A life worth blogging + a little bit of free time = the first new post in nearly one year!!!

To quickly describe the changes in my life in the past year, I found myself an amazing boyfriend, I graduated from MU in December, I spent 4 months living with my parents in E-town while I searched for a full-time job and substitute taught at a middle school, and found a job back in Columbia as a Bridal Consultant at Dillard's. That brings us up to date. I spend the majority of my time working, sleeping, and searching for free things to do around CoMO. I especially enjoy being in Columbia during the summer months because there are so many things to do!!! Tonight is 9th St. SummerFest (a free outdoor concert with food begining at 6pm) I have a meeting with the Wedding Connection at 6:00pm, but I will head over to the SummerFest as soon as it's finished. The Wedding Connection is a Mid-Missouri organization for businesses involved in all different aspects of putting together weddings. A large part of my job is to network with other local businesses inorder to increase the number of registries we achieve each year. This is especially important to me because I am reviewed on the number of registries I create each month, and my performance in this area determines whether I receive a pay raise or a pay cut. Hopefully I will receive the latter. I really enjoy working with my area manager. She is incredibly nice and very informative. She has also let me know that the other Dillard's managers are fond of me as well, which is good news for me because I am hoping to move into a management position next year. But, I've already talked enough about work. I even dream about Dillard's at night so I'd prefer not to spend anymore time today typing away about my job. I do, however, enjoy talking about this wonderful man that I have met. His name is John and we began dating in October. He is from St. Louis, although he was adopted from Guatemala when he was only a tiny baby. I have visited his parents in St. Louis several times and they are very friendly people. Now that I have met them several times I feel much more comfortable around them and no longer fell the extreme pressure that goes along with meeting your better half's parents (mind you, there is still pressure, but the extreme part has vacated). However, we've only been able to make one brief trip back to K.C. and that was to attend a concert. I am hoping to be able to make a trip in late June as I was graciously given an entire weekend off by my manager. I intend to make the most of every minute of that weekend. Who knows when I'll have another Saturday off of work?!?!? I will have a small weekend vacation the first weekend in July. I am going on a float trip with John and his friends somewhere two hours south of Columbia. I'm not quite sure where it is, but I won't be driving and I don't think that it's very important where I am on the float trip as long as there is a river, a canoe, and maybe some s'mores.
Well, this is basically my life. Maybe it's not the most interesting reading material, but compared to the four months I spent living with my parents, I now live a life so exciting that Indiana Jones may think twice before hanging out with me. Keep in mind, the above paragraph does not include all the events in my life. This is merely an update. I am a busy person, you know! I do exciting stuff once in a while but it's all very random an doesn't quite fit in with the rest of my update. If you don't believe me, give me a call sometime and we'll plan a fun CRAZY day together, and we'll end our fantastic day by calling up Indiana Jones and leaving him mocking messages on his voice mail about what a chicken he is for not spending the day with us. If he tries to back himself up by telling that old "temple of doom" story, then we'll mail him a box of rubber snakes and we'll be able to see who really lives on the wild side.

Life in CoMo

Well, I haven't written here in ages, mainly because life is so hectic right now. I have homework everyday (which is not something that I'm accustomed to) and I'm always busy with meetings, either for AIESEC, Japanese Conversation Club, or puppet rehearsal. Tomorrow we will be doing our first puppetry performance in the US. We will be performing at the Greater KC Japan Festival hosted by Johnson County Community College. We also have gigs in VA and FL in the next several weeks. I find it very odd that these different institutions are paying for my flight and hotel so that I can perform for there community. Last week we received an e-mail from Jim Henson's daughter asking us to perform at the national puppetry festival in FL, which just happens to fall on the same weekend that we were going to FL anyway, so that has been added to our list of venues. It's pretty cool to be a puppeteer. For now anyway. All of this traveling is keeping me very pressed for time. I'm also going to NYC in two weeks for AIESEC's 50th anniversary Gala. I'm really excited about this!!! I know that I will have more than perhaps the fun receptors in my brain will be able to handle. I'm going with my roommate, Landon, who is the AIESEC Missouri President. We're leaving on Thursday night, so I'll be missing a bit of class that week, but my teachers approved. As soon as we arrive, our adventure in NYC begins! We're leaving on Sunday so we have to work hard to fit in all of our sightseeing plans with the AIESEC gala events. I'm planning on getting all of my sleeping done in the plane because there won't be very much time for that once we arrive. While we are there, we are going to stay at the house of a girl who was the AIESEC President of Austin, TX last year, but she graduated and is now working for national AIESEC staff in NYC. She says that she already has two sleeping bags waiting for us, which I'm thrilled about because my summer in Japan made me a professional at sleeping on the floor! These travel plans to NY, FL, and VA have been the things that are eating up most of my time, as well as AIESEC in general, but I have no complaints! AIESEC Mizzou is doing so great this year!!! We doubled our membership already, and we still have more interviews coming up! Hopefully our sales team will be successful as raising a traineeship in the area. However, even if we do, I won't be able to see the results since I'm graduating this December. Maybe this is what is eating up the most of my time, figuring out what my post-graduation plans are exactly. Right now I'm applying for different internships in Japan through AIESEC, and this is probably what I'll be doing in the immediate future, but 6 months down the line, who knows! There are so many different things that I want to do that it's hard for me to figure out where I should begin. I'm still going to retake the foreign service exam in April, but getting a job with the foreign service is very difficult and I know that it will take some time, so until then, I have a chance to explore a little bit. I've had thoughts about moving to DC or NY, and maybe attempting to get a job with the UN, but I've also had thoughts about doing a developmental project in West Africa. Right now, as to what I'll be doing this time next year, or where I'll be living, anyone's guess is as good as mine! In a way, that is kind of exciting and refreshing. I'm very ready for a change. As much fun as I've had living in CoMo and attending college, I'm done. I'd stick a fork in myself if I thought it would get me out of here any quicker. I'm ready for action, adventure, and the poverty that comes from paying back student loans. The sooner I start paying them back the sooner the bills are out of my mailbox and out of my mind. Anyway, I have to go now. I have a lot of homework to do before tomorrow and I think my fish just died..... not that those are always associated. It's time for a little fishy funeral and to send the dearly departed to the giant aquarium in the sky....

Festivals, festivals, everywhere and not a place to sit!!!

Today I will leave Iida, in only 4 hours actually, but my last week here made for quite a finally! Last weekend I went to Japan for the fireworks festival. It was really fun, but unfortunately, the only seats that we coud find were under tree cover. So, through the trees the fireworks looked less like fireworks and more like flashing Christmas lights, but they were still beautiful. There were more than 1 million people at the festival, which made walking quite a challenge. After the festival, we headed for the subway but decided not to take it when we saw that the line to board extended 2 blocks above ground. I can honestly say that I've never seen so may people in one place before in my entire life! The best part about being in Tokyo was seeing my friends. Akina's family was incredibly nice, and it was wonderful to see her before she moves to Boston. I was also able to see Taka at the festival. He took the train all the way from Chiba to spend the afternoon in Tokyo with us even though he had to start work the next day. I was so glad that he came. That day in Tokyo was spectacular! The rest of my time in Tokyo was spent at the Tokyo national museum in Ueno park, visiting Asakusa, and window shopping in Ginza. The only bad thing about Tokyo was that my first day there, my camera broke, so I was only able to take one photo!!! Fortunately, my travel buddy, Crystal, took tons of photos and I'll be able to get them from her eventually.
When I came back from Tokyo, it was time to prepare for a hectic last week in Iida. (but hectic in a good way ;) ....... The opening ceremony for the Iida festival was on Thursday, and I was performing there!!! Our shito priest puppet was called upon to bless the festival. Although it did seem like maybe a bad idea to have americans bless a japanese festival, it seemed to work anyway. The festival was spectacular!!! Everyone complemented us on out performances both Thursday and Sunday. It was great to have the praise, but the best thing about the festival was the city wide ringon (meaning apple) festival on Saturday!!! Our small town of Iida was filled to the rim with people doing the traditional ringon dance. If you ask me some time, I can teach it to you!!! It was incredible! We danced through the city for 2 hours with thousands of other people. Everyone was wearing either traditional festival dress, or they were decked out in crazy costumes! It was one of the most fun nights I've ever had!!! I really hope that I can come back to this festival again someday!!! After the festival was over and we had completed our performances, it was the begining of the end. The time had come to start saying our goodbyes. I have never seen so many people cry except at funerals. However, if in a way, I suppose that it is appropriate because this group will never be assembled again. It was a spectacular summer which I will never forget.

Life in Iida starts winding down...

Now there is less than 2 weeks left until the end of my summer program in Japan and the "lasts" have begun. On Sunday, I had my last day of volleyball at the gym with the neighborhood kids. It was quite sad. They gave me a bag of assorted snack foods, and I went back to my hotel. Japanese people like to give things to people randomly like that. I'm fine with it, except that I've really been hitting the junk food lately. I should be losing weight with all the walking that I've been doing here. However, I've been eating so much that I've remained the same. I'll have to quit the excessive intake once I get home or prepare to buy bigger pants. Tonight we had another last. It was the last time that we will have an english conversation session with japanese people from the town, in order to improve their english. I'm actully kind of relieved though because I always found the conversations to be awkward. I realize that this probably seems pretty boring, but this is what life has been like. Today was exciting because I saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean!! I enjoyed it, but I hate the way that they ended it. This weekend will be even more action packed because I'm going to TOKYO!!! I'm super psyched about it!!! I'm going with my friend Crystal and we are going to stay at Akina's house (my roommate from Mizzou). On Saturday, there will be a ginormous fireworks festival that I'm really looking forward to seeing, and I plan on wearing my Yukata that I bought last week. A Yukata is like a summer version of a Kimono. I'll be sure to tell everyone about the wonderful time I'm sure to have in Tokyo this weekend....

A home stay weekend...

So... hmmm.... what did I do this weekend??? Well, many things, many random things. My host sister came to get me at my hotel at 4:00pm on Saturday and we took the train to her house in Matsukawa city. We arrived just in time to attend a festival in the city. We spent all night watching the performers in the parade and the fantastic fire works display. We also bought some fire works of our own and set them off in the park. It was very fun. Last week I had been upset that I missed the 4th of July, but now I am feeling better about it. As long as I have a healthy dose of fireworks once a year I'll be fine. I ate so much food at the festival!!! It was incredibly delicious! I love artery clogging festival food!!! I ate Nikuma (a kind of chinese dumplings), Yakitori (Japanese chicken on a stick, a polish sausage, and ice cream!!! and when I returned to my host family's house, my host mom had more snacks waiting for me! (I think I gained some weight this weekend!!!) On Sunday, my host family drove me to another city in our area named Matsumoto. We saw a castle there that was very beautiful, and the scenery was different than what I am used to because it was raining all day. In fact, it has been raining everyday. I am really missing Missouri sunshine right now.... This morning, I went for lunch with my host sister, her english teacher, some other Japanese students, and one other american girl from my program to an amazing Italian restaurant. It was very well priced and the food was beyond delicious!!! Hopefully I can go back there some time... After lunch, we spent 2 hours doing Karaoke. I sang too many songs and now my throat is a little sore, but it will be better in the morning. Our homestays ended today when it was time for our puppet rehearsal to begin. Everyone was so exicited to see one another and tell the stories we had acquired from our weekend away.

If your in Japan and you know it clap your hands!!!

Monday morning I had a terrific time at Yume's kindergarten. The kids there ranged from 4-5 years-old. I played with a group of them in the sand box for quite a while, and then I chased them around the playground. Several of the kids tried to convice me that the sand was delicious and that I should try some, but through my own childhood experiences, I knew better. There were about 10 students from my program who went to play with the children. In the afternoon, we all sang American children's songs and nursery rhymes. London Bridge was very popular. However, many of the children became very anxious while we were playing it, because, while they understood the concept of the game, they could not understand the words. Therefore, they never knew when the bridge was going to fall. Many of them cautiously approached us and then darted beneath our arms to keep from getting shaken up with salt and pepper. It was so much fun, because it's easy to impress a four year-old, and I like being the center of attention, so it was a win-win situation. I really wanted to be able to go back to the kindergarten and volunteer, but there is no time for it in my class schedule. This weekend, I am going to stay with a host family for 2 nights. My host parents are both nearing 60 and they have a 17 year-old daughter and a dog. I'm not sure I can impress the daughter (17 year-olds take more work than 4 year-olds) but I shouldn't have any problem with the dog (unless it's a dalmation, which are horrible dogs. I say this because there is a dalmation that lives near my hotel, but this is another story). I should have a good time with the family. Anyway, it will be a change, and I've been quite bored here latey. There's really not all that much to do in Iida, and so when I'm not in class or at rehearsal, I'm lazing about thinking about the next time I will go to class or rehearsal. I am exaggerating a bit. We have a lot of random activities that we participate in. I'm just not as busy as I'm used to being in Columbia, and it bothers me a little, but just a little mind you. In a way, I like being bored, for once. A good example of one of our random activites is our trip to the Iida Tofu factory that we took yesterday. They produce the majority of the tofu that is consumed in Japan, it was also interesting to note that the soy they use to make the tofu comes from the U.S., including Missouri. They walked us around the factory grounds and should us a video about how to make freeze dried tofu. The highlight of the tour was a 3 foot high model of a japanese castle made entirely out of tofu! What more could one person ask for?!?! They gave us some tofu samples, which I sampled and then passed on to someone who actually liked tofu. They also gave us some little snacks, but I gave them away because there were little dried fish in it that did not look very appetizing. Japanese food has been quite an experience in itself. Well I'm hungry now, so I think that I'll go have another experience....

roughin' it Japanese style....

Classes were canceled this week and everyone in my program split up to do different things. Some of them went to Tokyo, some stayed in Iida and relaxed, but I chose to go up to the mountains with Professor Holman and 12 other people from the program. We stayed in old traditional Japanese houses. We had to bring sleeping bags because there weren't any foutons. A great majority of my time was spent tending to the fire that we built in the hearth in the middle of the house. Each night we cooked a huge pot of stew over the fire. It was a little bit of a challenge because right now Japan is in the middle of the rainy season, and so dry fire wood was hard to come by. The entire house was filled with smoke that lingered above our heads. I brought smore's makings with me and it perfected the campfire experience and made me very popular with the other students who were there. The first day that we were in the mountains, I went with 3 others from the program and climbed a couple of mountains. There was a trail that led up a ways into the mountains, but that wasn't quite adventurous enough for our taste and so we slinked off of the trail and hiked up through the brush and undergrowth. Luckily, I had decided to wear jeans that day, knowing full well that hiking through the wilderness requires the proper attire. However, My friends Micah and Chris had both worn shorts and they both got very torn up from the thorns. It was a terrific walk. Half way up the mountain we came across a monkey forest. I swear that there must have been 100 monkeys! It was a little bit intimidating. We climbed up past the monkeys and through thousands of reeds that were as high as 9 feet tall. It was very difficult to make our way through the reeds. It felt as though my legs were combing through them. We reached our destination and were in awe and the wonderful view before us. I exclaimed that it was like being inside a green can of paint, because to me, that's exactly what it felt like. We descended the mountain shortly after and went down to the river. It was very refreshing to wade through the ice cold water after such a challenging hike. The next day it rained and rained some more. I decided to spend my day doing nothing. I was actually quite happy with my decision. It was like a vacation. However, my friends Nick and Brett didn't not want to spend all day sitting around when they were so close to such beautiful scenery, and so at around 4:00pm, they set out to hike the tallest mountain in the area. When they weren't back yet at 8:00om, some people started to get a little worried, and by 10:00 professor Holman had called the search and rescue. I also started to get worried. I didn't think that they would be lost, but there are bears and other dangerous wild animals in the mountains here. Thankfully they returned at 11:30 safe and sound, although very wet. The sun had set on them while they were on the top of the mountain, and so it took them several hours to descend because the path up the mountain was only 1 foot wide and one false step when mean a very steep descent to the grave. It did not help that the only lights that they had was a small flashlight built into a lighter and the LCD screen of Brett's camera. It was great that they were safe, but now they were in tons of trouble with the teachers. They spent many hours apologizing for being out so late and worrying everyone. The last day there was very somber and we were all glad to return to Iida. Now I'm trying to make plans to visit some of my Japanese friends, but we are always so busy with class that I don't know if it will be possible. Hopefully I will have the chance in a couple of weeks. Now it's time for another lazy Saturday evening lounging around the hotel.