- - - - - - Adventuring in Asia - - - - - -

up to speed

2010-02-06T07:51:00.012+09:00

Good day everyone! How's life on your side of the globe? All continues to be excellent here. I woke up to the sound of rain this morning and felt like it was a perfect opportunity for ketchup part 2...here you go!

First things first. Here is a little visual of where my journey through Indonesia has taken me thus far...all the way from Jakarta to Bali, that's 1195 km or 795 miles covered by train, bus, boat, motorcycle, car and on foot!

After leaving the mountainous areas in Java, I boarded the ferry and crossed over to Bali. My first stop was Medewi, the nearest possible place I could surf! I wasn't planning on going here originally, but I met an Australian girl who was traveling alone and decided to hang out for a few days. (side note: traveling alone does not equal traveling by oneself. More times than not on this trip, I realize that I have been surrounded by people constantly and need to get away for some time by myself. It's easy to make friends while traveling.) After being in Indonesia for 1 month with no ocean time, it was so good to get in the water! Medewi consists of a single road a couple hundred feet long, going from the main highway to the beach. It's a left point break with rocky bottom. The first time I went out, the local guys saw I was having a hard time getting into the waves, so they just waited behind me and pushed me into the good ones. Ha! This happens all the time here! I have had my best days surfing EVER in Medewi!

A surf competition happening one weekend I was there.

Medewi sunset...dang son!

After chillin' in Medewi, I headed for Kuta for NYE and my birthday (shut up, I'm only 2 months behind!) Kuta is an insanely touristy and dirty, but it was sweet to celebrate the New Year being surrounded new friends and throbs of people. It was like Times Square, Indonesia style.

The highlight of my birthday dinner was being sung to in 5 languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Finnish and English. And my homemade spinach pesto pasta, of course!

I also got to go on a diving adventure, thanks to my new friend Gideon, Hanna's cousin whom I met at her wedding. We had our own dive master and got to explore the USS liberty, which was sunk by a Japanese torpedo during WW2.

On drive to the dive spot...lots of rice!

After couple of days in Kuta, I was ready for some peace, quiet and good waves! I decided to head to a teensy island which lies an hour to the east of Bali, Lembongan Island. It's a beautiful place with pristine beaches, heavenly snorkeling and 3 famous surf breaks (Shipwrecks, Lacerations and Playground). I found a sweet little bungalow to stay in for $8 a night which was steps away from this:

I have a dream of living in a tree-house at some point in my life; this was the closest I've ever come. There were a few nights of VERY heavy rain during my stay. I woke up more than once to water leaking through the thatched roof and dripping onto my forehead. Solution: put my head at the foot of the bed. :)

I rented a motorbike one day to drive around the island. I met this cute little high school kid at a secret surf spot. He offered to take me around to some view points in the area. We had a great time taking jumpy pictures and making fun of my his English and my Indonesian skills.

After 5 lovely days in Lembongan, I made my way back to Bali eventually up north to begin volunteering. Since January 11th, I have been working in an orphanage called My Father's Home, located in a teeny village called Tukad Mungga. It's a pretty cool story how this opportunity came into being, a story I will save for another time. What I will say right now, however, is that I feel like I could spend the next 10 years here perfectly content. It's only been a month, but the kids with their sweaty little hands and faces have found the path straight to the core of my heart. Precious little ones.

Today's headlines at the end of the post: Bali, get ready! Mom, Bethany, Brittany, Mrs. Rovi and Donna are coming to see me next week!!!!

ketchup, part 1

2010-01-13T23:28:00.010+09:00

I used to always start my blog entries the same way. Something to the tune of "I'm sorry it's been so long. Internet access has been patchy, too much homework to do, my life is boring. etc. etc." But recently it dawned on me that introducing my posts with an apology is at best boring and at worst funereal. The only thing I'm sorry about is that you've missed out on all the epic adventures which have taken place over my past month (and to my family and friends for the 10 days of incessant worrying).

So, since you've been gone...

I traveled from Jakarta to Bali by train, bus, car and motorbike. We got in a small fender bender which turned our supposed to be 10 hour journey into 14 V E R Y long hours. They took us to the police station which was more or less an automobile graveyard. Scary!

I explored Yokjakarta, one of Indonesia's most historic cities, where I saw the world's largest Buddhist temple, Borodudur. Built around 800AD with almost 3000 hand carved panels which tell Buddha's life story in chronological order, it was worth the 4 hour wait in the police parking lot.

Since I hadn't really stopped sweating since I came to Indonesia, and it was to be my first Christmas completely on my own, I decided to head to the mountains, where I at least had a chance of being in weather similar to the homeland Oregon. I found coldness!

I arrived on Christmas Eve to a magical village where the smell of sweet, bell shaped flowers filled the cool mountain air. And on Christmas day, I climbed the volcano (Mt. Bromo) and ate the best fried rice ever at the top. All in all, not a bad Christmas, although I would have given anything to play the Franger family pickle game or eat some of Grandma's cioppino soup.

On my trip to Bromo, I met some great people from Malaysia, who invited to to accompany them to another volcano called Ijen. Money was the only thing stopping me, so when they said I could crash on the floor of their hotel room, I was in. They were wonderful people and invited me to spend the Chinese New Year with them in Malaysia...so tempting!

One of the primary occupations for men living in this area is sulphur mining. It was hard enough for us to complete the 5 mile hike. I didn't even go to the bottom of the crater (although many tourists do) because the suphur was so penetrating to the eyes and lungs. These hardcore guys make this trip carrying 198 pounds out of the crater and down the mountain, 2-3 times per day, some with no shirt or shoes for around 10 bucks a day. It was painful to witness and made me a little more thankful for my nearly minimum wage subbing jobs.

Gotta wake up at 5:30 tomorrow to be with the orphanage kids, so that's all for tonight. The rest will be saved for ketchup, part 2. Thanks for reading...much love!

the long awaited day

2009-12-19T16:15:00.015+09:00

Yesterday, December 18th, Hanna and Choqi were finally married. Wow, what a day. What a ceremony. What rich, deep, thick cultures and traditions this country has. It was quite unbelievable from start to finish, and although I am still processing through all that went on yesterday, I will attempt to lead you through my experience of a Batak Indonesian wedding.

3:30 AM- Ima wakes me up and the three of us (Hanna's 2 sisters and I) are off to the beauty salon to get our hair and makeup done. We sit in the chairs, three in a row and are transformed by the talented male artists. Ima told my guy that I would prefer to have light makeup...I guess "light" is a relative word. :) I really couldn't stop laughing at myself all day, especially when everyone would comment on how beautiful I looked. Comment freely; I have thick skin.

I'm wearing a shirt borrowed from Hanna's mom...love the purple leopard!!!

Below is the inside of the salon.

6:00 AM - Makeovers are finished, we head back to Hanna's house and put on our attire for the day. Most women wear Indonesian traditional clothing called kebaya. This consists of a skirt, tight fitting and stiff tube top which is worn under a sheer long sleeved, heavily bedazzled covering. Fabric is to Indonesian people as hot springs are to the Japanese. Conversations about some type of Indonesian fabric naturally occur at least 5 times a day, with great possibility of happening more frequently when the conversation is in Indonesian and I don't understand it. One of the highlights of the day was viewing the endless variety colors, styles and fabrics of the womens' kebayas.

Hanna's sisters and aunt, looking beautiful in their kebayas.

7:00 AM - We arrive at Hanna's church.
side note on religion: I learned today that there there are only 2 countries which require citizens to declare a religion on their national ID cards, Indonesia being one of them. Religion is a huge part of everyday life here whether the person is Muslim (86%), Christian (9%), Hindu (%2) or other. Hanna's family is deeply rooted by faith in Jesus as is my own family. In contrast with America, however, is the fact that if one nuclear family is Christian, probably all members of the extended family are too. Extended family being defined as everyone who is the same ethnic group and carries the same last name. I was amazed to think that nearly all of the 1,000 attendees of the cultural ceremony (described later) undoubtedly have Christianity as their declared religion. Different, huh?

This "blessing ceremony" was more or less similar to what a Christian wedding is like in the states. The procession, a sermon, exchanging of vows and rings, music..etc. I think music plays a larger role here though, with 4 choir performances, a few solos and performance of a traditional Indonesian instrument similar to marimbas. Between the blessing ceremony, photography, the families meeting each other and breakfast, we were at the church for 3 1/2 hours.

12:30 PM - We arrive at the hall where the Cultural Ceremony will take place. Did I mention that Hanna asked me to be her helper/maid of honor for the day? This title meant that I would ride in a pimp Benz with the bride and groom everywhere we went, directly follow her down the isle and around the stage to arrange her train whenever need be. Let's just say I felt a little more than inadequate since I was the only person in the room who had NO IDEA what was going on all day. Ha!

The above picture show one row of tables of the four total. It's hard to grasp the number of chairs and even harder to imagine who all these people are. The long line of people on the left are all Choqi's relatives. They enter in from the back, each family carrying a platter of food as well as a cylindrical basket of rice on their head to present to the bride's family.

The cultural ceremony was:

long- it started at about 12:30 and we got in cars to go home at 7:00. 6.5 hours, which wouldn't have felt as extended if it weren't so...

loud - imagine Manowar's final performance in NYC and times that by 3 for 6.5 hours. Everyday for the last week, Hanna's family would warn me that the Cultural Ceremony would be loud. I would shrug off their warnings nonchalantly but finally understood what they meant as we walked into the hall. There were 4 men, playing mostly traditional songs, with an occasional Jingle Bells or Deck the Halls slipped in. The problem, however, was the volume. It really was at a level which made conversation arduous. After 6 hours of sitting, trying to talk over the festivities, my throat was aching. I asked and no one knows why it's conducted at such a piercing volume. They just laugh and say it's ridiculous, too.

But, all in all, I'd say it was really a lovely event. It gave me some great insight into just how much the Batak people are centered around family. Blood ties are strong here, regardless whether you actually know them or not. If they are in your blood line, they are your family. Here are a few pics which highlight some of the more important events throughout the afternoon....

Forgive the blurry picture, but this was the climax of the whole ceremony when Hanna's parents presented the couple with an ulos. It's a handmade, expensive scarf thingy which symbolizes the parents acceptance of the groom as their new son.

Coming up on my calendar is...
- the 3rd and final event of Hanna's wedding, a casual reception (although I'm going to the salon again :)
- couchsurfing in an ancient city 7 hours southwest of Jakarta
- Christmas on a volcano!

love.

new colors

2009-12-12T12:26:00.009+09:00

Wake up at 4am, 3 hour bus ride to Nartia Airport, 3 hour flight to Seoul, 3 hour (awesome!) layover in Seoul Airport, 7 hour flight to Jakarta, 1 hour car ride to Hanna's house, arrive at 10pm... I'm in Indonesia!

Hanna is one of the main reasons I decided to embark on this journey through Asia and for sure the reason why I came to Indonesia. We met on our study abroad program in Hokkaido in 2005 and spent a lot of our time together during that year. She informed me in an email last year that she would be getting married in December 2010. Enough said, I'm there!

It was so nice to see Hanna's face in the airport after 3 years of email and Skype communication. I look forward to spending the upcoming week with her and her beautiful family.
an old school pic of our days in Hokkaido. Hanna is in the middle.

As for my last days in Japan, aaaahhhhh, so much to say. A few of the highlights: I got to take part in tea ceremony. Although it's my 3rd time to attend the traditional art of Sadou (tea ceremony), this time, I actually got a chance to mix and serve the tea. Because this art is so ancient and refined, this privilege is usually reserved for those who actually know what they're doing. Words can't explain how honored I felt as the teacher and my host mother guided me through the steps of scooping the matcha powder from the bowl, tapping it two times on the side, gracefully pouring the hot water in, mixing it throughly with the bamboo whisk and finally serving it to the guests who are patiently watching the whole process. Breathtaking!

Highlight #2: Nagoya! I took a one night trip to Nagoya to visit my friends Christoph and Yumi, whom I also met during my time studying in Hokkaido. We spent our short time catching up on news for the last 3 years, talking about the in's and out's of teaching English in Japan and eating our way through Nagoya. Barbaqued Eel rice bowl...yummmm! Although vouched for the most economical way down to Nagoya (a 7 hour bus ride), my host family strongly encouraged (i.e. funded) me to take the bullet train on the way back. 1 hour 20 minutes! Zoom zoom zoom.

A few last words...when we got in the car after church today, the car thermometer read 43 degrees (109F)! It's not really that not, but its pretty darn close.

I was asking Hanna about some details of her wedding a couple of days ago and she informed me that it would be a big wedding. With 300-400 people being "big" in my mind, I asked her about how many people would be attending. Well, probably about 1000. Since that time, I've been trying to wrap my mind around a wedding with 1000 people in attendance. Still can't.

The only reason why taking the bus is better than the bullet train in Japan...tea service! Free green tea and roasted brown rice green tea at every rest stop. I took full advantage of this.

Indonesia pictures to come soon.

Love!

いろいろ

2009-12-06T10:50:00.004+09:00

Yesterday was Kimiaki's (my Japanese dad) birthday...he turned 72! Looking sharp for his age, huh? He is pretty healthy and independent. In fact, a few months before I came here, he went hiking on a nearby mountain by himself. All was good until he slipped and fell over a small drop off. Luckily, he was carrying his cell phone with him by which he called the park ranger immediately. He escaped with a few bruises, but, much to his dismay, is not allowed to hike by himself anymore. Happy Birthday, Kimiaki!

My days have been filled with a number of various activities since the last post. We went to a nearby hot springs town called Hakone. I've been here numerous times in the past, but still thoroughly enjoy each visit. Hakone is up in the mountains and is basically a town built around onsen, which is the Japanese word for hot springs. Let me tell you, Japanese people love hot water. They travel great distances, domestic and international. They build cities and railroads and expansive hotels. They change the course of rivers for a good soak in onsen. We stayed at a Japanese style hotel called Odaka. You might say DUH, of course it's Japanese style! But these days, Japanese people have the opportunity to go western in the little things: rice or bread for breakfast? squatty potty or sit down style toilet? green tea or black tea with dinner? AND the big things: kimono or wedding dress? Futon or bed? Wooden floors or the traditional straw like tatami? It's quite an interesting phenomenon- although you can't really say western culture is new to Japan- to see how naturally western culture has integrated itself into Japan.

Anyway, it was a good time wearing yakata (like kimono, except cotton), eating the 7 course dinner and, of course, soaking nakie buns (as the frangers would say) under the stars.

Other than that, time has passed quickly while...

painting Japanese style New Years postcards with my mom.

eating lunch with hilarious Aunt Toshiko.

visiting ancient castles

and reading funny signs inside the castles :)

Much love!

my other family

2009-12-01T21:33:00.008+09:00

I consider myself a very lucky person. I have an amazing family. My mom is my best friend in the entire world. We could spend weeks, months, years together and never get tired of each other. My dad is known for his kind heart and jolly countenance, both of which go deep to his core. The boys, and their girls, are always up to something. You could probably say the 3 of us inspire each other to new and greater adventures. I am so thankful to have a family such as this.

However, on top of this greatness, I have another family, my family in Japan. Every time I visit them, it's once again confirmed- they are as close as it gets to blood relatives. I don't know why or how our relationship got to be so great, but I truly love these people.

My dad's name is Kimiaki. He worked for the city of Hiratsuka before retiring about 10 years ago. I love asking him questions because along with the answer, every time, I get a history and cultural lesson. Yesterday, while eating breakfast, chatting and watching the news, I asked him how long the Japanese president stays in office. He started his answer by explaining the German and American system, then moving on to England and finally Japan. All the while, Yoshiko, my mom is hitting and scolding him for giving me so much information. I try to ask 4-5 of these types of questions per day. Yoshiko reminds me a lot of my mom. She's outgoing, funny and always up for an adventure. Yesterday, I went walking with her and her long time (40+years) friend Miyoko. We walked along the river to the beach, admiring all the little flowers and the fall colors on the distant hills. Since my sister, Eiko, works during the day, I spend of the afternoon with Yoshiko, talking about recipes and family and my upcoming travel plans. It's quite lovely.

Aren't they precious?

Did I mention my mom is the best cook in all of Japan? Last night's tempura dinner. Yum.

Eiko is my sister. She is the whole reason why I became interested in Japan. She came to our house in San Diego almost 20 years ago as a exchange student. She just fit in with our family and thus began the relationship. She is a wonderful person, too- fun loving, smart and independent. Since my Japanese has digressed quite a bit in the last 3 years, she's always a great help when I find myself in a sticky spot.

Enough narrative, time for pictures. Today we went to Kamakura, the spot where the wedding was last week. Eiko took the day off and it was nice to take our time to visit a few more temples. The fall colors were beautiful, although they are nearing the end of the season.

Last, introducing...

Meticulous Japan.

Thirsty Japan.

Festive Japan.

Love you all. Don't forget to comment!!!

dang, son

2009-11-26T23:33:00.004+09:00

Today was unreal. It's only my 3rd day back in the beautiful country of Japan, after having been gone for 3 years. Things have been good for the past couple of days. My friend and I have been exploring and eating our way through Tokyo. Fun times, but today, ladies and gentlemen, was the experience of a lifetime, really.

Today I attended the wedding of dear friends, Hank and Tomoko. I taught with Hank at Crawford High School. A gem of a guy and I don't know Tomoko very well, but she, too, shines. They were wed today, Thanksgiving day at a shrine in Kamakura which has been burdening the earth with its weight since 1180. 1180!!!! Holy MOLY!!!! The sun shone as the event commenced at 11:15am and set as we finished the last of our 10 course traditional Japanese meal. It wasn't really food; it was 10 courses of art, beauty, heaven and love in edible form. Sorry mom, but this Thanksgiving feast almost stands up to our spread on Sunday

Yep, only 3 days of traveling and it'd definitely take 2 hands to count how many times I had to pinch myself back into reality today. It's going to be a good 6 months.

open your eyes

2008-07-29T17:07:00.005+09:00

On somewhat frequent occasions, I find myself completely overwhelmed by the beauty in the world. maybe its because i live 10 minutes from the beach and get to walk by crashing waves and sailing pelicans every morning on my way to work. Or perhaps it's just my personality, completely engulfed in nature itself and always floored by how stinking amazing the stars are or a jellyfish floating along underwater.

Sometimes it's human compassion which overwhelms me. This happens on much less frequent occasion than the previously mentioned. But it happened this week. I ran out of gas (I was waiting for prices to go back down) and I had my loving family on the way in like 20 minutes. And then, Uncle Neil didn't even need to come because a sweet old man in a Cal-trans truck gave me 1 gallon of free gas AND helped me merge back onto the freeway. It was incredible.

I gonna post a bunch of pictures of the most beautiful places I've been, but I started admiring my photos and and my life when I was looking deciding which ones to put in. Now I'm falling asleep, gotta go. Tomorrow is my flight to Sacramento where Coli-boy is picking me up before we head INTO THE WILD (which happens to be in a raging forest fire right now.)

Peace.

smiles ahead

2008-07-09T15:47:00.007+09:00

after a intriguing and stimulating conversation with my prodigy-photographer, blogging-expert brother, Blaine, I was spurred on to love and making a new entry. Too bad I don't have much to say. Actually, I do, but I am too lazy and perfectionist to say it here, which brings me back to my original problem in keeping this blog updated with more than bi-monthly posts.

Anyway, what I am excited about is life in many respects. The first being THE JOHN MUIR TRAIL.

220 miles of pure, heavenly, natural pleasure in the most fundamental forms possible. It's going to be mind-blowing, I'm sure of it. This event is scheduled to take place July 29-August 21, roughly. With none other than my little brother, whom I haven't spent extended amounts of time with since last summer. I'm flying into Sacramento on the 29th, but he wanted me to fly into Redding so we could spend more time together before our 3 weeks of 24 hour togetherness. I love you coliboy.

After this period of prolonged silence and reflection, the elements and elevation change, we'll head a few hundred miles east to the Outsidelands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park. Mindblowing adventure #2. And although I am unexplainably thrilled about the trail, this musical event is as close in terms of excitement as Archie snuggling with Zoe on a cold February Hood River night.

check out the lineup and sleep well.

the road heavily travelled (but still beautiful)

2008-03-31T15:14:00.003+09:00

I am reading a book right now called "Eat, Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's an incredible account from many angles and one of those just happens to be the fact that she writes passionately about Italy. More specifically, she writes about experience after experience of eating the most scrumptious pasta, pizza and gelato in the entire world. These three priorities were also on the top of my and Emily's list on our short time in Italy (which happened way too long ago). To say the least, this current read brought to the forefront of my mind all the best things about not only this wonderful country, but traveling in general. Big huge travel plans are moving from the slip-through-your-fingers-sand-stage to a somewhat graspable small pebble stage. More to come on that soon. Enjoy these images in the meantime.

lame, i know

2008-02-27T12:05:00.003+09:00

Okay, so I NEVER do these things, much less post them for everyone to see. But I was reading a friend's blog and one thing led to another, and pretty soon I was taking this pointless quiz. At least this one is semi-educational and anti-ethnocentric. I wish it would have told me what the average is. If you do it, you must comment and tell me how many countries you got!

P.S. I had a 20 second interruption in the middle of my 5 minutes, FYI

to grandpa Joe

2008-02-24T13:27:00.004+09:00

It's been one year exactly today. We miss you, Grandpa. I think you probably enjoyed our visit this morning. We certainly delighted in coming out and seeing you, or at least seeing one of the places we associate with you physically. But actually, since I am living in your house now, a lot of things remind me of you. I am using your raised bed to plant a garden, which I am overly excited about. Thumbing through the Sunset garden book yesterday, I found all the discolored newspaper articles you clipped out and handwritten notes to keep your system a-runnin smoothly. Oh and Christmas time here was great! I don't know if there is anyone else on the planet who draws a full-on blue print, complete with legend and scale, for putting up the Christmas lights. It's these little things that constantly bring a smile to my face and remind me once again what an amazing man you were.

As I was walking among the green grass and white headstones today, some thoughts began to brew. I was thinking how I absolutely loved coming through the door of this old familiar house and how grandpa would always be right there waiting for us. He'd give me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and say in his old, well seasoned voice, "Oooooh Lindsey, so good to see you. So good to see you. How you doin?" And then we'd sit down and talk.

Anyway, I was thinking how death enshrines people in a cloud of perfection. For some reason, when one is physically lifted from the grid of the earth, so are all their flaws, their wrong doings, their short comings. Instantly they have graduated to the level of saint, or something like that. But these are the same people who were alive a minute or a day or a year ago. And at that time, their imperfections drove me crazy. Small, insignificant imperfections became a root in my heart which grew into hatred, selfishness and pride.

I don't really know how to voice my thoughts clearly but I think what I am trying to say is this: I want to see people in their perfection right now. I want to know the people I am surrounded by for the beauty that is inside them. I want to see right over all the insignificant deficiencies and appreciate the real life that comes through. If it is impossible to see over those naturally, I want to learn to look over these by choice, momently.

People are beautiful and I want to see all as perfect, in imperfection.

life is good

2008-02-06T14:45:00.000+09:00

and the rest of my pictures are up on the following link...

http://picasaweb.google.com/lfranger

In other news, I have purchased my first very own already beloved guitar. I got it on Sunday and have played it without cease since then. For some reason, the desire to create music has been welling up inside me for the past few months. It's time to let her free.

The last bit of news is HAPPY BIRTHDAY to pops!!! I am so incredibly blessed to have a dad as caring, devoted, patient, hardworking and studly as you. I love you lots and lots and lots.

9:50 time to stop playing the guitar and time to go to bed. Good night to the moon. Good night to you.

imagine this

2008-01-30T17:37:00.000+09:00

I tried my best to get back into writing on my blog, but I just don't think its going to work. I prefer writing in my journal these days with good ol' pen and paper. I want to share a few pictures with you, though, so here's for your viewing pleasure.

O yeah, I am back safe and sound (and wishing I were still traveling) in San Diego.

moving along

2008-01-19T10:05:00.000+09:00

Vietnam was wonderful and much too fast. The highlight was definitely Halong Bay. We took a 3 day 2 night cruise which included 8 meals, one night lodging on the boat, one in a hotel, kayaking (amazing!), hiking and transportation to and from Hanoi (3 hours away) for $50. It was a wonderful trip because we became great friends with all the other travelers on board.

Two funny occurrences from the trip...

#1 Bethany got attacked by a money. We were halfway through our journey and made a stop at money island. The monkeys were brought to the island a few decades ago and have cheerfully inhabited it since then. We paddled our kayaks up to the shore and got out to take a look around. The monkeys were sitting on the rocks indifferent to the handful of people snapping pictures of them. Some people were getting within a few feet away of them and they didn't seem to care. Then, with an unlucky turn of fate, one decided to go vicious toward Bethany. She wasn't taking pictures or anything, just standing there. It stared her in the eyes for a few second before it came over and attached itself to her leg. She began kicking her leg around to try to get it off. After a few seconds, she finally succeeded and it came off along with her shoe. She wasn't hurt at all but she was definitely scarred by the whole event. We laughed about the incident the entire journey back.

#2 I made an addition to the items on my disgusting food list. Right after we finished kayaking we were hanging out in this little hut on the water waiting for our bus. And then we spotted it. On the wall here about 7 big jars filled with Vietnamese rice wine. This wasn't any rice wine, however. A closer look revealed all sorts of flavor additions to the wine. Rice wine with geckos, rice with with starfish. There was one with sea horses and one with clams. But the one that topped it all off was the rice wine with goat. No kidding... there was a whole baby goat in the bottom of the jar and it had been fermenting there for a year (we were told). As all of us were standing there in awe at the grossness of the fact, the owner of the shack came up and invited me for a shot with him. So, he dipped two glasses in and down they went. The actual wine didn't taste bad. It was kind of sweet and didn't burn at all. But the after taste was wretched...a bit too goaty for my liking.

I'm in Phuket now. This island is a tropical paradise. I've rented a scooter and am going to explore the island today including the orchid farm, monkey rehabilitation center and lots of beaches! AND, tomorrow is the start of my scuba adventure. I can't wait!

the land of velocity

2008-01-13T09:00:00.000+09:00

Welcome to Hanoi, city of noodles, city of lakes, city of streets which are better to cross with your eyes closed. This is so because there are such a great number of motorbikes coming your way that you just have to walk across slowly and let them weave around you as you make your way to the other side. Bethany and I usually line up parallel to Blaine so that if a unconscience driver happened to deck us, he'd be the first one to go. Amazingly, that hasn't happened yet!

Other than crossing the street, there is a lot to do here. Yesterday was my first day in the city. (read: more than 36 hours of traveling and I'm still wearing the same thing as when I said good bye to Grandma on the 9th...they lost my luggage.) Actually yesterday we just wandered the streets, stopping and peering in on all things unusual. This occured on average every 3 steps. The petshop was interesting. When I say shop I mean a collection of things for sale which are situated in the same general location a few inches away from the bustling traffic. Pet shop...imagine animals which look like they haven't had a bite to eat since the sad day their mother cut them off. There were strangly cats and dogs. There were lots of birds. Some lovely tropical birds bursting with color in cages by the pair. Then there were cages of small sparrow-like birds which needed a small arbouretum to properly balance the bird to breathing/flying space ratio. These birds were literally standing on top of each other. After the pet shop, we visited the meat market which was just a few convienient steps away. I won't write about this one in detail for the sake of keeping my readership to maximum numbers. :)

The food here is absolutely incredible. And its like a dollar. We've been eating mostly street food and yesterday for lunch we chose a shop which looked safe based on the number of patrons at the tables. We sat down, pausing only for a moment to wonder what we should order. Without saying anything, the waitress/cook/owner brought us each a basket of sticky white rice noodles and a big bowl with various types of greens. We looked around conspicuously to see how exactly we were to make a meal of this. Then she brought us each a bowl of steaming broth with a few meatball type of things in the bottom and a basket of fried spring rolls to share. We looked at her with "instructions please" eyes and she motioned that we were to take the lettuce in our chopsticks and dip it in the broth and the same for the noodles. YUUUUUUMY! It's kind of like Thai food in the respect that they seem to have found perfect harmony among sweet, spice, sour and texture. More to come in this department.

My bag is supposed to come today so I'll try to post some pictures when I am wearing clothes which look like they haven't been adorned for almost a week straight in a 3rd world country.

Until then, peace and love from the east!

tomorrow is the day

2008-01-09T15:51:00.000+09:00

Hello to all my faithful blog readers (87% of whose pictures are included in this posting :)

Just a little post to farewell to YOU

and to you

and even to you!

And after about 24 treacherous hours of sitting in one (or a few) seats and after my big toes have swollen to size of a small frankfurter I will be deboarding the plane, abandoning all cares and saying hello to you two!!!

I'm going to Vietnam!!!

anyone there?

2008-01-04T12:44:00.001+09:00

So just because I haven't posted for a year or whatever doesn't mean you had to stop reading my blog...come on now. Just kidding, but I wanted to let you all know that I will ----hopefully----- start posting again. I am going to Vietnam and Thailand to meet up with Blaine and Bethany, so i figured I'd start greasing up the blogging wheels now.

And, a pic for your viewing pleasure. This is my new life as of now and I kinda like it. :)

pictures of life

2006-11-05T05:18:00.000+09:00

Good morning...Fall has returned to Portland and has brought bright trees and gray skies along with it. It's windy today and the whirl of colored leaves falling to the ground outside the library window is a distraction as I am writing this "お久しぶり" post.

How is everybody doing lately? What's new since the last time I saw you? When you have time, please leave a comment and tell me something cool and exciting that is going on with you.

As for me, lots of new stuff. I am at back at Portland State, finishing up my senior year in Applied Linguistics. If all my credits transfer back from Hokkaido University, I will be able to graduate this coming July! I am looking into what I will do after I graduate. Although I am really excited to be done with classes, I feel kind of scared about finishing and moving on to the next stage of my life. Is that a normal feeling?

As I was hoping, I found a Japanese roommate and am living on campus at PSU. Ayako and I have good times together cooking 豚キムチ and お好み焼き and lots of other stuff. My good friend Yu from Hokkaido University is studying at PSU this year, so he has introduced me to a lot of international students studying here for the year. It's really good to still be in an international environment like I was in Sapporo. Yeah for different cultures!

Although you might not believe this (Blaine certainly couldn't!) I am working at the Helpdesk for PSU's Office of Information Technology. I still crack up when I look around me at my co-workers and remember that most of them are computer science or engineering majors. Basically, when staff or students at PSU have any type of problem with their computer (from software to networking to viruses...) they come to us. Thankfully, if I don't know how to solve their problem, I can just pass if on to a full-timer who does know how. The best part about it and the reason why I took the job, is that I am learning a ton, so you might surprised to find a total geek next time you see me!

Other than that, God is still good and life, although hard at times, is still beautiful. I wish I had the motivation to update this more, but not having a personal computer makes it too time consuming to do so regularly.

Enjoy the pictures. There are some from my wonderful trip to NY for Seth and Hanna's wedding, some from the Lake Powell trip with the Berghs and some other random ones.

~Lindsey

still alive

2006-09-03T00:33:00.000+09:00

Hello Everyone-
It's pretty sad my last blog was in July. As you all know, a lot has happened since then. I left Sapporo brokenhearted, saying goodbye to all my friends whom I didn't want to part with. There isn't a day that goes bye when I don't think about laughing with my friend Hanna from Indonesia or eating Indian food with Ramya or contemplating with Christoph or running with Julia. And then there's all my wonderful Japanese friends. Yakaku (my outdoor club) people and Eri and Yu and Makiko and so many amazing people. I miss you all more than I can say!
Then I went to Hiratsuka to be with my Japanese family for a last few days. I would have liked to be with them for a month, but because of Seth and Hannah's wedding (more about that later), I had to make it a short visit. Anyway, they took to me one of my favorite onsen places called Hakone. I miss you Eiko, Hajime, otosan and okasan!
Next was New York. This was a wonderful trip to witness the marriage of Seth and Hannah. Their wedding was absolutely beautiful and now they are back in Japan starting a life of ministry together. Yeah for people with hearts for Japan! I stayed in New York for 5 days after the wedding exploring the city alone and with Blaine and friends. We couchsurfed with some really great people and ate lots of New York pizza!
I finally made it back to Hood River on August 17th. Whew! It was good to be home with my family knowing that I will be in the country near them for at least a year or two. My family is the best. I got to spend an extra lot of time with my blood clot brother Colin, whom I love more and more as we grow up and can experience life and learning together.
After a few short days in Hood River, I was offered to work at Portland State University for the same job I did last summer. So, the last 2 weeks have been rafting, camping, and hanging out with 50 Japanese students from Tokyo University of Science. I had to say goodbye to these guys last night...why so many sad partings lately?
Finally, I am on my way out the door to the airport to meet my family for our annual lake Powell trip. We are flying this year, as opposed to usually driving 16 hours through the desert. It will be good to relax and process a few things before coming back and starting school September 25th.
So that's about all. I haven't posted for so long because I don't have my computer and pictures anymore. I hope all this writing with no pictures hasn't bored you all!

That's all for now. May peace and God's beautiful grace shine upon you all!

-Lindsey-

happenings of late

2006-07-24T21:20:00.000+09:00

I was cleaning out my desk last night, preparing some my my bags to come back home in about 2 weeks. Tears came to my eyes as I read over HUSTEP orientation schedules I received at the beginning of my life here. I looked over all the brochures I have collected from my travels around Japan. Travels with friends and images and memories that still remain in my mind as if we just returned from the temple in Kyoto or Shibuya in Tokyo. Hmmmmm...it's going to be a hard parting.

But it's not over yet...the fun times continue to roll on. For three Saturday nights in a row in July, all across Japan, they hold a fireworks festival. The best part about it is that most of the girls who go dress up in a yukata, which is like a kimono made of cotton. So, my friends and I all wore our colorful yukatas, rode the packed subway to the riverside and joined the few thousand other people watching. We bought some bento (Japanese fast food, but healthy!) and beer had a great time watching the 45 show in the perfect summer night weather. What a wonderful night!

Yesterday was planned to be my last hike with my club yakaku...I was looking forward to the hike because it's a really pretty one, but despite waking up at 4:30, renting a car and driving 1.5 hours out of the city, we got to the trailhead and it was sprinkling. It's against the club rules to hike if there is any kind of precipitation (even though everyone must carry rain gear), so we had to turn around and drive back.

We stopped here on the way back...doesn't it remind you of Oneota Gorge?
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But, once we got into the city, it got sunny again, so we decided to go to the beach. I didn't bring my swimming suit, but there was so way I wasn't going in the water, so I just went in my t-shirt and shorts. We made a sand kingdom and relaxed in the sun. Then, we went to an onsen (Japanese bath) which you could see the ocean from while soaking in the steaming water. And to top it all off, we ate sushi in Otaru, one of the most famous places in Hokkaido for sushi. You can get full on the best quality sushi for 7 bucks! I am going to miss this place!
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my dear family

2006-07-07T08:15:00.000+09:00

Sorry...this post is a bit messed up but I am too frustrated to fix it and I have class. And I am going camping this weekend!!!

133/1641/320/tree.0.jpg" border="0" alt="" />This weekend my dear family came all the way to Sapporo to visit me! What's more, Eiko hasn't flown for 4 years and she mustered all her bravery and made the flight. GOOD JOB, Eiko! It was so good to see お母さん、Eiko and Hajime and show them around my life in Sapporo. We also rented a car and went to Furano, a farm town a few hours from Sapporo famous for lavender and flower fields.
Welcome to Japan soft cream. Would you like laspberry, mix that entered the cup or special six flavor?

We ate lunch at this lovely cabin in the middle of the woods. I am going to miss Japanese curry! Of course, Yoshiko spoils me whenever I am with her. Thanks so much お母さん！

dangerous fog!

2006-06-24T01:19:00.001+09:00

I went on a one day hiking trip with my club last Sunday. They picked me up from my dorm at 4:30 am and after driving around the city to get everyone, we started off towards the mountain. After driving for 2 hours, a short drive compared to most trips, we arrived at the parking lot only to find that we couldn't see the mountain we were to climb because it was fogged in. So, we sat and waited in the parking lot for 45 minutes waiting for the fog to clear. If it didn't clear before 8 am, the leader and subleader decided we would have to cancel the trip for the day. Just as the 8 was approaching and I was really worried we had rented a car and driven out here just to go back home, a group of 20+ elementary school kids come trudging down the trail. Of course, Nathan and I were thinking "if these little shrimps can hike this mountain in the fog without losing the trail, certainly we can!" Anyway, the fog ended up clearing off just in time and we had a beautiful hike that day.

random happenings

2006-06-24T00:42:00.000+09:00

I might have mentioned earlier this month in Sapporo seems to be festival month. It started with my Hokkaido University school festival. The next weekend was a dance festival called yasakoi soran which supposedly has 45,000 participants and 2 million visitors. And last weekend was Hokkaido shrine festival. We dredged through the rain and caught the last few steps of the parade. All the Shinto priests and parade participants looked as if they had had enough 2 miles before...

Is America in a World Cup Mania too right now? This is Japan vs. Australia...the only full game I have watched before. One of my teachers is obsessed with soccer, so he has opened the International Student Center (where most of my classes are) from 11 pm to 6 am every night. These crazy people watch soccer games starting at 4 am and make it in time for class at 8:45 am!

This paper is posted in my friend's dormitory. This genre of English is an everyday happening in Japan.

Yep, it's who you think it is...good ol' Colonel Sanders.

---to someone I love---

2006-06-18T21:09:00.000+09:00

Some days are harder than others to be thousands of miles away across the Pacific. Today is one of those days. But, since I am here, dad, and you are there, I just want to say...

I LOVE YOU!

I am so thankful to have a dad that I know will always be there for me and loves me more than he loves catching a huge salmon in the Columbia. I am so thankful that you have been faithful to love mom and us kids more than anything else. I want to give you a big hug, but that will have to wait for another 6 weeks. Until then, know someone in Japan is thinking you and looking forward to being near you real soon.

"Be gentle, be festive!"

2006-06-10T12:06:00.000+09:00

A little Japanese university cultural lesson for you all...

After I got back from America, I had classes for 2 days, and then to my surprise, we got 2 days off for a 4 day school wide festival called Hokudaisai. It was basically Thursday- Sunday of music, food and dancing all the main street of our school campus. There was a Japanese student section and an international student section for shops, probably around 150 total. I can never imagine Portland State University canceling school for 2 days, much less the small number of students that would stick around to participate in the activities if school was cancelled!

It's pretty much a food festival and over 4 days I ate:
fried potato
okonomiyaki potato
shrimp and pork dumpling
popcorn
ethiopian curry
cambodian curry
pakistani curry
Indonesian curry
Korean jijimi (pancake)
Jamaican jerk chicken
Egyptian sawerderma (chicken saute)
crepes
takoyaki

I worked for one day at the booth of my churches English cell group. Basically, those who aren't cooking or serving food have to stand out in the street and collect customers by saying (in Japanese) "how about some Jamaican chicken? Would you like some Indonesian curry. It's delicious!" Everyone along the 1 km road is doing the same thing, so add the music and people's chattering and it's quite a lively place.

The best part about Hokudaisai- even better than the food- was walking around, especially the international part, and talking to all the shop people. Me and Hanna talked with our new friends for an hour about the relations between America, Egypt and Sudan. I chatted with a guy from Spain about Catholicism and Christianity. I met the friends of my precious Indian Princess Ramya.
I watched my Korean friend Minsoek's dance.

Everyone works diligently to set up the best shop. These guys decided that a giant walking bottle of mayonnaise and a paper octopus would do the trick!

What a great weekend!

america the beautiful

2006-06-07T22:00:00.000+09:00

For those of you who didn't know, yes, I was in America last month. My whole trip home was supposed to be top secret, only known by a few select people with 重い口　(Japanese for those who don't leak secrets easily). I was looking SO forward to seeing the look on my brothers and Grant and Kristen's face when they saw me for the first time. However...

through a mysterious and quite frustrating sequence of events, everyone found out I was coming, leaving only myself surprised how everyone came to know so quickly.

Anyway, it was a through and all beautiful trip home. Grant and Kristen- congratulations. You guys are an amazing couple and now I realize I wouldn't have trading anything for missing your wedding.

After the wedding in Jackson Hole, my family and I went to Yellowstone National Park for the 1st time. This was my second motivation in coming home and seeing lake after lake of crystal blue boiling water, spending 3 whole days with my family (including my sister Bethany, of course), eating Blaine's triple cheesy mac and cheese and seeing the new old faithful errupt in our car were all unforgettable experiences.

Before I came home, I was pretty much dreading going back to America in August. (This speaks of how much I love my life and friends here.) But after going back, I was reminded again how much I love and am loved by so many in America. I am glad I can now say that, although I will really miss this incredible country and the people I have come to love in it, I am excited about coming home.

golden week

2006-05-14T23:14:00.000+09:00

Last week was Golden Week, a Japanese holiday which has relatively little meaning, except for the whole nation getting 3 days off of work or school and traveling! I went on my spring debut hike with my outdoor club to a nearby mountain called Oshamambe-dake. It was such beautiful weather from the peak we could see both the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean.
We started hiking Wednesday afternoon and we reached our little cabin a few hours later. We played in the snow for a while, then ate a wonderful dinner or pork-kimchee, nabe soup and rice. Our wake up call was at 4:30am the next morning! WHY do we have to get up so early? We eat a nice huge breakfast of Japanese noodles and start the hike at about 7am.
When hiking, everyone wears a matching pants and windbreaker outfit. I think if we all got caught in a blizzard and died, this guy, Tommy, would be the first one to be found.
Yeah, the summit!
Me and Yasuda at one of the random stops along the way home. This was only one weird rest stop. Among the others were a sausage factory, a tofu tasting heaven, a potato farm, spring water geyser...etc. I am going to miss these kind of road trips!

sails away

2006-05-02T21:46:00.000+09:00

Hello friends- I was talking to my friend Brittany on the phone the other day and she said she more than regularly checks my blog (like everyday!) but has been disappointed for a long time now with no updates. So, here you are Brit. I will try my best from now on!

Spring break is over and classes have begun. The snow has mostly melted from the streets of Sapporo, except for the remains of the 15ft. high snow deposit mountains scattered throughout the city. The cherry trees have already bloomed throughout the rest of Japan, but we are still patiently waiting for ours. Japanese have a tradition called hanami where every year with friends or family, they pack a lunch and sake to sit and eat under the glorious pink curtain. I will be going with my outdoor club friends in a few weeks.

At the very end of spring break, I got to go on a cruise with Hokkaido University's Marine Science department. We sailed for 5 days off the coast of Hokkaido doing, well, pretty much nothing. Actually we did experiments and had "watch" duty and played a lot of cards and ate 4 meals a day, but our days still seemed empty within the confined walls of the Oshoro ship. There were 5 international students (2 germans, 2 koreans and me) and about 40 Japanese students, so it was a good chance to speak only Japanese.

六直＝Group #6- I spent a lot of time with these guys in my group. At first they were so shy, I don't think they talked to me at all for the first 2 days...they warmed up to small conversations by the 5th day.
Paying close attention to the instructor as he tells us how to weigh and measure the pollock.
My mandatory experiment uniform.
We had different uniforms for all our different activities...hats included.

I have been in Japan for 8 months now with 3 months to go. All of us international students get teary eyed when we even think about leaving each other and leaving Sapporo. And although I am going to miss my friends and my life here, I miss all you guys at home too and am excited to see you. Until then...peace be with you.

Lindsey

more Tokyo

2006-03-26T16:37:00.000+09:00

It's amazing how a whole country can be consumed with time that the sakura trees will open. The other day on national news, the whole country map of Japan was shown along with the dates the cherry trees are projected to bloom.

This is at a fish market in downtown Tokyo. Everyday, starting at 5am, fish from Japanese waters and all over the world are brought here to be auctioned off to restauranteers and daring individuals. Although an early morning trip to the Tsukiji auction was the highest on my to-do list in Tokyo, we slept in until 6:30 and made it only to catch the last bit of morning action. Next time, I will be there with the earliest of them...

Rub that lamp!

2006-03-25T21:59:00.000+09:00

While I was in Tokyo, I got to meet with my Tokyo University of Science friends for a graduation party. We met at a Arabian style izakaya- random, but really fun! After eating and drinking there, we went to a nearby karaoke for some more good times.

...Mizuki, Mana, Risa and Natsumi congratulations on graduating!

kyoto travels

2006-03-13T11:08:00.000+09:00

What an adventure! I am on the 5th day of traveling with my international friends. Our group consists of 6 wonderful individuals, excluding myself. As far as nationalities go, Brian and I are from American, Hanna is from Indonesia, Mikko from Finland, Christoph from Germany and Inkung and Minsoek from Korea. Everyone truly brings their own personality and humor to the group...making this trip soooooo fantastic!

Hanna and I couchsurfed last night! We are planning to stay with another girl next week when we go to Tokyo.

We will be in Kyoto for 3 more days, then we are traveling by the slowest train to Tokyo.

3 cheers for cheap transportation in Japan!

みんなのママ

2006-03-08T23:14:00.002+09:00

みんなのママ means "everyone's mama". It's the funniest thing whenever my mom comes to Japan, everyone she meets whether 70 or 21, calls her mama. I think Therese is a little hard to pronounce...

My sister Eiko and I at Endoshima. This is a beautiful island about 1 hour from Tokyo. Its in a cute beach town called Fujisawa which has the feeling of a beach town in California.
We rode the world's largest ferris wheel! It's in Yokohama and taller than most of the skyscraper hotels surrounding it. From the top, even through the smog, you can see the way to Tokyo tower.

On our overnight trip to Nikko. This is after we relaxed in the onsen and had a delicious 14 course dinner including (but not limited to) raw fish, egg custard, pork miso soup, baked fish, rice, duck soup, boiled fish, tofu rolls...

At the Plum Festival...We watched a traditional dance which involved 2 guys with weird masks and a dancing dragon. After the show, all the little kids come forward for the dragon to bite their head or hand for good luck. Mom decided she needed some too.

I want to finish posting about me and mom's trip because tomorrow I am rounding out the rest of my spring vacation with a 2 week trip to Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Tokyo and Hakodate. I am going on the train by myself from here to Kyoto tomorrow and meeting up with 6 of my good international friends from Hokkaido. More about that as it comes...

in a few words...

2006-03-07T21:27:00.000+09:00

Sorry, friends, that I haven't written for a month. Sometimes I feel just living is way more important than taking the time to post my life on a blog. And, to complicate the matter, I have so much to write and so many stories to tell, it is overwhelming to try to capture them in just a few words and pictures. However, I want everyone at home to feel like they at least kind of know what's going on here in Japan, so for your sakes I will overcome my perfectionist tendencies and deliver you these tales...

My mom's visit here was outrageously fun and refreshing in countless ways. We had much fun together in Sapporo for a week sleeping in my dorm room, eating lots of sushi-go-round, meeting my friends, braving the snow, going to the snow festival and chocolate factory...

Thereafter, we flew together to Tokyo area to stay with our dear Japanese family. As always, they were (are) wonderful hosts, and took us many places including Endoshima, Yokohama, and Shonan beach. Furthermore, Yoshiko cooks amazing spread every morning and night...I'm pretty sure she is one of the best cooks in this country!

One cool thing about Mom's timing in visiting here was that we got to experience a wide variety of Japanese festivals including Sapporo's Yuki Matsuri (Snow festival), Otaru's candle-lit path (Hikari no michi), Odawara's plum blossom festival (Ume Matsuri).
This picture is one of the sculptures at Yuki Matsuri. There are about 10 huge snow and ice sculpture and perhaps a hundred little ones. Although the temperatures are well below freezing, and the sidewalks barely walkable, this is Sapporo's busiest time of the year. We spent 2 lovely nights wandering among castles, queens, dinosaurs, doraemons all sculpted (by the Japanese army!) out of snow.

This picture is inside the onsen bathroom on our 2 day trip to Jozankei, a hot spring resort town an hour from Sapporo by bus. I was worried about my mom liking the onsen because everyone goes in naked together and I think foreigners are the only ones who get a second glance (or a good staring). To my delight, sitting outside in the steaming bath, surrounded by 3 feet of billowy snow and more accumulating as we soaked, mom fell in love with the onsen. You are on your way to becoming Japanese!

I love you, Mom!

mom+spring break=yahoo!

2006-02-21T23:48:00.000+09:00

My best friend (and mother) arrived in Japan about 2 weeks ago. We spent a week in Hokkaido meeting my friends, laughing a ton and trying to stay warm. Now, we are in Hiratsuka with Eiko and family. We have so much fun with them. And, after 2 weeks, she was supposed to leave tomorrow, but we couldn't bear to part, so she postponed her flight! I get to be with my mom for another whole week! YAHOO!

4 and a half feet under

2006-01-28T12:47:00.000+09:00

Sorry to all I haven't updated in a while. Although it seems I just returned from my winter vacation in Hiratsuka, I am now in the midst of finishing the fall semester of school. I will be joyous in early February to have completed 3 reports, 2 speeches, and 3 finals! Actually, I will be the happiest girl in all Sapporo because the day after I finish everything, my wonderful, beautiful, crazy through and through mom will be here!

Sapporo has about 4 feet of snow on the ground right now and it continues to accumulate by snow showers off and on everyday. Often I wake up in the morning to a beautiful blue sky, go to the kitchen to get tea water, and by the time I come back it is a raging blizzard outside.

Here, plowing the roads is a 3 big truck lineup. The first truck pushes the snow to the side, the 2nd truck sucks up the snow and shoots it into the back of the 3rd truck, who hauls it away to the snow dumping ground.

I love the snow!

I am teaching English right now 4 times a week. My 2 of my students are ladies in their 30's who have been abroad and want to keep their conversation skills sharp. The other 2 are a husband and wife who are dentists. Although teaching is a lot of fun and good experience for my future, I am continually frustrated at my lack of ability to explain the English language. I look forward to going back to PSU so I can learn how to teach this crazy language correctly.

I haven't taken too many pictures lately, so here a few oldies...
I look this picture on the 2nd try!

the sign behind me says "Hamburger is my life." This is Moss burger's (a hamburger chain in Japan) slogan.

tindy time

2006-01-11T23:12:00.000+09:00

This summer, I worked at Portland State University with short term International programs. For the whole month of August, I got to meet and guide about 40 students from Tokyo University of Science. We had a lot of really great times together in Portland and around Oregon state including rafting on the Dechutes, camping in Teepees, going to a Mariners game, and helping them improve their English.

Last week, I got to hang out with these wonderful people again! A dear friend Morishun planned a ski trip for all of us to Niigata, about 1.5 hours from Tokyo by bullet train. About 20 people total could go, so we met at Tokyo station on a Wednesday morning. We went skiing all day and with epic snow conditions (a bit cold, though!) and trekked to our hotel around 6pm. After going in the ofuro (Japanese bath), we ate a wonderful and huge traditional Japanese dinner. And then, they suprised me and Hiroaki with a birthday celebration. I didn't even know anyone knew it was my birthday! It was so unexpected and delightful!

We went skiiing again the next day and then back to Tokyo that night. I spent the night at my friends house with 2 other girls. The following day, 5 of us toured around went to China town and an aquarium in Yokohama.

It was so great to see them all again so soon. I am blessed to have such cool friends!

みんな元気？
スキーに誘い込んで、ありがとう！みんなと会えて、うれしかった。時間あたらぜひ北海道に来てください！

日本のお正月... Japanese New Year

2006-01-03T01:21:00.000+09:00

I have had the opportunity of spending New Years with my dear Japanese family who live in Hiratsuka, Japan (about 1 hour from Tokyo). New Years is the biggest holiday in Japan, so (kind of) comparable to Christmas in America. They do lots of different things to celebrate...all of which I got to experience and learn for the first time.

On the night of the 31st, we ate soba noodles (pasta made from buckwheat flour) with tempura and salad and lots of other wonderful food. Soba are always eaten on this night because they signify the long and healthy life everyone hopes to have for the coming year. Did I mention Yoshiko, my Japanese mom, is the best cook EVER!

After we ate this dinner and watched the NHK (the most viewed public television channel) New Years Ball, Hajime, Eiko and I left to begin our evening. First, we went to Eiko's uncle's temple. We talked for a while with everyone there, ate pork soup, and rung the bell. At Buddhist temples on near years, a big bell is rang 108 times, each gong symbolizes one of the sins humankind commit. Thank Jesus...He's covered each one of these sins!

Next, we went to Kamakura, a famous historical town near Yokohama (and where we live). There, 1000's of people visit the shrine through all hours of the night and into the morning. We walked around the shrine and town until 4 am and returned home at a bit past 5!

That's just the beginning of New Years. It's a 4 day holiday here. From the 1st to the 3rd, we eat mochi soup and lots of special food every morning for breakfast. Today, the 2nd, we went to Tokyo to the Imperial Palace. There are only 2 days of the year people ordinary can enter the palace...January 2nd and the Emperor's birthday (Dec. 23). So, we and about 20,000 other people throughout the day braved the rain to see the emperor give his new years speech.

I am so blessed to have the Inomata and Ishida family!

3 in 1

2005-12-31T00:33:00.000+09:00

They came and left in a blinking moment. Why does time pass through the hourglass so quickly when you wish it could last forever?

Colin and Daniel, I had the best of times with you guys. I know I told you before, but I can't imagine any other Christmas than ours sitting in the Indian restaurant eating naan, naan and more cheese naan. Thank you for spending the time, money, and effort to make my life so much brighter for the past 2 weeks.

I love you guys!

Pizza and nabe

2005-12-08T22:31:00.001+09:00

My stomach is happy with homemade pizza I just made and ate with these girls. I have 2 classes with the middle girl, Aya, so last week I went to their apartment for a nabe party. Nabe (Japanese soup) is really popular to eat during the winters in Hokkaido because #1 its so darn cold outside, #2 its cheap to make #3 it's oishii! Today I hung out with them again and showed everyone how to make homemade pizza. It was great fun!

I got an e-mail this week from the international student office requesting me and the other American girl to go to a voice audition this Saturday afternoon. What kind of voice audition? Apparently, if I get this job, my voice will be on some kind of Japanese video game produced by GameSoft. Some things you just never think you will do in life... Anyway, I get $50 bucks just for auditioning. It will be an interesting experience I'm sure!

This is at a Christmas party with the student cell group at my church. I started going to Sapporo International Church a few weeks ago and really like it there. The pastor is Korean and we have people from all over the world, but most of the members are Japanese. They have so much love; I am looking forward to learning from and growing with Japanese Christians this year.

Christmas in Japan

2005-12-04T15:45:00.000+09:00

My friend Makiko and I went to Oodori Koen- a big park in downtown Sapporo- which hosts a "White Illumination" festival every winter. In the park at this time, there are bunch of huge christmas decorated Christmas trees, Christmas music playing, and even a Munich Town where you can buy german sausages and hot wine.

I thought I would really be getting homesick around Christmas time, but the amount of Christmas music and decorations in Japan has really surprised me. All I am missing is my family now. Colin and Daniel will be here in 2 weeks and will be here to celebrate Christmas with. Yippeee!

Winter wonderland

2005-12-04T15:30:00.000+09:00

These pictures are from Moerenuma Park in Sapporo. This park, as well as many other parks across Japan, was built on a previous landfill site. I went there with some classmates on a field trip to see the work of a famous Japanese architect Isamu Noguchi. We climbed to the top of this hill and the wind was so strong you could almost lean into it with all your weight!

They say the winters in Hokkaido are really harsh, although snow has not yet accumulated in Sapporo. Last weekend, a few friends from my outdoor club and I went to Niseko, which is about 2 hour drive. We were going to climb a mountain there, but about a meter of snow had fallen, so we decided to can the climb and just play in the snow. I can't wait to go snowboarding!

Kabocha Pie

2005-12-04T10:04:00.000+09:00

On November 24th (Japanese Thanksgiving day) I was invited to Eniwa for a Thanksgiving celebration which was hosted by 2 American English teachers. These girls, Kelly and Marissa, led 25 Japanese women through the process of roasting turkey, making pumkin pie, sweet potatoes...etc. Before we ate, we went around the table and everyone shared what they were thankful for. I did my little speech in Japanese and also was assigned to give the toast. Although I really wanted to be at Auntie Lisa's celebrating with the family, I think this was the next best way to spend the Thanksgiving!

moshi moshi

2005-11-18T23:00:00.000+09:00

In the last 2 months, I must have been asked at least 49 times what my cell phone number is and everytime I would reply with "mada..." which means I haven't gotten one yet. But today, after a turn for the better in my financial situation, I was able to get my first Japanese cell phone. Here, the free cell phones come with the following features:

-barcode reader
-video camera and camera (of course)
-GPS
-animated globe which tells the time of cities all over the world
-17 pages of smiling, crying, laughing (...etc) animated faces,
-internet service where I log on and check my balance for free
-LED lights which flash in different colors and different patterns according to the mode I choose
-much, much more that I will probably won't discover until I learn the meaning of the Kanji (Chinese character) in my class

The payment plan is different here too. I can only talk for 35 minutes a month for free, after that it's like 20 cents a minute. All incoming calls are free. The wave that has completely consumed Japan (as well as most Asian countries) is text messaging. Text messages cost less than 1/2 cent for each one, but one must pay both to send receive them. Because I am a student, I can get my cell phone at 1/2 price, so before texts and call time, I only have to pay $17 dollars a month.

3 cheers for calls from home!

Hot chocolate

2005-11-15T22:26:00.000+09:00

This morning at about 6:00, I was awoken briefly by a surreal trembling sensation. I thought it strange and went back to sleep after a few seconds of confusion. I got up a couple hours later and remembered nothing of the brief interruption of sleep. In my second class though, my friend asked me if I was awoken by the earthquake that morning. Weird déjà vu flooded my brain the moment he said "earthquake". I don't think I ever would have remembered the experience if he hadn't of mentioned it. Have you ever had an experience such as this?

In other news, I have 2 job interviews tomorrow. One is for a teaching position at a English conversation school. The other I am not quite sure about because the advertisment for this job was written in arguably uncomprehendible english. Anyway, it has something to do with being a room guide for english speaking visitors to Hokkaido. We'll see what happens.

I experienced Sapporo's first snow last week. This week's forecast: 4 days of snow. Send warm clothing and peppermint tea!

The best friends ever!

2005-11-09T14:01:00.000+09:00

Guess what everyone???

My little brother Coli-boy, whom I love more than sparkling snow on a sunny day and my faithful friend, Daniel, who also happens to be an amazing person and a fabulous cook are coming to visit me in 35 days!

AND, as if that weren't enough...

My role model, giver of life, and best friend ever is braving the frigid air and had bought her ticket to come in February. I can't wait to see your faces, mom.

You guys are the best!

I can see the squid boats!

2005-11-09T13:38:00.000+09:00

A few weekends ago, I went on a second trip with my outdoor club. This time, the drive was a manageable 3.5 hours (as opposed to 12). We reached the trailhead at 3pm on Saturday, hiked to our little cabin, cooked a huge pot of soup and hung out talking until 1 am. A few hours later at 4:30, we were rustled from our slumber and told that we were going to hike to the top of the mountain to see the sunrise. As I laced up my boots, I couldn't help but mutter "4:30 in the morning...these people are CRAZY!" The leader heard me and found it quite amusing! Anyway, it was a short climb to the top and quite rewarding to watch the sun rise over the other shore of the Pacific.

3 cheers for good food

2005-11-09T13:09:00.000+09:00

2 weeks ago, I participated in a homestay program which was offered to all the international students. It was a 3 day program in a city about 20 minutes from Sapporo by train. Me and my new Australian friend, Jess, stayed with a the Maeda family. The have one daughter, Makiko, who is also a student at Hokkaido University and just returned from a studying abroad in Canada for one year. So, not only did I have a wonderful time with this family, but I met a great friend whom I plan to hang out with a lot this year!

The homestay was from Friday night until Sunday. On Saturday, all 14 international students, our host families and local community members had a big international party at the local middle school. Everyone made at food from their country (I made lasagna and salad) and we had a huge feast and played games together. Fun times!

One month later

2005-10-27T21:33:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was my one-month anniversary for being in Sapporo. That means 9% of my time here is already gone. Unreal! It's been a fabulous month and I was reflecting on some of the things that have happened during that time. Let's see...

-I've been extremely lonely
-I've made a bunch of incredible friends
-I've gone to bed really hungry 4 nights in a row
-I've eaten the best Korean food I've ever had in my life
-I've climbed 2 mountains
-I've been so terribly bored
-I've been so frustrated with Japanese people, I just want to leave
-I've realized time and time again why I love this country and it's people so much
-I've gone for 1 month without praying before eating
-I've experienced new levels of God's love for me and His desire to know all people of every race and nationality

Thank you all for your e-mails and comments! I look forward to reading them more than I can say...

Lindsey

the cost of living

2005-10-21T23:35:00.000+09:00

5 sweaters
2 sweatshirts
1 fleece
1 matching teaset
2 sets of chopsticks
1 beautiful plate
1 cereal bowl
a few nice hangers
1 purse
1 Bon Appetit, 1 Sunset and a Japanese art book
1 bread pan
and best of all...
1 super duper blue on one side paisley on the other side down comforter

All for less than 500 yen (<$5.00)!

This week the Sapporo International Women's Club held a flea market for the international students. It was like the world's best garage sale and the running price for all clothes was 10 yen! Yeah for cheap stuff!

I already posted a picture of my room, but it is much brighter now with all your smiling faces on my wall.

Speaking of my beautiful room and cheap things, tickets to Tokyo are $425 right now. Sushi anyone?

13 hours later...

2005-10-17T18:56:00.000+09:00

This weekend was lovely. I recently joined an outdoor club at Hokkaido University so this was my first opportunity to go on a "mountain climbing" trip with them. We left at 7:30 am on Saturday morning. 400 km (248 miles) and 13 hours later, we arrived at our log cabin in the middle of the woods. This log cabin was amazing and was totally free for us to use. That night we cooked pork miso soup, rice and some other kind of meat soup with gas camp stoves. Japanese food warms the bones!

Everyone slept upstairs in the loft. The cabin was stocked with a mountain of mattresses and blankets. We woke up at 5:30 am, ate leftover soup and started the hike at 8:00. These students (and perhaps most Japanese) go about hiking in a very systematic way. They divided us (11 people) into 2 groups, each with a leader and a sub-leader. Before we started the hike, the leader decided the order we would hike in and we kept that order for the entire 7 hours! So interesting!

We reached the peak at about noon, ate our lunches and started back down an hour later. After gathering our belongings from the cabin, we began our long journey home at 4:00 pm. By that time I was thinking, "It's 4:00 now, so if we hurry, we will probably get home around 1 or 2 am." To say the least, I was a bit confused, yet intrigued, by all the 5 convenient store stops, our hour long dinner, and a trip to the onsen (Japanese hot spring). It's really hard to shift one's thinking from the American goal-oriented, let's see how fast we can get home paradigm to whatever was going on in my dear friends' minds. I have a lot to learn this year!

I want to ride my bicycle

2005-10-13T15:25:00.000+09:00

My life has gone from somewhat boring to quite busy within the last couple of days. Today, we finally learned the results of our Japanese placement exam which we took 2 weeks ago...yikes! We were placed into different levels for the 5 different Japanese classes we will have. These classes are grammar, kanji (Chinese characters), conversation, reading and writing. Anyway, there are about 10 levels for each and I placed in the 2-4th level between all the classes. I have a long way to go!

This Wednesday and last Wednesday I went to a Outdoor Club meeting for Hokkaido University students. It is so very interesting compared to a outdoor club that one might attend in the US. First of all, the meetings last from 6:30-9pm on Monday and Wednesday each week. I am wondering how they have so much to talk about! Anyway, I have joined this club and am looking forward to the "mountain climbing" (a direct translation) that we will do this weekend. We will drive 6 hours and hike about 4 km, spend the night in a cabin and hike back the next day. It's Thursday right now, but from what I understand, whether we leave tomorrow night (Friday) or Saturday is dependent upon the weather forecast. I'll let you know how the trip goes!

Yesterday was the day we have been waiting for we arrived...bike raffle day! You see, our dormitory is about 15 minutes from campus on foot, a distance which can be covered in just a few minutes on a bike. It seems to me that biking is the most popular mode of transportation for university students as well as for businessmen, housewives, kids...Before we were eligible to receive a bike, the Sapporo city police came to the university to give us a 45 minute lecture about bicycle riding safely (video included). The video made me, a previously confident bicycle rider, quite unsure of my capabilities. Nevertheless, I picked out of the bag a winning ticket (there were 50 bikes for 80+ students) and now happily ride my 1000 yen ($10) bicycle, cautiously, all over the city.

Peace and love- Lindsey

Looking up from here

2005-10-08T17:31:00.000+09:00

Ahhhh...How much better this world is when we are surrounded by people who love us!

My first 2 weeks in Hokkaido have passed through the hour-glass and I am glad to say that I can look back and smile upon the good and the hard times that I have encountered in this period of time. My first week here was quite lonely. After leaving Eiko and family, every entrance into my quiet dorm room and meal eaten alone seemed quite unbearable. But this week was a week of new relationships and I can say that I am ever so excited to spend the next 11 months on this wintery island.

I stumbled upong this lovely pond at the Hokkaido Prefecture Office

My dorm room...chotto kitanai (it's a bit messy)

My Korean friends have adopted me into their family and I have joined with a smile.

Macha = real green tea

2005-09-30T10:59:00.000+09:00

We went to a wonderful tea house it Kanagawa prefecture. It was only 300 yen (3 dollars) for a cup of macha and a traditional Japanese sweet. The gardens at this tea house were beautiful and the drizzle outside made the whole experience quite surreal.

I love Eiko and family!

2005-09-27T22:31:00.000+09:00

I arrived in Japan on Sept. 21st and spent the next 5 days with Eiko, Hajime, Kimiaki and Yoshiko, my Japanese family. They are such wonderful people. I have only been in Hokkaido for 2 days now, and I already miss them!

I am trying to figure out how to post pictures on here...can anyone help me?

explanations first

2005-09-27T22:14:00.000+09:00

Despite my personal objection to such modern contraptions, I have decided to keep a journal of my daily (or perhaps weekly) happenings. Please read and enjoy as you like and post a comment every once in a while to let me know you are still alive and well.

I love you all, my dear friends and family.

Lindsey