today. 8:30am to 9pm! it's dark and rainy here, probably for the 5th time in two months [pretty incredible!!]

i'm already tired, thinking of the day ahead. someone's japan photos made me SOOOO natsukashii and sad this morning. my nose is stuffy. so to boost my spirits, i'm taking a minute to treasure the beauty of fall!!

almost a perfect day

you can expect an update on my new class sometime in the near future. this morning, though, i only have a few minutes before work so i'm going to post about my sunday. allen and i explored around philly a lot. we ate lunch at reading terminal market, walked down to independence hall [simply to do a photo shoot!], read at borders [our classic activity] and said a quick goodbye at the china bus station. it was SO SO wonderful to have him here, sharing in my new life!

then linda and i rode bikes in fairmount park which was absolutely AMAZING!!! the leaves are gorgeous here and the crisp cold air made for perfect biking. she took me to yet another great restaurant, then we got a view of the philly skyline from her sister's roof. linda makes me laugh with her antics, especially going face first through the window wearing a green head covering!

fall leaves and japanese tots

since my weekend was jam packed of adventure, i can only handle one day at a time. on saturday, al & i explored a park near my house which i drive by every day. the leaves were absolutely incredible! we played frisbee, swung on swings, took silly photos and chatted with a little girl. the little girl started chatting with me, telling me about her life, her family, her day, etc. THEN she pointed out the "stranger danger" bracelet she was wearing. al & i decided she hadn't learned much from that policeman's speech last week.

the nelson siblings had an absolute blast together. i learned all about life at boston college. thanks to my brotherrrrrr for the best bday gift!!

saturday night we went to a potluck with some local japanese people! the BEST part of my night was talking in japanese to the little daughter of a family who moved to the area in january.

me:how old are you?
her: i'm three
me: when's your birthday?
her: my birthday is november 1st
me: today?!
her: chigaou! [no, thats wrong/different!]
me: today's november 1st. your birthday is november 1st?
her: yes. the first.
me: oh. i see. well.... your nails are so cute!
her: MY SISTER DID THEM FOR ME!! IT'S MY FAVORITE COLOR!! IT'S SO GOOD!!
me: wow, thats great! it's so cute. it's wonderful!

<3 ohhhhhhhh i've missed it soooooooo!

happy halloween

my halloween night consisted of wandering all over philly with meliss. then getting a text from allen saying he'd arrived in chinatown so we had to walk back in the opposite direction. we ate delicious vegan chinese food together and took the train home. love these two!