a very kent-y christmas

it's going to be christmas in one hour and ten minutes. [i've had a countdown since about 9pm!]

meliss and i were home alone last saturday and got in the christmas spirit... early... we decided to do a photo shoot and then we decided to include kent.

now, neither of us particularly love kent. but we think he's sort of cute sometimes. and he adds a little extra flavor to our quiet weekend hours...

surfwise movie

i read about this movie [surfwise] on "a cup of jo", the blog i read compulsively. it looks like a great documentary, one which i will search out over christmas break.

i love water, love the beach, love the ocean... i would totally surf. okay, scratch that.

i would probably surf if: 1. i wasn't really afraid of sharks 2. i had a lot of money to spend traveling 3. i had someone to learn with me, and 4. i had a cute instructor.

2008 in a nutshell

"i don't have a brother or sister. i'm a little lonely. i want to have cats or dogs. but the family opposes it."

one of my 3nensei students wrote that last fall. ahhhhhh nostalgia...

a year ago i blogged about the year 2007. looking back, i can hardly fathom how different my life is today. it's like 180 degrees. let me break it down...

winter/early spring 2008: rain, snow, 2 visitors to japan [mom and laur!!], language exchange at my apartment, amazing spring break trip to okinawa with A&M, more rain & snow, leaving my first junior high.

spring into summer: cassie's visit to himi, first solo trip [to hiroshima], visiting elementary schools twice a week, sakura/hanami!!, fishing trips, anticipating my return to the u.s., rain, night swimming with abby&essie.

june/july: FESTIVALS!!!, rain, awful sweaty bike rides to work, learning playground-japanese by default, job hunting, preparing for my return to the u.s., rain, karaoke, goodbye parties, BBQs, tokyo with A&M, saying goodbye to my little kiddos, being sad.

july/august: reverse culture shock, learning how to drive again, reunions, relaxing time with my family <3 , road trips, job hunting, american food, missing japan already, playing with my fav kiddos.

september/october/november: maid of honor duties, reunions, moving, learning how to teach adults, being incredibly grateful for my new job, commuting by car [ick!], missing japan, discovering philadelphia, asking a lot of questions, living with my best friend, changing from a 30 hour work week to a 36 hour work week, trying to make connections, missing japan.

december: visiting NYC, missing japan, preparing for christmas, learning a lot, remembering last christmas in thailand, buying presents, enjoying my students, snow, missing japan.

what an incredible year!

*christmas spirit*

last night meliss took us [chad, liz, rebecca & me] to a christmas pageant concert. i really only love sara groves, but was excited to hear all the bands, especially since it was gonna be christmas music.

the concert was really sweet as was the video presentation they showed between acts. it was about blood:water mission, which i had only heard about for the first time at dinner 45 minutes before the concert.

sometimes i get annoyed because i feel like giving to africa has become trendy in the past few years. there have been multiple movies made, AIDS is all of a sudden getting attention, and there are other continents who have gigantic financial need too. however, melissa pointed out that just bc it's trendy doesn't mean that it's not still a valid [and significant] need. the issue is legitimate. donations are needed. i have a great job, no house, no dependents, and plenty of reasons to be thankful. it would be foolish to NOT give to this organization simply bc i turn up my nose at popular trends.

i'm currently downloading some free christmas music from blood:water mission's website. in order to get the songs, you can 1. give a donation of any amount, or 2. recommend the download to 5 other people [thus spreading the word about blood:water mission]. so cool!

NYC 4. central park sunday

sunday morning after a delicious bagel breakfast, we walked the entire length of central park. sarah's apartment is only a few blocks away from the northernmost entrance so we started there. my self-timer skills came in handy and we captured a few photos of the three of us together.

the park was gorgeous, the weather was sunny, and we laughed the entire way. it was wonderful to have sarah join us for exploring so we didn't have to figure out maps or directions at all.
i'm SOOOOO thrilled we had such an excellent weekend!! i wouldn't have changed a single detail about the whole two days.

NYC 3. tourism

sarah had to work most of the day on saturday, so linda and i explored on our own. we saw ground zero [totally surreal since they are doing construction and it just looks like a hole in the ground with lots of trucks and cranes, etc. not at all what i imagined], union square, SOHO, and Chinatown. after a delicious dinner at bread, we visited times square and rockefeller center.


christmas season was in full swing on saturday night and the crowds were insane. we eventually ended up back downtown to meet sarah for a tacky christmas sweater party. after being careful with my camera all day, i dropped it on the street and the lens wouldn't close. i was devastated but relieved my day's pictures were unharmed. AFTER the party, however, i looked at my camera again and found it had recovered. what a resilient little canon i have!! yippee!!

NYC 2. nihongo& nihonjin

ahhhhhhhhh JAPANESE!!!! as soon as we arrived in new york, linda and i noticed katakana on a sign window. that was a very auspicious start to our weekend, as it turned out to be filled with japanese: people and the language.

i noticed a japanese lacquerware store near union square and wanted to check it out. we knew it'd be overpriced, but i recognized the name of the town bc mandy and i went there last may. we went in to look around and started chatting with the two cutie girls running the store. they were absolutely adorable and thrilled we had lived in toyama last year ["toyama-ken?! ehhh?? why toyama?!"]. we talked for at least 30 minutes and loved every second of it.

then we headed to two japanese stores [UNIQLO and MUJI]. it was an absolute blast!! japanese style is wicked fun, i could overhear and understand a LOT of japanese, AND of course there were plenty of cute j-boys to watch.

probably one of the best things about being friends with linda&sarah is the fact that we can intersperse japanese into our conversations AND that we can just randomly talk about our japan experience without getting bored. i always feel goofy bringing up japan in conversation with others bc i dont want to be "that girl" who always talks about her experience that nobody else can understand. but at the same time, japan is in my mind/heart about 30% of the time and it's a challenge to make myself not talk about it. but i dont have to apologize or explain to linda&sarah. they totally get it.