Happy Tuesday, everyone! This week is a busy one: I had a meeting for work last night with an end-of-the-year party after, then today through Thursday I’m training staff, Thursday night will be a yakiniku dinner, and then Friday will be the last day of the final term for the school year–phew! I’d like to think that after Friday I’ll be home free, but I know better (still lots of work ahead!). Despite my on-going busy schedule, I’ve still been finding time to work on little projects here and there and remain inspired.
Speaking of inspiration, I was so flattered to be nominated for the Inspiring Blog Award! Thank you to Inspire Ma for the nomination! Although this blog is quite young, I’ve been enjoying updating it and interacting with readers like YOU! As Inspire Ma explained on her blog, in order to accept this award you must: 1. Display the award image on your blog page. 2. Link back to the person who nominated you. 3. State seven facts about yourself. 4. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award. 5. Notify your bloggers of their nomination and link to their posts.
So, without further adieu, here are 7 Facts About Myself:
1. Every week, I have to plan a little something special for the upcoming days or the weekend ahead. Even if the plan is only a trip to a coffee shop with my husband, it gives me something to look forward to! I have some fun plans for the month of March, but a few tiny plans I’m looking forward to this week include that yakiniku dinner I mentioned above, a campus party on Friday, and a visit from an old friend on Saturday.
2. When I was in high school, I loved my independent study art history class. My friend and I would choose a time period in history, learn about a particular culture, and then write a paper on what we learned before completing a hands-on project representing the culture. When I learned about a period in Indian history, I made an oil pastel of Ganesh. When I learned about a period in Chinese history, I did a collage of Four Dragon Kings using oil pastel and tea-stained paper with Chinese calligraphy as a border for each one. When I learned about parts of American Indian history, I recreated the pictographs from Agawa Bay on large pieces of stone and made a drum in North West Pacific Coast Indian style that won Best In Show that year.
3. I started the painting below after being inspired by pretty Turkish ceramics last week. I was really happy with it because the entire time rather than focusing on perfection, I focused on FUN. And it was fun! While working on it I was reminded that art history class I took–I’ve been so interested in Turkish history and culture as of late, and now I’m attempting to recreate something that symbolizes my interest.
4. Taking that art history class got me interested in Chinese characters, which led me to consider taking Chinese or Japanese as a second language in university. I already had learned a lot about Chinese culture, and was really interested in learning more about Japan. With Chad’s interest in Japan alongside my own, I decided to take Japanese and loved it. Funny how now that I’ve been living in Japan for over four years, my Japanese has actually gotten worse than when I first arrived! I guess that is what happens when you work at an International School and teach in English all day.
5. I’ll miss using Japanese when we move back to the states, and wonder if I would lose nearly all of my Japanese language ability if I started learning Spanish. After going on a trip to Europe last year around this time, I realized how useful Spanish is, and what a bridge to other languages (like French and Italian) learning Spanish could be. Also, as a side note, when we were in Spain a guy started to greet me and actually changed his greeting as he looked up and saw me from “Hola,” to “Hola-la-la-la!” It just made me laugh, though it was nice to get some recognition after generally feeling like the BFG (big friendly giant) in Japan.
6. I am also worried about losing touch with my friends in Japan. Just as it is heart-wrenching to leave Michigan each time we go back to Japan after a visit, I can’t imagine leaving behind people I care about so much. Yes, I know it is the modern age and we have such wonderful forms of communication right at our fingertips, but using Skype and email just isn’t the same as hanging out in person. I hope my friends here know how much they mean to me, and how much they have taught me.
7. Much as I worry about leaving Japan sometimes, I am also ecstatic about moving back home. It’s like starting over! I never want to feel like I’m stuck somewhere, and I always want to keep searching for joy and learning alongside my husband. One thing I’m really looking forward to–aside from some things I’ve mentioned before–are weekly coffee dates with my mom!
So there are a few kind-of-related facts about me that you might not have guessed from my profile. Now, for something else–some lovely blogs, in no particular order!
10. Life is a Canvas
11. Today I Saw
11. Hello Sandwich
13. Inspire Me Now
15. Meowsy Wowsy
Thanks again to Inspire Ma for the recognition and the fun! I hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do.
Little Snail 
It was great to learn a bit more about you. I am impressed by the fact that you learned Japanese before you actually went there and that you can speak it – I don’t think I realized that before. I really like that painting you did!