it's not life that matters but the journey...

Hi and welcome to my newest friends! I must do a Friendzy of my own one of these days - I just love adding new friends:) but in the meantime, I look forward to getting to know my friends better. and I'll start with posting some pictures today.

Our weather was really yucky for about a week, with non-stop rain and clouds and cold. But yesterday it was gloriously sunny - though still chilly - so we decided to go out and see a little bit of our beautiful Olympic Peninsula, which is so close but which we hardly ever take advantage of. My mom and her friend Harry had gone out on Friday afternoon to the Lyre River, which is about 20 miles west of where we live, out in the direction of Neah Bay and the coast. Along that west-bound Highway 112, there are endless parks, with campsites, picnic grounds, overlooks to the Juan de Fuca Strait, and of course trees and rivers and views of the beautiful Olympic Mountains. So yesterday after lunch, Masahiko and I went out to see the Lyre River for ourselves. And it was just beautiful. The majestic old trees are all covered in moss, and the river was sparkling in the late-afternoon sun.

Here are some pictures I took of the trees, the river, and also of the mountains on our drive back home. As always, I put pictures in clickable thumbnails to save your pages, and under a cut:

( Lyre River, Clallam Co, Washington )

Also, I thought I'd share with you some pictures of the beautiful land surrounding my mom's friend Harry's house. He lives out on Freshwater Bay, only about 10 miles west of here. He has a house nestled amongst trees, overlooking the Strait. And there is a path, which if followed carefully, goes all the way down to the water. About a month ago, Masahiko and I took that path down as far as we could go (the tide was out), and I took a few pictures. It's just breathtaking:

( Harry's Place )

It's late Sunday morning and I'm approaching the end of my freedom. Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m., I will begin my first day of online and on-the-phone training with my new job! I got my equipment last week and got it all set up downstairs in my new "office" (which also doubles as our bedroom, though we've been sleeping upstairs in the guest room to stay warm). I'm nervous and excited at the same time. I hope I can stay focused and make lots of money!

I hope you enjoyed my pictures. Have a wonderful Sunday - it's sunny here again, with the threat of more rainy days ahead, so I Plan to out out and enjoy the day!

Thanks to a post on Facebook the other day by orygun_forest, I was inspired to start watching the great '90s tv show Northern Exposure all over again. Of course I was in love with this show back in the day, and I've been meaning to go back and watch it again - just haven't had the time. Now I've got nothing but time. This week I'm being completely unproductive. I've cleaned my apartment a bit, packed a few more things, done some yoga... but otherwise I'm just watching shows and being lazy. Is that wrong? I feel guilty sometimes that I"m not out there looking for work, but to be honest, I can't really do that now. I need to wait until I'm settled in Port Angeles - then I can look for things to do that will hopefully earn me some money. Now I'm just being introspective and lazy.

Anyway - back to Northern Exposure. It is such a gem of a show. Not only was it well acted, and well written, but it was full of humor and wisdom that you just can't find on any shows that are being made today. One of my favorite characters (for many reasons) was Chris, the radio Deejay, who was not only gorgeous, but also incredibly intellectual and deep - always spouting poetry and philosophy with his sexy voice. In the third episode of season 1, he has a conversation with Joel about Joel's dilemma whether he should stay in Alaska, or return to New York City and break his contract. If you haven't seen the show and don't know the premise, then you might want to read up on Wikipedia or something... basically Joel's a big city doctor who is sent to a small Alaskan town (very small, population 850) to practice medicine. Here's the description of Joel's character on Wikipedia: "Joel is a Jewish physician and the proverbial fish out of water from New York City, fresh out of family medicine residency, he arrives in the remote Alaskan town of Cicely, contractually bound to practice for four years to repay a student loan from the state of Alaska." Joel is basically stuck, and he wants out. But he's starting to develop a conscience, even by the third episode, and realizes that he should probably honor his contract. Chris, always full of great wisdom, says this to Joel:

If you're here for 4 more years, or 4 more weeks, you're here right now.
I think that when you're somewhere, you ought to be there because it's not about how long you stay in a place, it's about what you do while you're there -- and when you go is that place any better for your having been there.

I find that quote very apropos to my situation right now. However, I think that as for my time in Seattle, I don't think I'm doing much for making the place better. I tried. My husband tried. We didn't succeed. We might have made ourselves better and stronger through the experience and the hardship - but did we make Seattle better? Any lives around us? I don't know... But I know I will take this philosophy to heart when I get to Port Angeles. I lived that way when I was in Japan too. Overall, it's a great philosophy for life - while we're here on this Earth, we need to BE HERE. We need to think about what we can do to make not only our lives better, but the lives, and the environment, around us.

Great words from a great show!

My husband informed me that presently there is a nuclear disaster unfolding in the midwest:

Midwest Floods: Both Nebraska Nuke Stations Threatened

Of course we wouldn't know this by watching the news on television, since the Republican candidates, Weinergate and the Casey Anthony Trial are all that are deemed important to the American media. *sigh*

Anyway - if you care about the cost of food and gas (which are affected by these floods), and the possibility of additional nuclear threats in the U.S., you might be interested in following this story.

In other news, I'm just busy searching and applying for jobs (but not getting any calls!), and we are continuing to help my mom clean up her basement and garage and throw things away. Nothing much else is happening in my world. Oh except that my husband and I both got our Washington driver's licenses yesterday - how exciting!

what's going on with you all?

Sunday night 8:45. Another weekend has bitten the dust. It wasn't a bad weekend, nor a very exciting one. Almost the same as usual. Friday night I watched a bunch of tv shows and drank some wine. Saturday I chatted on the phone with my mom for an hour, and my sister for an hour; and I also texted on Facebook with my friend Joie in Sacramento for almost an hour!
I had two private adult lessons - one in the morning and one after lunch -- and in the afternoon I went for an hour-long walk, which felt so good! The weather Saturday was nearly spring-like - I didn't even need a coat. After my walk, I watched the newest Supernatural , which I found to be quite - Interesting - for lack of a better word! ( my thoughts under the cut - for possible spoilers )

Saturday night I ended up watching The Social Network . My sister had mentioned wanting to see it when we talked on the phone - and I admit I've been curious about it too - and I have wanted to know what the buzz is all about ever since it won Best Picture at the Golden Globes. I had intended to just watch a little bit of it to see what it was like - because I really didn't expect to like it. However, once I started watching, I was totally and completely engrossed. ( my thoughts, here )

Well I think I had more to write about, but this has become an epic post. It's now 9:48 and I have to work tomorrow. so good night... and hope everyone had a good weekend, wherever you are.

I need to post some more thank yous, some of these are long overdue:

Thanks to dawnie1970 for the three virtual gifties on my profile page - the santa bear and candy cane are perfect for the holidays, and the hugs coupon I will definitely keep for times when I need it... how about now?
And thanks also to jojobruin for the virtual candles and the virtual snowflakes! The candle will help light my way through the decisions and things that must be done at the beginning of the new year!

Also a big thank you to dragonsrmd for the gorgeous Christmas card I got in the mail the other day. It's really a beautiful card - it looks home made. If so, I'd love to know how to make something so pretty! And also thank you to wolfpurplemoon and bayareajenn for the Christmas cards. I don't want to take down my tree and put away all the cards I got this year - they're all so lovely!!

Yesterday was more productive than Monday... In the morning we drove to Numazu to meet with some ladies about the classes we're going to start teaching in April. I guess we'll be doing two classes, one with 1st-3rd graders and another with 4th-6th graders. I have lots of time to prepare - it will just be twice a month for three months on Sundays, so it won't be too much work. If we get lots of students, we can make up to 10,000 yen in a day (which is about $80 at the current rate), which isn't bad. They will also be putting my picture and a little mini-bio in their insert which goes into the Shizuoka newspaper - which is great publicity for me and my new school!

In the afternoon I studied a little bit of Japanese - I really need to study more, like up to 2 hours a day! Then in the evening, my friend Akiko (who used to be my supervisor at the high school 12 years ago) came to pick me up. We ended up meeting her daughter Emi, who's 26, at the Chinese restaurant in Shin-Kambara, the town where I used to live! The dinner was great, and we had dessert (I didn't get a picture, I ate it too quickly), and I ended up with a new student! Emi wants to study English with me, and she's starting on January 15th! So as of now, I have two private students! Hopefully with enough time, this will double, then triple, then... well you get the idea!

There are moments when we feel overwhelmed with all that has to be done. But we really want this to work!

So today I'll finish my cards and packages and get them in the mail. Then focus on writing lessons, blogs, and studying Japanese. If only I could organize my time - it's already Wednesday and my vacation will be over far too soon!

I love Christmas time! I got my first three holiday cards this week - two today in fact! Thanks to dawnie1970, serialbathera and burningchaos for the beautiful cards - they're under my tree now!

Also thanks to Dawnie for the virtual milk and cookies on my profile page - yummy! I wish I had some real milk and cookies right now!

And thanks to selvatica for the pretty virtual present - sorry I am so late in thanking you for this! I love presents, even virtual ones:)

I've got a lot to write about, but not necessarily today. I had a great day Sunday at the JALT meeting (Japanese Association of Language Teachers). I met some great people who are hopefully going to help me in my search for a good job in the future (if I stay here in Japan). Also, they gave me some great ideas to get started writing and publishing some academic (or at least educational) articles. We had a presentation (by a guy who teaches at a university in Chiba) for 2 hours and then a dinner buffet at a department store restaurant near the station - all you can eat dinner and drinks for just 3000 yen (less than $30.00). the food and the wine (I had three glasses) was fantastic! It was really fun! And I did my Christmas shopping while I was in Shizuoka - I love that city! So much to do there!

Masahiko's been working really hard on the logo and website for our English school - he's bought a website building program and put up our sign again, and will start to make a pamphlet soon too. I'm getting excited for it and hope it works out!! I've got lots more to write about this when I have more time. I've been so busy lately with my job and thinking and planning... plus trying to catch up on shows. Most of my shows are either done for awhile, or on hiatus for the holidays. I hated to watch the last Dexter - that show owns my soul, and it's not back for almost another year! Speaking of shows... does anyone know where I can find information about when shows are returning from winter? Glee, for example? And when is White Collar back? is it just two more episodes?

anyway - I should get going and do some exercise and some reading before I sleep. Busy busy busy!

thanks for putting up with my mood swings lately. things seem to be looking up at the moment.
I hope that since I have enough postcards now, and most people's addresses (though a few of you didn't reply to my address request post), I can start writing and sending them this weekend. It's Christmas in just over a week, after all!

have a great week all!

While I'm waiting for some shows to download, I thought I'd do a quick post. My computer is quickly starting to overheat, so this may be brief...

The weather continues to be hot here. Next week is the first of October - isn't summer supposed to be over? Sometimes I feel like I'm being tested way beyond my limits of patience and perseverance. And I'm starting to crave foods that I can't get here in Fuji - foods like fish and chips, and ravioli, and lasagna and Thai and Indian food...

It's pretty easy to see that if I start to make lists of the pros and cons of living in Japan, the cons far outweigh the pros... of course at the moment, the pros are having both income and health insurance - things that I will lose the instant that I return to the U.S.

but I'm not here to bore you with my problems and my complaints. I'm here to discuss something far more shallow (but fun): TV and Movies!

First TV. I'm patiently waiting for all my favorite shows to start, meanwhile catching up on White Collar (which apparently is on hiatus until January), and watching the first season of Legend of the Seeker . And since I was bored, and caught up on most everything else, I finally watched the first episode of Chuck last night, and I'm already hooked! I know - I'm very very late to the party! But now I see why this show is so popular - it's brilliant!

And of course all my shows are starting at exactly the same time that I'm returning to work - which means that when I am home I will not only be making lesson plans, but downloading and watching about 5 shows a week, plus trying to watch the first three seasons of Chuck . But since I have no life, then I can live vicariously through my shows...

And now to movies. Of course being here in Fuji, I can't watch movies in real life either. I'm resigned to watching them when they have been released on DVD or somehow finding a download (usually some terrible cam version) on the internet. I'm still waiting for a decent download of Inception since I didn't manage to see it in the theater when I visited the U.S. this summer. I've been interested in some of the movies that are coming out soon, especially the following:

The Fighter - starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg (and Amy Adams, who I adore). This looks really amazing, especially since Christian Bale supposedly lost a bunch of weight to prepare for the role (just like he did for The Machinist ), proving what an amazing method actor he can be!



Love and Other Drugs - starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway
It's a romantic comedy about the pharmaceutical industry (apparently Jake's selling Viagra!), and it looks a bit cheesy I admit... but Jake looks adorable. And it's good to see him with Anne Hathaway again (they were together awhile back in Brokeback Mountain). She's always a pleasure to watch.



The Tourist - with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie
I have to admit, I'm against this movie in so many ways, but I will still be intrigued to see it. First, I don't like Angelina Jolie. I'm sorry but she just bugs me, even if she has proven to be a good actress. I can't see her and Johnny Depp together in any way, shape or form - and especially not romantically. And second, Johnny has definitely seen better days - he is starting to look far too eccentric and haggard for my taste. Third, this movie just seems to be so unoriginal - it's definitely a rip off of North By Northwest and Silver Streak - both of which are about a man who meets a beautiful stranger on a train (or elsewhere), and who get mistaken for someone else and then have bad guys after them. It's been done before. I just wonder how good Johnny is at playing a plain old regular guy.



And finally, I'm very interested to see Woody Allen's new film called You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger - it stars Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts and Josh Brolin. Woody continues to make quirky and original films even into his 70s, and I will always be a fan!
This one again deals with marriage, infidelity and divorce - territories Woody has dealt with often. But for fans, I'm sure it will be fun! (oh and it also has Antonio Banderas and Frieda Pinto - very interesting!)




Thanks for indulging me and sorry for all the clutter on your friend's pages... hope you enjoyed those trailers though.

I'm off now - gotta turn off my computer before it spontaneously goes up in flames!

wow - I have only one week left of my vacation. I can't believe how fast it's gone. I'm not doing much at all, but still having a lovely time. In some ways I'm not ready to go back to my life in Japan - the heat, the schools, the lack of independence, etc... I think I've completely forgotten Japanese in just two weeks (well not really, but it feels that way!).
But in some ways, I'm also ready to get back to my cat, my husband, and to a routine again. It's where my life is currently, so I can't avoid it forever.

Since I wrote last, things have been pretty slow. Saturday we went to the downtown farmer's market in the morning - and then in the evening went to dinner at a Thai restaurant with my family. I ate too much, but it was nice. Sunday I couldn't fathom another day of sitting around the house, so I suggested to my mom that we get out somewhere. We ended up driving just about 20 minutes west of town to a park called Salt Creek, which is right next to the water. I made egg salad and some cookies, and we packed up a picnic lunch with all kinds of food and met my aunt, uncle and cousin Ben out there for a nice little picnic by the woods, with a view of the water. It was a nice afternoon!

Monday we went out to Sequim, the nearest town with shops, to do some shopping. We had a little lunch at a cafe (with peach pie for dessert!), and then went to JC Penneys where I bought some new Levi's and a few other things. I couldn't find any underwear, so I'm having to order them online. This area is seriously lacking in shops, and we don't want to take the time to drive 1 1/2 hours to the nearest mall.

really I can't say where much of my time has gone. My mom and I have been just hanging out a lot at home and watching movies - and talking. It's just what I wanted to do, so I'm not bored at all. otherwise, I've done some reorganizing of my things that are stored here - and just a lot of relaxing.

I'm talking to my husband every afternoon by phone, and spending lots of time researching the whole green card process - because we might be having to go through it all again next year if he wants to return here. After much going back and forth, we've decided it's best if he doesn't return to the U.S. now to get his re-entry permit. He would have to be here for about two months - he would have to stay in my mom's house without a car or job or anything to do. With him here, I'd be living in his parent's house without him to help me with things. It would just be too awkward for both of us to be apart like that. So he's continuing to look for work in Japan, and I'll finish out my contract, and then we'll make a decision...

that's about all for now.

I haven't heard from many of you - I guess it's summer and busy. But please drop by and say hi. I miss you all!

Hello! Yes, I'm still alive, and I am still in Washington state. I can't believe that I've actually been here for over a week already - time has flown. It's been a bit of a strange trip so far, but mostly it's been great just to be back in the U.S., and back with my family again.

Let's see if I can sum up what's happened so far:
( a week in review )

Of course I have taken some pictures since I got here, mostly of my niece and nephew and on our boat tour of the strait and the island - but since I didn't bring my laptop, they won't be posted until I get back to Japan on the 26th. Sadly we've decided against visiting my family in Sacramento, California. I just realized how fast time is flying, and how little time I would really have to spend with family and friends if I went down there. Also, since we have to fly stand-by with my brother-in-law's Alaska Airlines benefits, I am afraid that I might have trouble getting on a flight back to Seattle in the peak summer traveling season - and if I can't get back to Seattle, then I'd miss my flight back to Japan. So instead of going to California, I'm going to spend lots of time here in PA with my mom, and also have additional time with my aunt and uncle here, and my cousin Lynn. My sister is also planning to come back next weekend and stay a couple days, then drive me back to Seattle to catch my flight. I haven't seen much of my brother on this trip - he's been keeping to himself. And additionally I'm having a bit of drama with my husband, who is wondering if he should come back here before the end of the month to get a re-entry permit so that he doesn't lose his green card. He is now considering moving back to the U.S. again.... It's a long story and one for another day!

So good night. I hope everyone is doing good, and I hope to catch up on your lives soon! I'll be back in a few days with more news and updates.

before I forget, I want to say thanks to serialbathera and dawnie1970 for the virtual footlongs on my user info page! yummy! makes me think of my days in Chicago!
I don't eat a lot of hot dogs anymore, but it's one of those foods that stir up memories of my childhood and long summers!

speaking of long summers, I can't wait for my actual summer to begin. I've got only 7 more days of teaching and then I'm free until September. Well I do have a commitment on July 29th - reading and editing junior high school students' speeches and recording them. fun stuff! and then on August 4th, I have a full day of teacher training- which means that I have to do team teaching demonstrations with a Japanese teacher in front of elementary school teachers! in a hot stuffy room! fun stuff! But then August 5th, in the afternoon, I will board a plane for Seattle, WA and spend three weeks with my family! now that's really the fun stuff! I can't wait!

anyway - this was supposed to be a really busy weekend, but today's plans were canceled - I was supposed to go with my friend Miki to an onsen today (a natural hot spring bath), but she called this morning and canceled! I was a little pissed at first - I was really looking forward to soaking in some healing water - but it couldn't be helped I guess - she had to accompany her sister to some ceremony at a temple because her sister's husband died about a month ago. and I guess she must have forgotten about that when she made plans with me a couple weeks ago. Since I didn't want to sit around all day, I went for a walk this morning, thinking that it wouldn't be as hot (since it's been a bit cooler recently) - however, after about 30 minutes, I was miserable, so I came back home a sweaty mess! So with my energy thoroughly tapped, I just sat around all day watching Supernatural shows and studying Japanese. then this afternoon, when he returned from his weekend music gig, my husband took me shopping and I bought some new clothes, some stuff for my cat, and some pizza for dinner!

Luckily I do have fun plans tomorrow - I'm meeting two girls who I met at the company orientation in March, and we haven't seen each other since April. We're gonna hang out in Shizuoka (a big city nearby) and shop and then eat a big Thai food dinner!

oh before I go, I'll share with you another fun part of my day. we've been having an ant infestation in our little tv room downstairs - I'm not sure where they're coming from, but I seriously must have killed about 30 of the suckers today while I was sitting watching DVD's and attempting to study! and then, when I went into the bathroom this afternoon, I felt something crawling on me and looked down to see a huge black spider on the floor (that had been on me!)... so ever since then I've felt as if I have bugs crawling on me! yuck!

well I'll leave you with that lovely image - happy weekend everyone!
stay cool, have fun and stay away from ants and spiders!