J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!

Me & Ryan

Dad & Ryan

Dad took Ryan and I to a Jets game on Thanksgiving weekend. We had a great time. The Jets didn't play so great - it was raining & slippery. Oh yeah, and the refs had to be at least mildly insane. ;-) But at least we had a good time!

10 Year Reunion

Mari, Me, and Elisabeth at the Reunion

The Friday after Thanksgiving was my 10 year high school reunion. I have to say, I was a little undecided about going. I'm not in touch with very many people from high school. Although I suppose I'm talking to a few more now because of facebook. But you never know how people are going to be. Will there be 10 year old pettiness? ('Cause I had had more than enough of that by the time some of it followed me to college) Would everyone be showing off about their accomplishments? Would it just be awkward?

It turns out that I wasn't the only one who had these worries - but it also turned out that there was no reason to worry. Everyone was great. I caught up with old friends and acquaintances. Met a spouse or two (although most people had left their significant others at home).

And generally, I had a great time. I recommend attending your 10 year reunion.

Japan

The last stop on my trip to Asia was Japan - where I spent time in Tokyo and Kyoto. Japan was my favorite place of the three I visited. The people were friendly, everything was clean, and organized, and logical, and well-run. It was pretty awesome. I took approximately a billion pictures in Japan, and I was there for over a week - so I saw a lot. I'll try to whittle it down to the highlights.

I went to Tokyo first. I saw Akihabra - the electronics district, Shibuya & the Tokyo Times Square, Harajuku and the crazy Japanese youngsters. There were also some great shrines. The really cool thing is that I managed to be there during the Japanese 3-5-7 holiday. During this holiday they dress up their 3 year old girls, 5 year old boys, and 7 year old girls in kimono and take them out to the shrines for pictures and blessings. They were adorable.


Akihabra - Electronics District


3-5-7 girl at Maji Shrine

Kyoto was next. Again, I was fantastically lucky. It turned out that the Japanese maples were changing into their fall colors, so the elaborate temple gardens were an absolute sight to behold.


Kinkaku-ji - one of the most breathtaking Temples


Ginkaku-ji had some of the most beautiful gardens

I stayed in a Ryokan in Kyoto - which is the closest you'll get to staying in a Japanese home (unless you find a japanese home to stay in) The Inn was run by three sisters, you leave your shoes at the door, and sleep on a futon on the floor. It was a great experience. And the service was wonderful. The people were very sweet and eager to help me.


Entrance to Three Sisters Inn


Real Zen Garden


Fushimi Inari Taisha

Japan - More Pictures

Beijing, China

The second week of my trip to Asia took me to Beijing, China. What a culture shock after Thailand. It was freezing cold, and the people were pretty rude. Also, almost no one spoke English, (And I only knew how to say please & thank you.) so that made for quite an adventure. I did have some fun shopping - although the aggressive salespeople at the markets were a little rough to deal with.

The pollution was pretty horrific. (You can see that in the olympic pictures below). It was thick enough that it looked like fog ... but it wasn't. I could smell it in my hair and in my clothes, and it was bad enough that it just felt hard to breathe after you'd been walking for a while. They certainly did quite a PR campaign at the olympics. I've heard that the sky really was as blue as it looked on TV - but that's only because they shut down the factories, forbade cars from driving in the city, and forced the sky to rain every night during the olympics. Amazing - the life in a communist country.

We made it to Tianenmen Square and the Forbidden City


And to the big olympic sites


But, the highlight was clearly the Great Wall. We rode a ski lift up to the wall, walked up & down along the wall for a bit, and then took a tobaggan down. It was awesome. In fact, the tobaggan was so awesome, that we went back up for another trip.


Self portrait on the great wall


view of the ski lift from above


The end of the luge

China - More Pictures

Bangkok, Thailand

I'm a little slow lately - I was traveling for the entire month of November, and with the Christmas season, it took me an unusually long time to get back to being normally functional. (Actually, I'm probably still not there yet.)

Anyway, the first stop on my November trip was to Bangkok, Thailand. I spent my entire birthday on a plane, but it was worth it for the traveling I got to do.

It was hotter n heck in Thailand. I was sweating like crazy - especially because I was trying to keep myself covered like the Thais do. It was in the 80s and 90s there, and all of the locals were in pants and polo shirts. I was dying for some shorts and tank tops, but I didn't want to stick out like a crazy lewd American either. The Thai people were very polite and friendly. And quite religious. There were Buddhist shrines outside of every hotel, and randomly located in the street. The concept, apparently, is that you stop to pray whenever. You don't just wait until a designated day of the week.



We saw quite a few amazingly ornate temples.



I had a great time learning about Thai culture, eating the food, and seeing the sights. I could have done without smelling some of the smells ... but I guess it's necessary to get the full experience. :)

Thailand - More Pictures

Time for Pumpkin Carving!

Did you know that most people don't make a tradition out of pumpkin carving? I am learning that now. My dad always said it was important for our little nuclear family to have its own traditions, and Pumpkin Carving at Halloween was one of them. My parents still do it if any of us kids are nearby - this year Christine was the only one close enough to participate.

Pumpkins by Mom, Christine & Dad

But even though Theresa & I were not part of the actual family event, we both called home (and each other) to live vicariously through the others. Back in the day Dad would take us to William's Nursery and each of the three girls would pick out their own pumpkin. I always wanted the biggest pumpkin I could find. Christine took the longest, searching for the perfect pumpkin. All I can remember about Theresa's pumpkins was that they were always small - she informs me that in fact she was looking for a pumpkin with one flat side, and "They had to be small, Dad made us each carry our own, and I was always smaller than you guys!".  Dad always picked out a pumpkin too - usually something with some personality.

When we got home Mom broke out the newspaper to cover the table, dad took a huge knife to cut the tops off of our pumpkins, and we all got to scooping out pumpkin gook. We collected all of the seeds in a big metal bowl in the middle of the table - and Mom worked on cleaning & baking the pumpkin seeds. 

It's so easy to make a family tradition, and it lives with you forever. Dad told me last night the he had called William's Nursery before he & Christine (25) went to pick up pumpkins, he wanted to be sure it wouldn't close before they got there. Upon learning that they would be open until 6 my Dad said to the woman on the phone: "Oh good, because my daughter really wants to pick out pumpkins so we can carve them tonight." The woman on the phone responded "Well, how old is your daughter? The pony rides stop at 5, and I wouldn't want you to get here as the last pony ride is ending and have your daughter be disappointed."

The "Piece de la Resistance"  was always the candle inside the pumpkin ... We might do this as soon as we finished the pumpkins, or just in time to put them out for Halloween night. 

I'm keeping the tradition alive in VA: This year I am determined. Ryan and I have already bought our pumpkins, now just to find the time to carve them ...

What is Your Strength?

At the gym last week there was a giant poster that I actually stopped to read. It said "What is your strength?" and it was covered in handwritten notes.

"My strength is my daughter"

"My strength is that I will never be fat again"

"My strength is God"

It was inspiring to see what gives other people strength, and it got me thinking about where my strength comes from. I think some of my strength comes from me - and from 'formative' experiences that I've had. But a lot of credit for formative experiences goes to my parents as well.