My Walk With Mother Nature

I wanted to add a few more pictures from the Shinjuku Gyoen. I had never seen such a beautiful place.

   Helping Nature

Cave

                            Dragon Fish?

 

Not So Secret Garden

Our Hotel

Random Ferris Wheel

Tokyo was an amazing adventure to embark on. We only stayed in Tokyo for a total of 46 hours and I can tell you it wasn't even close to enough to explore Shinjuku let alone all of Tokyo. (For those of you that don't know: Shinjuku is a small town inside of Tokyo much like Wrigleyville is inside of Chicago). We stayed in Shinjuku, the whole time. The first night, I was exhausted. We took pictures along the way to our hotel. We saw beautiful buildings and even a ferris wheel. We dropped off our bags and headed out for dinner. I had Curry Shrimp and Rice. I won't lie and say I wasn't a bit hesitant. I am someone who is pretty set in their ways. But I made up my mind months ago that this would be the time I try it all. So I followed Mike blindly into the restaurant.

Japanese Menu

In Japan you always seat yourself unless you are basically stopped to do so. We sat down and looked at the menu. Nothing was in English. What I have come to find out that at least in Tokyo there is normally an English menu stashed somewhere. It might only say "Shrimp" instead of Curry Shrimp and Rice. So... Use your judgement. But it helps you know what kind of meat is in it. Also: Word to the Wise: If it just says "Meat" my guess would be to run! Mike and I caught up over the last few days and talked about what to do in Tokyo the following day. 

We ate our meal when it arrived. I enjoyed mine. It was breaded shrimp and the curry was off to the side so you loaded it on as much as you wanted instead of everything being smothered in it. After the long day we had of travels we went to sleep. 

City at Night

The next morning we were up by 6am. We decided to get ready, head out for breakfast. (We decided to stay easy and went to McDonalds). It is bad manners to eat and walk in Japan so we ate in McDonalds and then headed out to the Garden.

Healthy McDonalds is a Happy McDonalds

Shinjuku Gyoen: The National Garden

It is the Central Park of Tokyo. But as Tokyo is bigger than New York City, this Garden is bigger than Central Park. 

We didn't pick the BEST time of year to come. The flowers were on their last legs, the cherry blossoms had blossomed long ago. But it was still an incredible scene. It is the secret garden of Tokyo. It cost 2 dollars to get in and is about 3 miles wide. It is stunning. The tea houses were quaint. The shrines were stunning and the scenery was breathtaking. It was picturesque. We walked around for hours. Talking, and exploring and taking everything in. We found giant bugs, beautiful pathways, and an experience of a lifetime. 

Here are some more photos from Tokyo's Not So Secret Garden. I'll post more soon!

Tree Stars!

Sayoonara and Konnichiwa! (Goodbye and Hello!)

Hi all!
I made it! I am here on the other side of the world! I figure I should update since it's been 5 days and most of you haven't heard much from me. So the updates will probably take a while.

Firstly, the morning of departure.
I woke up at 5:15 a normal time for my new life but a foreign time to my old. As I was in the shower, I was excited to see the world but like a train it hit me. What in the world was I thinking? Traveling to a new country? For a guy? For an experience? How much was I going to hate it? I quickly shook those thoughts away. This was an experience I needed, and one I very much so wanted. But was it possible that I was too excited? That my hopes would be too high and that I would hate it once I got here? Possibly. But I just needed to go and find out. No need to question the "What if's" later in life. Besides, i was going to be on the plane in 5 hours anyway. No turning back. I packed and put out the notes I left for my family. I wanted them to know how much I will miss them. And I've learned a thing or two about being in long distance relationships... This time it is just reversed. I know I can handle long distance, I will be curious how my family holds up.

The plane rides.
Flight #1: O'Hare to DFW 10am-12pm
I got to the airport super early just to be safe. Even after I went through security and everything I still had 2 hours of just waiting but it was good because I was super nervous and needed to work on calming down a bit. I talked to a few of my friends and family to help me get over the fact that I really was doing this.
The first plane ride was fast. I had a window seat and was able to watch the city disappear into the clouds like it was getting lost in a wave. The flight was only 2.5 hours to Dallas. I was nervous about connecting to my Narita flight. I only had 50 minutes between the two. On the plane I was listening to music, reading and working on some Word Searches thanks to Mr. Hanna. :) The time flew by. Before I knew it electronics had to be off and the flight was landing.
The best news was that we arrived a whole half hour early which meant I had more time to get to my next flight. The stress was flying away from me.
I hoped off the plane and ran around the airport and went to the next. My last meal on American soil was a pepperoni pretzel and hot cheetos. Mmmm.
Flight #2: DFW to Narita, Tokyo Japan 120pm-5pm (Japan time) ((3am US time))
This flight sounds dreadful. 13 hours. I popped a sleeping pill Mom gave me, didn't help at all. So I watched 21 Jumpstreet, CSI (2 episodes), slept on and off for a total of 5 hours and read an entire book and wrote a bit in my notebook so I wouldn't forget anything. It was long. And ironically light the whole time from 515 when i woke up until 315am (your time) it was light. But when all was said and done it wasn't too bad or even as long as it seemed. I can read for 8 hours straight anyway so I was able to break it up pretty nicely. They fed us 4 times. Mostly different Japanese foods. Meatballs (of some sort) and rice, sushi, chicken and rice. It was surprising how often they fed us. I brought all these snacks from home and didn't open them. But its okay, it gives me American food here.

I got off the flight (which was the biggest plane I had ever seen by the way.) Went through the airport following signs and other people hoping I was going the right way. I found customs and my luggage. And before I knew it, I was out with the normal people of Tokyo. I found Mike. He was starring at his phone probably bored since he was waiting a good 3 hours for me to land. (We were an hour and a half late to Tokyo). I snuck up and just starred at him and said "Boo!" With a big smile on my face. We hugged after I stopped the luggage but thats it. The Japanese are very anti-physical contact people and we didn't (I didn't) want to disrespect them. It wasn't until we were at the train station that we had our first kiss (again).

So all in all, the flights could have been worse. My experience was stressful and nerve-racking but it couldn't be more exciting and dreamlike. It is wonderful being with Mike. Getting to really dive into this relationship and this culture. I couldn't be more ecstatic about this opportunity! I will update more tomorrow! :) Love you all and miss you!

So You Want a Say?

I was just told by my Aunt Karen that this site wouldn't allow comments so I have fixed this issue and am more than excited to hear from all of you! :)

Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused :)

Leaving my Friends Behind

So many of these goodbyes are brutal. It's hard to say bye to the people who have been in your life for so long. Not that I won't still be close with them but 9,000 miles does a lot to people. When I put it that way now, it doesn't feel like as much as when it originally did when Mike went out there.

Now it seems conquerable. And in a way I suppose it is.

My best goodbyes so far?
--The ones that don't say goodbye. I've been going out to eat so often with my friends and we have a great conversation and catch up and all of a sudden we go to say goodbye and I get asked "Hey! This was a lot of fun. Can we do it again before you leave?" Funny how that works.
--The ones that pick on me. Theyyyy know who they are. They tell me how much FUN they are going to have this summer. How much they will hang out and everything I am going to miss. They think they are sooooo funny trying to get me all worked up.
--The pictures and love notes. Leaving work has been fun! It's really nice seeing my friendships blossom at Sylvan. There are some wonderful people working there and its a joy to spend time with them. Saying goodbye meant a notebook full of pictures and and love letters about missing each other. I haven't felt so close to my coworkers in quite some time. It's our own family.

Leaving good old Elgin in a week. Let's see what other goodbyes choke me up in the next 7 days.

Military Time?

The title is leading you on. This really won't talk about military time at all. But I think its a good metaphor for what is going on. I am going to get immersed in two cultures fairly soon and I have to learn a lot about how to act and react in both of them.

I decided to prep for my new life a bit lately. I already took a beginner class on Japanese (and really am just waiting for Rosetta Stone). So I decided to read a book called Confessions of a Military Wife. NOT that I am thinking that far ahead but knowing I am quickly going to be joining a new military community and I will need to know what status quo is. Because, quite frankly, if I have learned anything from Mike, it is that I have no idea what is being said, done or accomplished in the Navy. They have their own language, their own types of friends and their own world.

Somehow I am going to have to fit in with both to merge this correctly.

The book mainly focused on deployments. The author was a Marine wife so deployments mean the men battled for their lives often. I guess I find it interesting, because even without that fear being as bad as it is for those wives, I went through a lot of the same coping mechanisms to get through long distance. The way you rely on the right people at the right time. You can't turn to them when you are down, you can't explain the every movement, or every idea you get. You are on your own. You learn to be as independent and dependent as possible.

Maybe this whole long distance thing amped me up for Military life more than I thought.

I have the amazing chance to learn about two cultures at the same time and I want to document them both and all the stories that unfold and the lessons I learn. Because if I want to make this work how its supposed to, I need to learn how to blend into this environment and how to mold into a culture on the other side of the world as well as become a cheerleader on the sidelines for the men supporting the red, white and blue.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step -Lao Tzu said, and I am ready to make that step even if it involves looking at a new watch.

 ;)