Two Weeks in Twenty Minutes: GO!

Whenever I finish a trip or experience that is as full and exciting as my holiday trip home was, I feel too overwhelmed to write a proper blog. There is just no way that I can devote all the time and energy necessary to capture every amazing day of my vacation. So, instead of writing, I hem and haw and waste my time, promising myself that I will do it eventually and putting it off until it is not fresh anymore. Instead of prolonging it any longer, I will just give you a brief, brief highlight of my two week craziness.

Adventures with An Yang were a bit more exciting than either of us would have liked. You can refer to my previous blog, Planning Your International Trip, for the details of our crazy itinerary. The gist of it is that my friend who was traveling with me couldn't board the international flight because we had a layover in Canada. Something about China and visas.. ugh. In the end, she paid for a direct flight to Seattle, and we flew separately. So disappointing.

Eventually, we made it to Idaho and were greeted by my wonderful family.
The next two days were a blur of holiday cheer. Snow, food, family, family, family, presents, more snow, more food. It was perfect. Just the sort of Christmas I had missed last year when I stayed in Okinawa.

After Christmas, we had a whole week to just enjoy Idaho. I saw many friends, including my old classmates, we played in the snow, went to church, went snowboarding/skiing, and ate so much delicious food. My mom is such a great cook!

When our time in Idaho was over, we were both sad to be leaving "Narnia" as An calls it, but looking forward to our next adventure: Seattle!

To set the tone for our week, our very first stop, direct from the airport was Century Ballroom for a night of swing dancing. An was hesitant at first but she picked it right up and was dancing happily the whole night. I, of course, was thrilled to be back in my old swing scene and lindied my way around the room with a bunch of my favorite leads. Pure joy.

The rest of our trip involved three more nights of dancing, adventures all over Seattle, Kirkland, Bellevue, and Edmonds, more cups of coffee than I care to count, and more friends than I possibly deserve. I was completely overwhelmed by how many wonderful people still, not only remember, but care about me. I am the luckiest girl on the planet.

At the end of the week, we were both exhausted, a little grumpy, and a lot socially exhuasted. So, though I shed some tears to leave the city and the people that I love, it was a relief to finally (after two days of travel) be back in my new element: Okinawa. With great friends here, my own space, my car, and my pet turtle, I feel right at home.

Planning Your International Trip

I am no stranger to traveling overseas, but previously all of the nitty gritty of the details have been the responsibility of someone else: the JET program, a choir director, a professor, a pastor. Until now. Most of you know that I went home for Christmas break, but what you may not know is that I did a terrible job of planning my flights and layovers. To save you some heartache on your next international trip, here's a cautionary tale of my experiences.

But first, a pretty picture. I love clouds from above. :) 

What Not To Do When Planning Your International Trip

Departing Flight: 


Decide to book your international and domestic flights separately to "save money" without considering all the factors. 

Book through Canada Air because it's cheaper at the time and then find out that a Japanese travel agent could have SAVED you money.... and a TON stress. 

Fly Okinawa to Haneda airport in Tokyo (domestic).

Take a $30 bus ride to Narita airport in Tokyo (international). Begin to feel anxious.

Have two hours to kill before you can even check in for your flight.  Feel restless. 

Attempt to check in and discover that your travel companion cannot go without you because she doesn't have a Canadian visa for the layover in Vancouver. Panic. 

Watch your travel companion spend an extra $3000 for a direct flight to Seattle. Cry. 

Fly to Vancouver alone. Sit next to an anti-social grump who begrudges your need to use the restroom twice during a nine hour flight. Sleep.

Arrive in Vancouver. Go through customs, Drink coffee. Email travel companion who beat you to America. Feel sad. Wait for two hours. 

Board puddle-jumper to Seattle for a 45 minute waste of time. 

Claim baggage. 

Re-check baggage. Check in for Horizon flight. Meet travel companion. At last. 

Wait two hours. Delay. Delay. Delay. 

Board another puddle jumper for a 1 hour trip to Boise. 

Meet family after midnight. Sigh. 

Return flight: 

Fly to Seattle. Don't look at ticket closely. Take 3 hour trip which should have lasted 1 hour. Stop in numerous tiny Idaho towns with one-lane airports. Sigh. 

Arrive in Seattle. 

One week later, return to Seatac. 

Say goodbye to travel companion again. Fly to Vancouver alone. Drink coffee. Wait three hours. 

Wait longer. Delay, delay, airplane change, delay. 

Board international flight. Sit next to man who, despite his small size, takes up half of your room with his pokey elbows. Shift uncomfortably. Sleep. 

Arrive in Tokyo at Narita (International). Customs. Claim bags. Greet travel companion at last. Sigh. Smile a little. 

Board subway. Change subways. Change again. Ignore arm pains from lugging suitcases all over Tokyo. Lose smile.  2 hours later, arrive at stranger's house. Sleep on floor. 

Wake up. Board subway. Squish in with two heavy suitcases. Try not to feel guilty. Transfer to train. Change trains. Arrive at Haneda (domestic) two and a half hours later. Wait 30 minutes. Get in wrong check-in line, wait thirty minutes. Move to correct check-in line, wait another 30 minutes. Go to security. Try to push slightly too large bag through x-ray, get yelled at, transfer some stuff to other bag. Finally pass security. 

Try to suppress eye twitch. Wait one hour. Sit in massage chair. Realize you're out of cash. Kick massage chair. 

Wait two hours. Type this blog and feel angry at yourself. Listen to calming music and wish you knew meditation techniques. 

Board flight to Okinawa. Close eyes and breathe. Arrive in Okinawa, 3 hours later. Drive 30 miles in over an hour. Lug giant bags up stairs. Crash. Collapse. Die. 

What To Do When Planning Your International Trip

Resolve to use the travel agent next time and book your luggage all the way through, regardless of the cost. Also resolve to pack lighter.  And buy more omiyage (souveniers). And get more sleep. 

To end on a positive note, here is a rough version of the video I made to show students about my trip: CLICK HERE!

Happiness Thus Far

It's good to be home. :)

Adventure with An Yang! (Part 1)

Our lovely and brave heroine looks quite smart with her tidily packed, light-weight suitcase! But perhaps she packed a bit too light for upon arrival at the airport she realizes her trip will be quite quiet without her iPod charger! Oh no! 

However that disappointment can't last long as check in goes smoothly and she and her trusty side kick whisk smilingly through security.

They decide immediately to toast the first leg of their journey with the mermaid's sweet elixir. They place their orders and request a sweet snack and travel mug as well. Starbucks bags in hand they proceed merrily on their way to gate 24. Suddenly our heroine stops! Raising one elegant hand to her mouth she gasps, "But my drink!"

After dashing back to claim her neglected beverage she sheepishly but sweetly takes her place to await departure. 

As boarding time arrives, another realization begins to dawn: ketai! She frantically searches her pockets, her bags, her memory for her missing cell phone, but it's nowhere to be found! What to do??

You Get What You Pay For (Sometimes)

100 yen stores are miraculous. For the equivalent of $1, you can buy a whole variety of useful and interesting things. I bought most of my Halloween costume, my thanksgiving decorations, my christmas decorations, and my car decorations at 100 yen stores. They are far superior to dollar stores in the U.S. Far. 

You have to be careful, however, because sometimes you get what you pay for. This is the tale of two recent (ish) bargains.

 Do you remember the green nail polish I bought for my Halloween costume? I was so thrilled with it at the time, but when I removed it a few days later, I saw that it had turned my nails a creepy yellow color. Not cool. Well, it's been nearly a month and a half since Halloween and my nails? Still half-yellow. 

Though it's difficult to tell in this photo. 

On the other hand, when I was Christmas shopping the other day, I needed a pen to mark my list. So, I grabbed this blue one at the same 100 yen store. Not expecting much, I ripped open the package and discovered the BEST Pen I've Ever Owned. It's perfect. It is incredibly sharp which makes my handwriting look super neat, it's a great color, the ink flows at the perfect rate, and the grip is so... grippy. This pen is so fantastic that it makes me want to write real letters and put them in the mail. Seriously.

So, send me your mailing address. You're getting a letter! Really, do it. I mean it.

And that is the tale of the 100 yen stores. They are a must, but shop with caution.
The end. :P

Thankful Thanksgiving is Over!

On Thursday afternoon, I left work a little early (with permission) to finish the last minute shopping, cooking, baking and decorating for my big dinner. There were butterflies in my stomach the whole time. 

My lovely friend, Neave, was luckily on-island for the event, and proved to be an incredible co-host. She cooked, mashed potatoes, cleaned and washed dishes, and generally just kept me alive and sane. I don't know how I would have coped without her!

My final project was making these place settings. This was a pretty simple task, as I'd had my guest list finalized for days, and had printed out the names earlier in the day. 

 

I also made some last-minute additions to my centerpiece. The herbs are fresh from Kazuno's garden. Aren't they lovely? This pumpkin has been around since early October but is holding up really well. Maybe the candle wax sealed the freshness? :) 

At around 6 p.m., the mad flurry of preparation died down and my apartment was actually pretty peaceful. Neave was putting the finishing touches on the cranberry sauce and made me go take a shower and get ready (bless her). The lamp and candle light glowed happily, Christmas music played happily, and Neave and I breated a sigh of relief. 

Then, the guests arrived. Chaos ensued as the bell rang, rain started to pour, guests arrived dripping, some friends tried to cook their food last minute, people started to mill around my smallish apartment, and I tried to figure out what to do with allll the amazing food the guests were bringing. 

Kazuno supervised the cooking of our turkey, Timu. He was delicious. 

Neave was, once again, a God-send. She saw everything that needed to happen and asked me about it, made sure people had pre-dinner drinks, and then ushered everyone to the table to start the meal.  As I asked everyone to sit, I realized that I, as hostess, should give some sort of speech or toast or something to get started. A bit shaken by the chaos and the sheer number of my guests, I mumbled something about being thankful and then ran off. Note to self: prepare for that moment in advance, next time!

 Overall, I think the dinner was a success. Once everyone was seated and happily passing food around, conversation started to flow. I had carefully planned the seating so that people were sitting next to others they knew or who I thought they should know, and I am pretty proud of how things turned out. :) There was PLENTY of food, as well. Everyone pitched in with a side or a drink, and my fridge is still packed to the brim! AND I made everyone take stuff home!

In the end I was only slightly exhausted but incredibly happy, and since everyone pitched in to help clean up (especially Kazuno and her sister Rino: my heroes.), I was able to fall into bed around midnight.

It was such a fun process to plan this whole party from start to finish, to brainstorm with my friends, and to watch it all happen as if by magic. I had the best time, but I am so glad it's finished! :) Yesterday I cleaned and re-arranged some more so my apartment is almost back to normal.

Now to start planning for Christmas... Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Prep

Happy Thanksgiving, family and friends!

I'm hosting a small Thanksgiving dinner at my apartment this year. I've been trying to keep the numbers down, but I still had to borrow two tables from my school and buy some more dishes. 

 Luckily, my dish set is sold at the 100 yen ($1) store. Win! 

I've been prepping all week. Shopping, deep cleaning, making turkey cookies. 

 Last night I did some more prep cooking and baking. I made a pumpkin pie, prepared my candied yams, baked some more cookies, and cooked mac & cheese... just for fun. :) 

I also set up my table. Now all I need is the silverware and the food! 

Oh, yes, and the guests. :)

Last night I was so excited I couldn't sleep. Tonight's the big night. *Deep breath* Here goes!

It's my first grown-up dinner party. What do you think?

 Click this link for pictures of the turkey prep on Kazuno's blog. They're kinda hilarious.