Seeing new places

I am currently in the Tokyo airport.

I have a 12 hour layover before I head to Hanoi, Vietnam to visit Renée. 

I was planning a trip to Okinawa, Japan, but those plans were canceled so I decided to head over to South East Asia and join Renée in her adventures. She has been visiting different countries in the area and it sounds amazing. We have not seen each other in too long, (like always). So needless to say, I am as excited to see her beautiful face as I am to travel to new places. 

Taking the time off from school should not be too hard. This quarter's classes are pretty easy. The hardest part will be taking an online midterm while I'm traveling. I don't expect any issues, but I spoke with my professor about my concerns of internet failure in the middle of the exam anyway. He was very understanding and said to just try it and if it fails, I can just take the exam when I come back to school. How awesome is that? I also have to remember to bring back some beach sand and shells for him. (He teaches marine paleoecology, among other classes)

To pass the time on flights and in airports, I brought two books to read. The first is "The Silver Linings Playbook." I have almost finished it already. It's a really good book. I like the style of the writing; it's very... human. The other book is "And The Mountains Echoed." I'm not sure what to expect with this one. I borrowed it from a friend, so I'll take his word that it's a good one. 

 It was hard to sleep on the plane. The only movie option that I interested me was "Big Hero Six." And of coarse it was entertaining. It even played with my feels a bit. 

There were two "free" meals on the plane. I say "free" because I'm sure the cost of the meals were included in the ticket purchase. They were wonderfully delicious for airplane meals though. Not too bad. Not too bad at all.

Sitting in front of me was a young boy, maybe 5 years old or so. He was quite entertaining. Continuously turning around and standing  in his seat to hold a conversation with me. Little chatter box he was. He showed me his various transformer toys and told me some of his favorite things in his life. He made me smile.

Because I don't ever get much sleep on planes, I'm going to get some rest here at the airport. I will conclude with a quote that not only is applicable to my current activities, but also to life in general:

"The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page." - Saint Augustine

What am I doing here?

My best friend has gone to China to teach conversational english for a year.
I've only just seen her but I can't help but miss her. We haven't spent a whole lot of time together in the last 5 years. Only a few days together every six months to a year.
I'm happy for her though. I hope that she finds joy in her new adventure. From the sounds of her blog, she already is.

My job for the school year has started up again. I learned that someone I used to be friends with freshman year is teaching at the elementary school I facilitate after school childcare at. It made me feel sheepish to come to the realization that I'm still in school while many of the people my own age have graduated college and moved on to their life careers. And for a short moment, it had me wondering whether I wasted my time goofing off instead of getting my career on track.

On the other hand, I quickly came to the understanding that I have had many life experiences that many others don't have because I made the choice to hold back on school for a quarter here and there so that I could do something that I would truly enjoy. Being a snowboard instructor at Mt. Baker for example. There is no way I could have gotten good grades while battling the thought that I was missing out on a good pow day. So, many times I just said to myself, "Fuck it. Take the quarter off." And you know what? I don't regret it for a minute.

Through out the last few months I have become aware of the fact I will be in school for a really REALLY long time. If I want to go forth and get a masters in Geology as well as in teaching, (after I finish my Bachelors of education in Earth science, then start teaching at a high school of coarse), I shouldn't be concerned with how long it takes for me to finish this task. I have a set goal, and I will accomplish said goal. It is the journey that I should appreciate. I want to take advantage of my youth, not to spend my time in a building all day, but to gain life experience in a diversity of activities and life accomplishments. With my time off, I have taught 9 year olds how to shred the mountain gnar, been a nanny to wonderful young children, worked terrible hours slaving away in a stock room, traveled down the coast and across the country, and learned how to shred on water.

This is more than I could have ever asked for. Thank you universe for giving me the opportunity to have such an amazing and beautiful life.

I may have hard days and a down attitude sometimes.
But I truly do love this life.

All smiles at the Y

When I got to "work" yesterday, (I call it "work" because, really, I love it too much for it to be considered a "job"), the kids were outside playing on the playground. On Wednesdays, they have early release at 1, and I have my own classes til 2 so I go in after that. Anywho, they were on the playground playing and having a grand ol time being kids.

On every other day of the week, I go in before school gets out and I set up the gym with tables and other stuff. When they get out of class, most days, they're supposed to do homework if they have it, and read if they don't have homework. This only lasts for about a half an hour, then we go outside. I swear to you, they think the first half hour is torture for them. I feel like I'm constantly telling them that it's homework and reading time every 5 minutes. The older ones are generally pretty good at being quite and doing their thing. But the younger ones, man. The kindergartners are a rough crowd. I've been working on teaching them how to read (and most of them are pretty good readers by now). But when you have 7, 5 year olds to teach how to read in a group, it's hard to keep their focus on you and not each other. Don't get me wrong, I love teaching them how to read, and everything about this job, but sometimes... sometimes it's hard.

Anyway, my point is that yesterday, when I walked onto the playground, it just put the biggest smile on my face. They were having so much, care free, fun. And then, when they finally noticed I'd gotten there, a handful of them ran up to me in excitement, and gave me a big group hug.

Moments like that make the tough times worth it.

Are you there?

I sat on my back porch a few weeks ago. As I watched the beautiful pink and orange sun set behind a small cluster of magenta clouds in the light blue sky, so many curious questions and wonder filled thoughts flowed through my mind. A woodpecker pecked away at a telephone pole, birds sang their cheerful tune.
I looked around.
I thought, "beautiful."
I realized how short our time really is here; I need to enjoy what is right in front of me more often; take a moment to just sit, take it all in and just breath.
The trees were a gorgeous bright green, shimmering with a hint of sparkle from the sun's goldenrod kiss. The bird's song warmed my heart, while the bright red hot sun warmed my face.
I wondered,
Where is he?
Can he really be gone?
Can he see me?
Does he know I'm thinking about him?
I miss him.
Does he know he's gone?
What if he isn't there?
This went on for some time.
The sun disappeared below the horizon.
The birds' song continued.
The chill of the spring evening air drove my heavy heart back inside.

That's not all that's new...

That's right folks. There's more.

New glasses
New hair

Winter turned to Spring, bringing in the time to create anew. That is what spring is all about. Transforming what was, into what will be. Spring is the thaw of winter's harsh cold; it brings warmth, new life, and new beginnings. What was once cold and lifeless, can be brought from the dead; reborn.

Hey! Guess hwhat?

I got a mac.
Not a new mac,
But one roughly 6 years old.

It isn't perfect.
It needs a new battery,
It will only stay on if it's plugged in
But that's good enough for me.

It's much better than my other computer, you see.
For it's an old dell and is slow with many problems.

But not this nice mac.
It is fast and sleek.

No more terrible work place!

Hey there.

So I have some amazingly awesome news...

I no longer work at Ross!!!! WOOOOOOOHH!

I am a nanny for a pretty cool family now. This is my first week doing it. And so far it's been fun. There is a 4  year old boy that I spend the day with Monday through Thursday. Then 3 other kids 8, 12, and 14 years old that go to school, so I only ever see them before and after school for a little while.

So I pretty much just hang out with a 4 year old boy all day long. We play games, read Dr. Sues, color in coloring books, watch Avatar: The Last Airbender, and stuff like that. Sometimes we go on little field trips to Menchies, a frozen yogurt place around the corner. And in a while I think it would be fun to go to the aquatic center and swim. There is also a park near by, so we can go play on the jungle gym :D

I am so happy that I don't have to work those ridiculous hours anymore. It feels a little strange also, to be getting paid to do something so easy. But I won't complain... I like doing this. The little boy is so darn cute.

Well, that is all.

Ta ta for now.