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!

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!

Elephants & Tigers, Oh Chiang Mai!

As a little last hooray before Mark deployed, we traveled to Thailand for a two week getaway. This was a very special vacation for us because it was the first time we went somewhere just the two of us without attending someone's wedding. We spent the first half of the vacation in Chiang Mai, and the last half in Phuket.

Our hotel room at Fern Paradise in Chiang Mai.

We stayed at the Fern Paradise in Chiang Mai. The rooms were made from rice barns, so it was basically like staying in a treehouse. It was amazing. The owners were super sweet; they even gave us a little gift when we checked out. The only downside about the hotel was that it was a little outside of Chiang Mai so we had a little bit of trouble getting the tuk tuks to take us back.

Wat Pra Singh Voramahavihara

After checking in, we went to the downtown area of Chiang Mai to check out the markets and wats, the Buddhist temples. As we were walking around, a man approached us and started asking us about our trip. This is very common in Asian countries; many locals will approach Westerners and use it as an opportunity to practice their English. It also often benefits us because they tell us about places to visit that most tourists don't know.

I couldn't get enough how much detail were in these huge structures.

The man we met told us about a special silver wat. He explained that it was the only one in Thailand and then showed us where it was on a map. We thanked him and after lunch, found our way to the silver wat.

Wat Sri Suphan - the only silver wat in Thailand.

There were signs posted all around the wat saying women were not allowed into the ordination hall area. This was not a problem because we were not properly dressed to enter any of the wats, though even if we would have been, I wouldn't have felt comfortable doing so.

Wat Sri Suphan front view.

We ended the night at our hotel and had the best Tom Kai Gai & Panag Chicken I have ever had. The next morning was our elephant day! I was super excited, but nervous at the same time.

My elephant, Ruby.

Once we arrived at Thai Elephant Home, the mahouts (elephant trainer) explained some basic commands to us and how to keep safe with our chang (Thai for elephant).

Pretty afraid I was going to fall to my death right about here.

The only command I remembered was "bye" which told them to go. There was another one to tell them to kneel down so we could jump off, but it never worked when I said it. After paying our respects to Ganesha, the Thai elephant god, we got to feed them and then practice riding in a small area. Each of us got our own elephant and rode bareback with a rope in the front and back to hold on to.

Mark feeding his elephant, Punoy, which means little boy in Thai. He was not very little.

We then rode up a steep hill through the trees. It was absolutely beautiful and only a little scary because they were constantly stretching over the edge to eat.

The whole group. Mark volunteered to lead. His wasn't as well behaved as mine.

After riding for a couple of hours, we came to a clearing and had lunch. The mahouts had brought Pad Thai wrapped in a leaf for us to eat. After we finished, we fed whatever was left over to the elephants.

Lunch time! It was super yummy.

Ruby getting our leftovers.

Then, the mahouts had us stand next to the elephant and started saying, "Joop, joop!" My elephant then proceeded to give all of us a kiss. It was super slimy and suctiony.

Mark got a nicer kiss than I did.

After lunch, we gave the elephants a mud bath. They told us the mud was also good for human skin, and then slathered it all over our faces. Mark was not a fan.

When in Rome...

Mark's least favorite part. He just supervised the whole time.

After each elephant was covered in the mud, we hopped back on and rode to the river. Apparently my elephant loved to swim and as soon as she got in the water she dunked under. It took me by surprise and at that moment the mahout asked if I could swim. I'm glad we covered that before we were in the water.

On the way to the river. We bought bananas to feed them.

They had us both get on Mark's elephant for pictures.

The mahouts thought it was fun to have the elephant roll around and make us fall off. In doing this, I almost got swept under the elephant, which was kind of scary. Luckily, Punoy used the sides of his tusks to catch me from going down the river.

Oh ya know, just seeing my life flash before my eyes. No biggie.

Yay to living!

We then returned to camp and took a cold water shower. This was my favorite part of our trip. I would definitely recommend it, especially the Thai Elephant Home. They seem to take good care of the elephants, and part of their mission is wildlife conservation and breeding.

ROAR!

The next day we went on the Flight of the Gibbon zip line through the jungle. They took pictures of us flying, but something about a harness just makes you look awesome. We were on our way home and the cabbie offered to take us to the Tiger Kingdom. The Tiger Kingdom is where you are able to pet the tigers, and it was also the one thing Mark did not want to do.

I obviously talked him into it. 

We went with the medium tigers because they had the shortest wait time. It took us about 45 minutes for them to call our number. When we entered the enclosure there were four, completely NOT drugged, tigers roaming around. We were told to approach them from behind, make no sudden movements, and never run.

This one was not into the petting. Again, saw my life flash before my eyes.

They called this one Fat Boy. He was super into the tummy rub.

They kept telling us to hold their tails for some reason.

After we walked around for about 15 minutes, one of the tigers got into their pool. Mark started taking pictures like crazy so the keepers pulled out a stick with some leaves on it and they really started to play.

Fat Boy playing. He doesn't like swimming.

It was a crazy experience and I'm so glad we did it, but I would never do it again. I feel like you can only look death in the face so many times before you run out of luck.

And that was our time in Chiang Mai. Between Chiang Mai and Phuket, I definitely liked Chiang Mai more just because there was so much to do and see. After Chiang Mai, we spent the rest of the vacation beaching and relaxing.