So, do you like it?

The one question I'm asked more than any other in reference to Japan is, "Do you like it?" To which I typically respond with a nod and say "Yeah," with a little bit of a high-pitched inflection at the end of the word.  But, it's just not that simple. I really can't answer that question with a yes or no response. So, from now on, instead of answering, I'm just going to tell whomever asks me to go and read my blog. Of course I'm kidding, but I'll attempt to answer it here.

If you are wondering if I'm happy here, I am. That doesn't mean I wake up every morning and can't wait to start the day, but it means that overall, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I have always wanted to live in a different country for a period of time, and now I have that opportunity. Additionally, I enjoy experiencing a different culture and meeting new people. There's also part of me that gets enjoyment from being out of my "comfort zone." Again, I don't feel like that 100% of the time, but I like what it does to me and how it makes me feel. I think it's good to be in a situation that so many continue to live every day. It helps me relate a little.

Plus, as you know, I LOVE to travel. Being located in Japan has given us so many opportunities to travel Asia. Just being able to travel within Japan has been an incredible experience, too.

If you ever ask if I'm homesick, I'll most likely always tell you, "Not really." That answer has recently begun to change. I'm not homesick in the sense of crying a lot of tears or hating it here, but I do find myself exhibiting some signs. My patience in the crowded train stations has been a bit short, and sometimes I want to elbow store associates in the face when they greet me with a loud, "Irrashaimase!" Irrashaimase in Japanese is really only used when greeting customers or potential customers. It basically means, welcome and how can I help you? Anyway, it can be quite irritating when screamed loudly by each associate every time you enter an establishment. 

But, most of all, I'm beginning to come to the realization that barring any major disasters, I won't be going back to the U.S. until December. I know that's not very long in the grand scheme of things, but it still makes me a little sad and freaked out. My best friend is pregnant and so is my sister-in-law. It kills me to think I won't be there to welcome these new little people into the world. 

So, in a more lighthearted spirit, I am going to give you a list of some things from home I miss. I know there are people all over the world living in impoverished conditions so I'm not acting like I'm suffering or anything like that. But, I do miss some of the luxuries I enjoyed at home. Not saying I couldn't live without them, just merely mentioning that they made my life a little easier.

• Clothes dryer: We have a pretty tiny washer, and I have to dry all of our clothes on a little drying rack. We've had a lot of rainy days lately. 
• Oven: I was no Susie Homemaker in the States, but I have really been craving some cake and cookies.
• El Maguey for Mexican food: This restaurant was more than just a cheap Mexican restaurant with cheap margaritas. For Travis and I, it meant so much more. Every time we had anything of importance to discuss, we took it to El Maguey and chatted for hours. Can you really think of a better atmosphere in which to discuss the meaning of life?
• Target: Oh, how I love Target. I just want to go and walk around for hours, even if their store layout includes a bunch of shelving running through the middle of the store making it very difficult to find wandering husbands.
• Last, but certainly not least, I miss my Little Skittle. I just want to scratch her big round belly.

So, there you have it. 

If you have any other questions for me, just leave a comment, and I'd be happy to answer them. I don't feel like I've given you a great picture of Japanese culture yet so please ask away!

Mostly about nothing

I don't really have much to blog about but, I like blogging so I'm going to do it anyway.

We had a relatively uneventful weekend, but it was great to stay in Nagoya and relax. Friday night, we just took it easy, cooked at home and watched "Changeling," which I enjoyed. Any movie over two hours is too long in my opinion, but I thought it was pretty good. I am an Angelina Jolie fan, but I had forgotten the movie was based on a true story. Had I known that, I think my perspective while watching it would have been a bit different. Anyway, have any of you seen it? Did you like it? I typically don't enjoy watching movies a whole lot, but since moving to Japan, it's become one of my favorite past times. Thanks to everyone who gave us iTunes gift cards for Christmas!

Saturday we ran some errands and met up with a few friends for dinner. We met several new people, another one of my favorite past times. I love meeting new people and learning their stories. 

Travis made a pot of beans on Sunday. I don't know why it makes me giggle to type that. I think it's probably because I feel like I need to say it with a southern drawl. It reminds me of winters at home. My mom put beans in the crockpot, and let them cook all day. She'd make cornbread to go with them, too. I never thought we would be able to recreate that meal here, but Travis did a mighty fine job. Cornbread and all. They were quite delicious, and as usual, I doused them in vinegar. 

We also ran some errands, and I bought a new shelf. I never thought a $20 shelf would make me so happy, but I finally have a place to store some family photos and some of the knick knacks we've accumulated on our travels. Just making our house a home. That's what I do.

After that, we finished season one of "Dexter." Do any of you watch that show? I am really starting to like it. I just can't stand Dexter's sister. She really gets under my skin. Anyway, just curious if any of you are fans, too. 

Ok, so I'm sorry this blog was a little lame. I'll try to do something blog-worthy soon.

Bangkok and Phuket

We've returned to Nagoya after an amazing trip to Thailand. This post will likely be long, but I'm also writing it for myself so I won't forget some of the details of our trip. So here goes...

We began our trip in Bangkok. We booked a hotel in the heart of Chinatown and true to the reviews I had read, the hotel was a quiet refuge amidst an overwhelmingly busy neighborhood. Chinatown definitely provided a sensory overload. There were so many strange smells of street food being grilled, exhaust from heavy traffic and occasionally a little sewage stink mixed in. It was a crazy place to be, but there was so much to see and absorb. We had a great time roaming around and taking it all in.

The first night we arrived, we took a tuk-tuk, pictured above, to a Thai restaurant for dinner. Tuk-tuks are everywhere in Thailand. They are typically faster than taxis because the weave in and out of the traffic, which makes for a terrifying ride. 

The next day, we headed to the weekend market, which didn't disappoint. It was very hot and humid, but most of the stalls in the market were sheltered so it wasn't so bad. You could buy almost anything there, quite an eclectic mix. We didn't do a lot of buying, but we did do a lot of looking.

We enjoyed lunch at an outdoor restaurant at the market. The picture above is of the nice lady who made my pad thai. I couldn't get enough of it during our trip.

Soon after, we went to a famous show in Bangkok called, Siam Niramvit. It was the most amazing production I have seen yet. I haven't seen Cirque de Soleil, but it's supposed to be at that level. The show told the story of Bangkok's history and was complete with elephants and an on-stage river with boats. One of the actor's even dove into it. It was way cool.

After a couple of days in Bangkok, we flew to the southern island of Phuket. It was beautiful but quite touristy. We stayed near Kata beach, which is a little calmer than the most popular beach, Patong. Nonetheless, we were vacationing alongside LOTS of other tourists from around the world. Throughout our entire trip, we never met anyone from America. Most of the vacationers were from Italy, the UK or Australia. We were called "Aussies" by almost all of the hagglers we encountered. 

On a side note, if you ever travel to Thailand, be prepared to be harped constantly. As "white people," we were approached repeatedly by cab drivers, store workers, tuk-tuk drivers and people at the airport. Everyone had an incredible deal to offer us. It seems that in Thailand every price is negotiable. In fact, the taxis in Bangkok only recently became metered. Before that, as a passenger, you had to negotiate a price with your taxi driver. Many of the drivers still try this approach unless you insist on them using the meter. It's shady and gets really old really fast.

Back to Phuket...the first evening we were there, Travis discovered we would be able to watch a muay Thai boxing match. I wasn't too thrilled since I hate seeing anyone in pain and can barely stomach UFC fighting on TV, but I agreed. I don't know too much about boxing in America, but I do know the rules are quite different in Thailand. The boxers received points based on how many elbow and knee hits they got. This, of course, made for a very gory fight. We saw lots of blood and even a match between two females and several knockouts. It took a few minutes, but it started to grow on me, and I ended up really enjoying it. I think the reason why I enjoyed it so much was because all the boxers seemed so respectful and had really great sportsmanship. I assume they actually enjoy it. Oh, and we got free t-shirts.

The photograph above was from the craziest match. The boxer you see is 19 and from Australia. We watched his 39 year-old father box right before him.

The next day we we went for an elephant ride. I was a bit concerned because I had heard about the trainers using ear hooks on the elephants, and it sounded a bit depressing. Well, it was a bit depressing, but not because of the ear hooks. Elephants in Thailand are highly revered so the ones we met were well cared for. The sad part was the sights we saw during our ride. Phuket is full of poverty-stricken people, and I don't think I was prepared for how bad it really is. We saw many homes without water or electricity and young children and dogs digging through piles and piles of trash. It was pretty heartbreaking, but it opened my eyes a bit more. I have been so spoiled living in suburbia and Japan. 

After our ride, which provided us with a breathtaking view of Kata, we got to play with the cutest baby elephant! She was so sweet and was trained to give "kisses." It was a wonderful experience to see such an incredible creature up-close.

You might be wondering why I don't have any pictures of this experience. It's not because I made it up. I promise. More on that later.

One of the best parts about traveling to Thailand is--it's cheap! I enjoyed a pedicure for $6. Well, sort of enjoyed. It wasn't exactly spa-quality, but you do usually get what you pay for.

When I decided to get a pedicure, I was just expecting the usual. You know, just ONE color. Well, the pedicurist brought out some nails with all of these designs on them. And, I thought, what the heck, why not? I mean, for $6, can you really turn down any extras, especially when they're already included? So, I picked one thinking she would put a design on only the big toe, which is typical in the U.S. Nope, she proceeded to paint flowers on every single one! Oh my word! It was a bit outrageous, and I felt like I was about 7 years old. Anyway, I'm still wearing it, but it's starting to rub off already. I can't say I'm too sad about it, either. Oh, and excuse my sunburned feet. I never claimed to have cute tootsies.

We spent a couple more days enjoying the beaches. We took a day trip to Phi Phi Island, which is wear the movie starring Leonardo Dicaprio, The Beach, was filmed. I wouldn't recommend watching it unless you just want to fast forward to the beach scenes. We also went to Monkey Beach, which is exactly what it sounds like. It was a small beach filled with little monkeys. We visited Khai Island, which was my favorite of all. The water was crystal clear and the most beautiful I have seen. We did a little bit of snorkeling, and Travis saw a few sharks. I don't think they were huge, but it sounds like they were 4-5 feet long. That probably means about 1-2 feet? :)

After Phuket, we went back to Bangkok. On the way to our hotel from the Bangkok airport, we had an unfortunate camera mishap, which is why I have no beach or elephant pictures to show you. One wrong push of a button cost us all of the pictures on my camera from the first six days. Ouch! 

We spent our last few days shopping and enjoying bustling Bangkok. One morning, we went to the Grand Palace where the following pictures were taken.

One of the most interesting parts about Thailand is the love they have for their king. His image is all over the place-restaurants, shopping malls and streets.

Here is one of the thousands of images we saw.

There are also Buddhist shrines and images everywhere. Here is one near the hotel where we stayed. It seemed a little ironic in front of the Burberry store, but whatever. People were selling items to place on the altar all over the place-flowers, beverages, incense, statues, birds...I was surprised by all of the Buddhist images, too. There was so much gold, and every single taxi we entered was filled with Buddhist regalia.

Traffic in Bangkok is insane.

Lastly, one of the highlights of our time in Bangkok was a dinner cruise on the river. Travis and I celebrated our being together for ten years and Valentine's Day by consuming delicious Thai cuisine while floating down the river on a wooden boat and watching the sun set behind the Grand Palace. Not too shabby if you ask me!

Thanks for reading! Guess you made it through.

Off we go!

We're heading to Bangkok tomorrow and then to Phuket so I won't be updating for a bit. Hopefully I'll have lots of fun stuff to share when we return. Sayoonara!

Superbowl Monday and Naga-YES!!!

We threw a Superbowl Monday party last night, and it was so much fun! I was shocked at the quantity of food and the deliciousness of it all. We had several staples-buffalo chicken dip, seven-layer dip, chili, chicken wings and so much more. Since we're a day ahead here in Japan I DVRed the game, and we watched it last night. Most everyone just ignored the sports news and did their best not to discover the final score prior to watching the game. I, not being so clever, accidentally saw the result when reading someone's facebook status. I was very annoyed, but I should have known better. Anyway, it was fun to celebrate an American tradition together. Unfortunately, everyone left all their leftovers here so I now have four bags of various types of Doritos in the cupboard right now. Not cool. 

Here's a shot of some of our grub.

Gear switch...

Last weekend, we went to Nagano. It took around four hours to get there, and it was certainly an exciting drive.

I had never seen so much snow in my life, but all of our cars did surprisingly well with our snow tires and chains.

Here's the lodge where we stayed. We had an amazing time, but the lodge was lacking in terms of cleanliness. Eek.

Not long after our arrival, we hit the slopes. The snow and mountains were beautiful, but it was a little difficult to capture any good shots with all the snow blowing around. 

I chose skiing over snowboarding this time, and I think I might have to make that a permanent choice. Although I had several wipeouts, my tush felt much better after a day of skiing than it did after a day of snowboarding. But, I need to learn to remember I have poles in my hands when I'm near others. Travis almost lost an eye on several occasions.

After carving up the mountains, we headed back to the lodge and enjoyed the most delicious fajitas I've ever tasted in my life. We all contributed some groceries, and the boys cooked up our dinner. Before you go off thinking what nice boys we must have, the real reason for their cooking was that the kitchen was less than tidy, and all of us girls decided we weren't sure we could handle the stench and ickyness of it. So, we persuaded the boys to do the cooking instead.

We spent the rest of the night playing board games, and the girls enjoyed a spontaneous '80s dance party. 

The next morning, we enjoyed some French toast and headed off for some more skiing and snowboarding before driving back to Nagoya.

All in all, it was a terrific weekend, and I'm pretty sure I won't soon forget it.