Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Japan! 

A few months ago, when I realized that our Christmas break would only be 2 weeks, I told myself that it would be really hard to only be home for 10 days, and spend all that money and time in the air.  I knew that I had a friend from college that is now working in Japan, so I e-mailed her and asked if I could visit her for the holidays.  She said "of course", and the planning began!  Now, fastforward several months, and I'm enjoying sitting in her living room, on a heated carpet, enjoying a very lazy Christmas day. 

I knew that spending Christmas away from home would be hard, but I never realized how hard it would be.  We went to a Christmas Eve candlelight service last night, and it was really difficult on my emotions.  We were handed candles, and sang several familiar songs (in Japanese).  Just the tunes were enough to make the waterworks begin.  I had to excuse myself and gather my emotions before I was able to go back in.  I didn't realize that something as simple as singing Christmas songs by candlelight on Christmas eve would evoke such an emotional response.  As a result, I am really wrestling with myself on what to do next year.  It would be easier on my wallet to stay near Asia, but it would be better on my emotions to go back home...at least I have time to think about it!!

Christmas has been really laid back, and enjoyable.  The friend that I'm staying with made cinnamon rolls for breakfast (my family's tradition).  As they were cooking, I was watching an early Christmas present from my family--the DVD of 9 Lessons and Carols from Kings College in Cambridge, England.  The smell of baking cinnamon combined with the sound from the DVD sent my mind racing back to being in my living room, which started another case of mini-waterworks.  Thankfully, it was short, and I was able to regain my composure. 

I am very thankful for the modern invention of Skype!  It makes being away from home at this time of the year a little more bearable.  While actually being in my living room would be the best option, I'd settle for a date via skype.  I get to look forward to a date tonight with my family while we open Christmas presents.  Yay!!

Tomorrow my friend and I are touring the nearby city of Kyoto.  I'm looking forward to being able to sight-see here, and also picking up souviners. 

When I get back, I get just under a day to relax, and then I head back out on another adventure--a few of us are going to the same area of China that I went to when I first came here!!  I am so psyched!!  I can't believe that after 8 years, I get to go back and visit it!  I wonder how much things have changed since 2004...guess I get to see :) 

I will try to post another entry when I get back from the trips, and include pictures.  More pictures will also be posted on my FB page, once I take enough for an album. 

I hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!! 

Thailand

We're back from Thailand!!

I really have to get better at updating this...I get so busy with school and other things that I forget to make new entries! 

Thailand was a blast!  It was very fun being able to go to another country, and not have to pay for the plane ticket. The trip to the airport and through customs went without any problems.  However, when we landed in Hong Kong...that's when the fun times commenced.  When we landed, we realized that our flight was going to start boarding in 20 minutes.  (If you've ever been to Hong Kong airport, you understand our panic.  HK airport is quite large.)  That meant we had 20 minutes to get off the plane, through the airport, and to the gate.  Simple, right??  Wrong.  Once we managed to get off the plane, we found that we had to go through customs AGAIN.  So...stand in line, look anxiously at watch, stand, check time...AUGH!  Finally, some of us started getting through.  I got through first with another teacher, and the two of us took off.  We were both assuming that the gate would be close.  Wrong again.  We had to go up 2 sets of escalators, on a tram-type thing, on multiple moving sidewalks...and we were still nowhere close.  (The two of us were going somewhere between a very fast walk and a jog.)  When we finally reached the area where the signs said our gate should be, we discovered we had to wait for a shuttle to take us there.  Our gate was actually in a separate smaller building.  So...wait, wait, get anxious, wait, wait, Shuttle's here!!  The two of us got on the shuttle, and managed to get to where our gate was.  Imagine our panic when the sign said "Final Call".  There were 14 people in our group...and only 2 were actually at the gate.  Thankfully, the people at the counter knew a small amount of English, and we were able to communicate that we had 12 more people coming.  More of our group started coming, and we boarded.  Once we were actually on the plane, we realized that 3 members of our group were still not on the plane...A few minutes later, however, they all got on.  Yay!! 

The conference itself was really good.  Great seminars, good food, reconnect with friends, meet new people, etc.  The city we were in has a night market that sell tons of Thai souviners.  A lot of us would finish seminars at the conference, change into nicer clothing, and then ride over to the night market.  Such a fun atmosphere!  Challenge--a lot of the vendors speak English, so you have to be careful with what you say.  I got a lot of fun stuff, some to be used as gifts, and some for me :) 

On my last night in Thailand, I went up to the pool with two of the teachers from my school.  The pool was on the roof of the hotel, completely open to the sky.  It was so awesome!!  And partway through our time there, we started seeing these lights in the sky.  A lady was there with us that teaches at a school in Thailand, and told us that the following weekend was some special holiday for the Thai people, and that this weekend was a pre-celebration.  They were lighting lots of little balloon/candle-y things and sending them off into the air.  It was really pretty!  I started wishing that I had my camera.  If you've seen the movie Tangled, imagine the light scene in there, but with a lot less of the lantern things. 

Our trip back was a lot less adventurous.  We left Thailand and flew to HK, and got to spend the night in HK.  It was a hassle checking into the hotel, but we managed.  Aggravating thing about the hotel though--we weren't told until AFTER we had started eating that breakfast wasn't included with our booking...so we had to pay extra.  Grr....oh well. 

Flight from HK to Shanghai was mainly eventless.  I sat beside a really fun woman from England that told me several stories.  She travels a lot for her job, and had lots of interesting experiences.  One that I would not want to live through--she was flying from LA to London.  A few minutes after take off, one of the 4 engines exploded (her words).  The pilot turned the engine off.  She thought they would turn back to LA, but they kept flying to England.  At one point, the pilot tried to turn the engine on again, and flames shot out of the back of the engine.  They were supposed to fly into London, but when they got close to England, the pilot came on and told everyone that they were going to divert to Manchester.  She didn't think anything of it until the next day.  At her dentist's appointment, she was telling this story, and she found out that they had to divert to Manchester because the plane ran out of fuel.....glad I wasn't on that flight!!

We have a few weeks left of school, and then we'll be on a break again.  In less than 3 weeks, I will be in Japan!  I get to add a new country to my list :)  Can't wait to catch up with my friend again! 

I posted pictures from my Thailand trip on my FB account.  Hope you enjoy them!!

Hopefully, I will soon get better at updating this on a more regular basis...