An Open Letter To Japan

Dear Japan,

I wasn't so sure about you. Okay...that's a lie. I was pretty sure I wanted absolutely nothing to do with you. My career was skyrocketing and, you, a meteorite dead ahead. If Alaska was Siberia, you were Mars. Strange, unchartered territory.

Alaska, the beautiful.

And we joked. Said I would be some kobe beef massager, a women's basketball player...the careers as far fetched as the thought of calling you home.

We stepped off that plane into the arms of what would be our friends, our family. But I didn't know. It was all too much, frankly. The sun was blinding, air so thick you could drink it. How will I ever call this inhospitable planet, home?

Our first year together wasn't perfect. Far from it. You tried, really, you did. And I? I was still rereading the last chapter, savoring every word, every syllable. But you kept trying, boisterously coloring my vision with scenery fit for the likes of National Geographic. In late August, you finally broke through.

Maybe it was all the chanting, or the lights, or perhaps the chu hi, but at that festival, on that humid night, you wiggled your way into my heart. My eyes were opened, wide, to the beauty, your beauty, sitting there all along.

You gently tugged me along, showing me a whole world I had been blind to until then. You wove the right people into my life, the people willing to explore with me.

We went everywhere that year - Bali, Tokyo, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam. And when we weren't filling our passports, you were dazzling us with colorful autumn leaves, set against mountains and castles; pure, white snow, perfect for learning how to ski; pink showers of sweet cherry blossoms; and royal blue tides, lapping a shore littered with sand dollars and sea glass. For the first time in a long time, I was content. Happy.

But you weren't done just yet. It was just the beginning, really. Each passing day, each perfect bowl of ramen, each ohayo gozaimasu, led me further into gratitude. And we continued down the path together - Australia, Sapporo, Thailand again.

Three years later, we've come full circle. Except this time, I'm a Martian. And you? You're...home. 

My heart holds on to the belief that someday, I'll actually be ready when it's time to go. Someday...but not now. Not today.

Sayonara, Japan. 

Viva, Las Vegas!

Click here for a larger version.

Happy Japanniversary!

Living it up in northern Japan - no questions, no life jackets, no worries...

It's hard to believe another year has passed, and even more amazing is how much one year can really change everything. As you may recall, or if you speak to me on a semi-regular basis, year one was rough. I was missing my friends, my career, and the comforts of the states.

Then, something just...happened. Suddenly everything didn't seem so bad. In fact, everything seemed amazing. Here I am, young, able-bodied, actually living in a foreign country, and what I am doing about it? Nothing. Starting last August, I decided to make this year count. To see everything, truly see it, and allow myself to get lost in my surroundings.

Explore.

Akita Kanto Festival in August

And explore I did. I found likeminded people, as willing and eager to travel as me. At the end of August, I traveled to Bali with a good friend. We had a blast taking in the local culture, petting the monkeys in the Monkey Forest, and day drinking at the beach.

When we returned, Mark and I spent a lot of time on the water. When your house isn't air conditioned, you might as well just be outside.

Jackson at Lake Towada

Big Buddha during Obon, one of the major Japanese holidays

And as the summer cooled off, and fall started, my parents arrived. We got to show them a bit of our world as the leaves slowly started to change color and reveal the most beautiful season in Japan.

Osorezan, a major holy site

Trying to get the hang of chopsticks at CoCo's Curry

After they left, the festival season was pretty much over. Though I did get to face my fears and catch a salmon with my bare hands at the Rokkasho Salmon Festival.

Since Mark was gone for Thanksgiving, I spent it with friends.

With sweet potatoes as big as your head.

To celebrate his return, we spent Christmas in Tokyo. It was our first official visit, and our virgin Robot Cafe venture.

Inside Tokyo Tower

Robot Cafe, the best place in Tokyo

Since winter was in full swing by that point, we spent pretty much every weekend on the slopes.

We weren't the only ones loving the snow

Before Mark left on deployment, we had one last hoorah in Thailand, the coolest country I never even thought I would want to visit.

And pretty soon spring came in hot and heavy, with more flower festivals than you can even count.

Yabusame Festival in Towada-shi

Azaleas in Shichinohe

Nanohana in Yokohama

In May, my baby brother came to visit, so I met him in Tokyo.

Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo

Shibuya Crossing - the busiest intersection in the world

Yoyogi Park on a Sunday

After spending a few days in the city, I took him up north, and used it as an opportunity to go all the places I hadn't been yet.

Feeding the wild horses of Cape Shiriya

Feeling so small in the big world at the Hotokegauara Cliffs

Getting spiritual in the land of 100 torii gates

Just when things seemed like they were about to slow down, I traveled to Cambodia.

Banteay Srei, the temple of women

Ta Phrom

And on a whim, we added Vietnam to the trip.

Looking like locals in Hoi An

The Halong Bay

Thankfully, I got back to Japan for 4th of July. We celebrated with chu his, fireworks, and camping in Fukaura.

The dogs got to come with

And before I knew it, year two was over, with my heart and my passport more full than the previous year. Cheers to year two, bigger and better than year one. Here's to hoping year three, the final year, can keep up!

Big Ass Bali Adventure

At the beginning of September (no apologies on timeliness), my friend Maggie and I went to Bali for a week of awesomeness, splitting the trip between Ubud and Kuta. It was my first time traveling to a third world country, and my first time going to a foreign country with someone other than my family.

Our trip truly began on the flight from South Korea to Bali when we began double fisting wine. Fun fact - Korean Air gives you unlimited booze. Unlimited.

Bali offering. These were everywhere and put out multiple times a day.

By the time we landed, it was super late and there was no one to check us into our room, so the driver just handed us our key. The room was awesome looking; Bali has some of the most amazing architecture that I have ever seen.

The following morning was rainy, but that didn't stop us from hitting up the Monkey Forest. This was probably the part of the trip that I was initially most excited for, and it did not disappoint.

The Monkey Forest is a nature reserve and temple complex. It is home to about 600 macaque monkeys and was about a 5 minute walk from our hotel.

Right inside of the entrance, there was a small cart selling banana bunches for 20,000 rupiah (roughly $2). We watched an employee show someone how to feed the monkeys, holding the banana above one's head. We were amazed to see the monkey scramble up the man's body and sit peacefully on his arm eating the banana. Despite Mark's warnings of touching animals in a foreign country, we bought a bunch and headed into the forest.

We had a lot of success getting the monkeys to play with us, though one decided to hang out on my lap longer than I was comfortable with. Apparently the forest averages three monkey bites daily, though I didn't know that going into it. Luckily, Maggie and I didn't become statistics.

After feeding the monkeys, we went to the main temple area. You have to be properly dressed to enter the temple, so they put a green skirt-like garment on us before we entered.

The architecture was absolutely breathtaking. Before moving to Japan, I thought all the architecture would be old world and ornate like it is in Bali.

While we were walking around the shrine, the rain began to pick up, so we headed back to our room and partook in the Buy 4 Shots, Get 1 Free deal our hotel bar was offering.

The following day was our big one, with a bicycle ride around Bali and a whitewater rafting tour. It was at this point that our room began smelling like raw sewage, so we vowed to stay out of there as much as possible, which I guess had always been the plan.

At the oldest temple in Bali on the bike ride tour.

The bike ride tour was very different from what either one of us had expected. The tour was mainly through a village, so we saw more of the "real" Bali I guess you could say. Our guide was very nice and informative and took us to a family's home, which was sad and intriguing at the same time.

The whitewater rafting tour was amazing. I wish I could have taken pictures because it was so pretty. The rapids weren't very wild so we could enjoy the beautiful scenery surrounding us on either side. Luckily, they had showers at the end of the river tour so we didn't have to face our bathroom back in the room.

Mags selecting the finest (cheapest) bottle of wine for our day drinking venture.

For our last day in Ubud, we shopped around the art and culture district, which ended pretty quickly when we found a sweet little cafe and decided to start day drinking. We then took a bus over to Kuta for the beach portion of our vacation.

Our first day in Kuta we spent on the beach. There were numerous vendors set up with umbrellas, so we found a spot that looked nice and settled in. Joseph, which I am assuming was not his real name, owned our little area and made sure we always had a fresh Bintang beer.

The waves in Bali are no joke.

I made fun of Maggie for having SPF 100 sunscreen, which I didn't even know they made until she whipped it out, and it ended up biting me in the ass. I have never burned so badly in my entire life. I literally slept without pants on for the rest of the trip. I also never made fun of Maggie's sunscreen choices ever again.

Rice terraces

Since I was out of commission, we hired a driver the following day to take us to all famous sites in Bali. It was very affordable and we got to see everything.

Midday offering

After the rice terraces, we went to the three lakes, which is where the Bratan Temple is. The Bratan Temple is one of the most prominent images associated with Bali.

Lake Tamblingan, one of the three lakes

The view over the lakes was absolutely gorgeous, even though it looked like it might rain at any given moment.

After overlooking the lakes, they took us to temple, where we also had lunch. Yay for more noodles!

Bratan Temple

After the temple, our driver took us to a spice garden. When we pulled up, it looked like it was going to be kind of sad, but it was actually very interesting.

Coffee bean before roasting.

They taught all about coffee; how to tell good coffee from bad coffee, and the processes of making it. This was when we learned about the most expensive coffee you can buy, mongoose coffee.

Inside of a ripe cacao fruit aka a baby chocolate.

The sat us at a table with a bunch of pots lined up in the middle. They had us try a bunch of different flavored coffees and teas.

Then, they asked if we would like to try the mongoose coffee for an additional $5 each. We said, meh, why not and took a taste.

Mags sampling the most expensive coffee ever.

So why is the mongoose coffee so expensive? Well, it all starts with this little critter right here:

This mongoose was not actually responsible for our coffee...I asked.

And that little critter, the mongoose, eats the coffee berries. After Mr. Mongoose has a solid BM, the spice farm workers take the poop, clean the beans, which are not broken down in the mongoose's digestive system, and roast it.

Roasting the beans.

Then, they let it dry and roast it again. So the long story short is Maggie and I paid a decent amount of money for actual poop coffee.

It was nutty. 

Our last stop of the day was at Tanah Lot, which we were supposed to get to at sunset, but we got there a few hours too early.

It was still really pretty.

We rounded out the night at an Australian owned restaurant, which was amazing because we could get a real burger. When you live in Asia, you really miss salads and burgers. We actually ended up eating at the restaurant two nights in a row.

On our last day, Maggie took a surf class, while I relaxed at the infinity pool of a fancy hotel we crashed, trying to minimize my sunburn. We had so much fun on our trip and would definitely recommend going to Bali if you can.