gotta do what you love and love what you do

when it is possible, Lisa.

I want to remind myself again that when I take pictures I am really happy, even when I only get a few "good ones" that I am okay with. Even if I only got one at the end of the day, I should be happy with that.

Last week I went to the first summer baseball game. It was my first time to see my students play at the stadium. If they can do well till the very end, they will represent Okinawa and compete with other prefectures. Besides teaching at the International department, I also work with 150+ students from the Athletic department. No, I don't teach them sports. I team teach English with another Japanese teacher. These students have regular classes in the morning, and in the afternoon they practice for 4, 5 hours and try to win as many games as possible. Hardworking kids that love sports and are always tired during class hours. The baseball and Judo team at school have always done very well at different tournaments. This year's tennis and golf team are also doing well and participating games up in mainland Japan.

Last week was very sunny and I got tan from supporting them! It was fun to cheer with them and tried to follow them. For the past few weeks, I would go see them during lunch when the 1st year and 2nd year baseball students practice 30+ songs/cheers. I would try to go as many times as possible, because it's interesting to see how they behave and interact with each other outside of class. I adore these students, even though most of them are too shy to talk to me in English. I believe that we try to understand each other and didn't mean to make the other person unhappy most of the time. Really though, I wish I could speak the language or I wish they were better at speaking English. hehehe.

typhoon ruined my weekend

originally uploaded by a midwest girl.

We had another typhoon during the weekend, AGAIN! The misfortune is that, I took a day off on Friday last week and flew to a nearby island with Hannah. We wanted to see beautiful beaches and make more memories of Okinawa. The first day of the trip was wonderful. It was so hot and so bright that I couldn't really tell what I photographed. We used the underwater camera and took silly pictures on film. So I hope they will turn out and we can show you how funny we are.

But after that day, it poured every time Hannah and I decided to go out or bike. It would be so windy that there is really no point to get out but to get soaked. My heart felt a little sick still thinking we couldn’t go anywhere except staying in door and watch movies on iTunes. We can only walk so much to see some more of the supposed to be beautiful island. Such a bummer. But no one can change the weather right?

Since I have been back though, the weather has been so very nice. (Blue sky with beautiful clouds and all) Why is that it was the weekend that the storm decided to come!

Let us have beautiful sunny weekends in July, please!

xoxo,
Lisa

i love being a traveler

because then I get surprised by nature again, and I can go into my "zone"...

 

my zone with pretty things, flowers, architectures and yummy food.

another good day. 

mostly photographed at Fuzhou Garden

Last couple weeks in pictures…

some more pretty sunsets with a week of pouring rain...

beautiful and meaningful visit to the peace memorial

some more pretty sunsets...

and merry christmas my dear!

this was from the same weekend but different day....

Originally these images you are seeing were in a video. The light was so beautiful I can’t help myself. The jacket and my purse were hanging outside and they were moving with the wind…it was so fun. But because I didn’t have the right editing program for videos, I thought it would be better to show you how beautiful it was  in these images. 

Oh man, wish you were here.  

one weekend afternoon...

I never get sick of watching this view. 

I have told you this, and perhaps you have heard too many times already. I love looking at the sky. If I have not told you this, I am sure you remember seeing me going crazy with my camera when I saw a pretty sky.

Being able to capture these moments during that weekend made me happy and kept me calm. Sorry it is a little late, but I wanted to share these images with you for very long now. It clams me still and I hope it will for you too - as life could get a little complicated sometimes.  Simple as that, looking up the sky and count to 10, imagine what kind of animals you see in the clouds, then maybe you could forget how mad you were or how much of a brat some kids could be. 

And do you know the best part of this is? It is completely free. And I get much more motivated to clean my pile of dishes with my iTunes. (Yes, I have been eating...surprise, surprise!)

Okinawa 101：シーサー

Shi-sa

Shīsā is a traditional Ryukyuan decoration, often in pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawa mythology. People placed pairs of shisa on their rooftops or flanking the gates to their houses. Shisa are wards, believed to protect people from evil spirits. When in pairs, the left shisa traditionally has a closed mouth, the right one has an open mouth. The open mouth wards off evil spirits, and the closed mouth to keep good spirits in.

Sources: Wikipedia 

Okinawa 101：ゴーヤ

Go-ya

In the Okinawan dialect, Nigauri is called Goya. 

It is said that the bitter taste of Goya is very refreshing in the heat of summer days. A famous yet simple Goya dish would be frying it with pork and eggs, called Goya Champuru. It probably is sold in all Okinawa restaurants. Also, goya is a rich source of vitamin C, and other nutrients that helps keeping the skin beautiful. Personally I think it's pretty bitter, but since it's healthy to the body, I should start eating more. :) 

Sources -  Wonder Okinawa and Digi-joho Tokyo

you, you, you and you.

Konnichiwa こんにちは! *Good afternoon*
Genki desu ka 元気ですか?? *How are you??

It’s already finals week for the students over here, so it will be pretty quiet for Lisa-the teaching-assistant this couple days. Their first day of exam is on December 1st. Excuse me, DECEMBER FIRST? Whaaat??? That means I have passed my 2-month mark in Okinawa!! SAFE!! *clap clap clap*

This semester of school will be done on 12/28. Before school ends there will be some more prepping for class days, hanging out with the kids days or off to different adventures on weekend days. (Sad FYI: I am working on Christmas. But I am hoping to wear my 100yen Rudolph hairband to work. Ho ho ho)

After the 28th, Lisa is off to Tokyo, Yokohama, Kamakura, and Hakone!!!!!! I was happy to fight for the tickets on Skymark (Japanese priceline?) last month with Hannah. The tickets are about the price of flying to NYC from MN. And for accommodations, Hannah and I are staying about half the time in hotel, half the time at my friend Nozomi’s grandparents place! Dividing the average costs of hotels, it was a pretty good deal. :]

I am very excited to see Tokyo again in a MONTH and meeting up with some of my old friends. I met Nozomi when I studied in Tokyo 2 years ago, and we have kept a good relationship since. On the other hand, most of my friends are traveling out of Tokyo with their families to other prefectures up north or FRANCE for their Christmas/New Year trips. So I will have to go back. (haha) My family will also be off to China with Grandma for a couple days. So I won’t be seeing them for New Years. But! I am going home for Chinese New Year, which I have missed for five years now. I can’t wait for it, and I am grateful Okinawa is so close to home and the job I have is so kind about letting me taking days off without too much hassle.

I cannot believe Christmas is coming so soon! Graduation, traveling with mom, summer at home, started working in Okinawa and BAM, it is Christmas already! BAM! Becky’s BABIES will be here!!! Ahem, I have distracted myself here. Oh yes, I am excited to see Shibuya crossing, the romantic red brick warehouses again. Seeing the Japanese big Buddha first time, visiting the Little Prince museum, going to hot springs, and visiting national parks overlooking the Mt Fuji!!! It will be a blast.

Back to reality real quick, what I am trying to say in this blog was that I have been enjoying the simple and quiet schedule I have here. It might be boring to some, but I like my simple life – eat, pray, work, travel and love.

My days usually go like this: Get up, go to work, two or three hours of classes in the morning, co-workers will share treats they got from trips to everyone (and sometimes that’ll be my breakfast) then yes! Lunch time! Go to the “Bento street” across the street for my lunch box or eat out somewhere, sometimes walk to the “Kon-bi-ni”, the convenient store, “Lawson” for a snack, or browse around magazines. Then coming back with usually just one class in the afternoon, so I correct student’s homework or prep for class materials. I should consider bringing my laptop in to edit the pictures when I have down time. But I probably shouldn’t.

Life is good, work wise…I am not freaking out as much anymore, and I am getting better at being punctual. Also I have been eating (haha), occasionally I bring lunchboxes I made the night before. And maybe 80% the kids I teach like me and smile when I talk to them. (5 of them are my new BFFs…haha).

I consider that a big SUCCESS.

Living wise, I am also visiting different places each weekend, discovering new places to walk around and I have not seen other spider yesterday. (haha) Also, I am glad to use the down time as my study time this week. I am taking a Japanese Language Proficiency Test on Sunday. I am failing it, but I just might have the luck to pass it. If I really pass it, I would truly believe I can do whatever I want.

Remember that blog about me losing it during that monthly work meeting? I am still scared of it... because last month’s meeting I was able to skip it. 2 hours of listening to Japanese is not the worst, 2 hours of listening and sitting and doing nothing else make me nervous. I am too used multitasking since college and have million things going on. It’s hard to just sit and do one thing for me now. Hehehe.

love, Lisa

p.s. I will put up pictures soon. I was able to get some good ones because it stopped raining and it is not cloudy so much anymore. Yay. Lunch time!

new friend

It is the week of midterms (already!) for the junior high and senior high kids. (Here in Japan, they get done with the school year in Feb/March.) With midterm exams on the schedule, I didn't have to go to my classes for couple of days and I only have one class for tomorrow! Yay for Fridays! :) So, one of the teachers in my department who is just 2 years old than me will take the other TA Hannah and I to the bank and the immigration office in the morning. :)

Hannah who graduated from St. Bens with me, works in the same school also. It has been very fun and I'm glad that our personalities clicked pretty well right away. Hannah and Ryan (SJU grad) came to Okinawa around the end of August, exactly one month before I did. So it was nice that when I first got here, she was able to show me around and brought me to her favorite malls and restaurants. It definitely took a long time for me, Hannah and the school to know when I could arrive in Okinawa with a legitimate work visa..., but now that we found each other to go on adventures together, this year will be very fun and enjoyable.

Hannah works in the junior high English department, while I work in the PR office and help with senior high school students. My office is on the 1st floor and hers is on the 2nd floor. The whole school has 6th floors and it's quite big because the junior high and senior high school buildings are connected.

Anyways, the big spacious office she works in has a lot more teachers there and she is surrounded by fun and nice English/Math teachers. It's pretty much the main staff room so sometimes they will have meetings there.

Fun fact: instead of signing in somewhere to the network when we arrive the school, or getting time card stamped by a machine...I sign in with my own wooden Inkan stamp (印鑑) in that same staff room.

My office the PR department has a quieter atmosphere, but I am slowly realizing that most of teachers are very funny and enjoy each others company very much. The PR office takes care of all the exchange and visiting groups that go out to America, Taiwan, Canada..etc...and helps preparing cultural exchange activities for the students. A group of German student group came last week, and there will be a another group of Vietnamese students coming in around November.

1010

around my neighborhood. 

"The 1010 project was devised as an antidote to everything in modern life always having to be bigger, better, louder and brighter than what’s been before.  

It’s an opportunity to slow down and appreciate the simple, everyday things that make life beautiful."

Click to view pictures by 10 photographers in 10 different cities on October 10th, 2010.