Overseas Must-Haves

So Julie did this, and I figured I would copy her. As I'm preparing to move overseas, I'm been making lists and buying everything that I will need this next year. Here are a few of the things I'll be taking with me:


Chacos


I finally did it and joined the Christian movement of buying Chacos. I got them in the mail 2 days ago, and tested them out yesterday, and so far so good. I think they'll be much better than the flip-flops I've used in the past. We have to walk a lot (no car to drive around everywhere) and these will definitely give me more support than my old navy flip flops.

Cheerios


My favorite breakfast item. Some time yogurt and croissants from Eanins just don't cut it.

The Office on DVD


For whenever I need a fix...

Flip Video Camera


I haven't gotten a chance to test it out yet, but I've heard good things. I'm excited to be able to capture all of my overseas adventures

My French Press


The only way to get good coffee (feel free to send some care packages with some coffee in them :) )

Travel Hammock


Two years ago I invested in a hammock and loved it! It's just so relaxing and I love to lay out in it and read/drink some coffee. Unfortunately I wasn't going to be able to take it with me because it's too bulky, but luckily my friend bought me a travel size one so I'll still be able to sit out and enjoy my books and coffee :)

So that's several of the essential things I'm taking with me. If you have any suggestions please let me know! (but remember I only have 2 suitcases to take with me...)

My Bucket List

When I went to Mexico, somehow we all got inspired to write out a bucket list. I don't know if it was fear of impending death on those Mexican streets (from the driving I mean not the drug gangs...) but somehow it started with a few people

...and spread to a few more people...

and then we all got together to read aloud the list we had come up with and were almost backed over by a van. Oh how ironic it would have been for us to all die during the time we were discussing all the things we wanted to do before we died. Luckily, however, we all made it out alive and now after sharing my list with them, I will share it with you. This list is not complete (I'm sure I will continue to add to it throughout my lifetime) but here is what I came up with while riding in a loud, crowded van on a bumpy highway in Mexico.

1. Be fluent in Chinese
2. Be fluent in Spanish
3. Own an international coffee shop/bakery (gotta dream big :) )
4. Backpack through Europe
5. Go hot air ballooning
6. Visit the Greek Isles
7. See penguins in South Africa
8. Crush grapes (I Love Lucy style) at a winery
9. Go on a cruise to Alaska
10. Visit Monticello (I know I'm a nerd but I'm a big Thomas Jefferson fan...seriously)
11. Do something for someone without expecting anything in return
12. Scuba dive off the Great Barrier Reef
13. Run a marathon (already done)
14. Read the whole Chronicle of Narnia series
15. Learn to make legit tamales (inspired by being in Mexico)
16. East scorpions on a stick at Wang Fu Jin
17. Go to a Dallas Cowboys game
18. Go skiing in the alps
19. Live overseas
20. Go to the original Starbucks
21. Roast coffee beans in Thailand and/or Cambodia
22. Learn ancient Greek
23. Learn to play the guitar
24. Learn to play the violin
25. Learn to play the cello
26. Adopt a child
27. Ride a camel
28. Ride the Orient Express (if you're an Agatha Christie fan you know what I'm talking about)
29. Learn curling (or in the words of Michael Scott...curdling)
30. Get a Master's degree
31. Learn to Tango
32. Visit the Harry Potter theme park (I know, I know...don't judge me)
33. Eat gelato in Italy
34. Go on a Lord of the Rings tour of New Zealand
35. Finish my bucket list (in other words, more to come another day)...

Where I Want to Travel: Japan

So, sorry for the delay in posts. School took over my life once again, and when there is a 12 page paper to be done, I can't do anything else.

Except maybe watch the office.

And maybe be on facebook every once in a while...

And bake a ton of cookies....

But other than that, it was all about my paper (and my other paper and test...gross I know). Luckily only being super busy twice in one semester is not that bad. I got really lucky with all the classes I picked.

But anyway...I'm back, and was inspired by Bing's homepage yesterday. If you use Bing.com you know they always have really cool pictures for there homepage, it this is what I came upon yesterday...

wedded rocks

Needless to say, driving to Galveston to watch the sunset will no longer cut it. All I want to do is hop on a plane and go to Japan. This is not the only sight to see, but this...

cherry blossoms

and this...

Mt. Fugi

and this...

sumo wrestlers

Ok, maybe not necessarily that but you could if you wanted to. And I apologize. It came up in the Japan search and I just couldn't help myself.

Also, you can eat authentic Japanese sushi...

(food, of course the real reason I want to go...)

So, yes, I want to go to Japan. Another place to add to my bucket list (which in writing that sentence I realized I should write a blog post about that! Check back soon...). Maybe since I'll be not so far away in the next coming months, I can take a detour and stop for some sushi and sightseeing in Japan :)

And again, sorry about being absent for so long. I promise it won't happen again...or at least not until finals roll around.

Mexico fact and quotes

There is a more serious post to come later, but here is the lighter side of our trip :)

• Mexican vanilla is far superior to any other vanilla (and way cheaper as well) :)

• Roosters really crow at sunrise. And not just then either. Really they crow all day.
• "I don't know what that is on my plate, but it just jumped." - Logan Koontz
• Everything is very brightly colored. Say goodbye to dully colored houses when you cross the border and welcome the hot pinks and sky blues (with a very brightly colored orange sprinkled here and there).
• "Hasta Manaña" - Efrain, one of the kids at our VBS on the last day. I explained to him that we would be returning to the US the next day, so there would be no VBS, but still as he walked into his house he still called out "hasta manaña" to us.

this is me with Efrain and his cousin Thelma

• It can rain in the desert. It can also go from 80 degrees to 40 degrees in a matter of hours because of the rain.
• There is no such thing as OSHA.

very safe

• "We almost didn't make it!" - me, at the bucket list summit (how ironic)
• As soon as you cross the border, you can tell you are not in Kansas anymore...or Texas in our case (especially since Kansas does not share a border with Mexico).
• Just because you speak with a Mexican accent doesn't mean you speak Spanish...
• There are no driving rules. On our last day there I was driving down an un-striped highway and yes, I just drove in the middle of the rode. Also going 120kph in an 80kph zone is perfectly acceptable.
• Duck, Duck, Goose, or Pato, Pato, Ganzo is very popular across the border.

• You can run out of water. Girls were taking showers and the water just stopped. Also if you get a hot shower you are very lucky.
• You can't flush toilet paper (same as China)
• "Aunque no marche..." - Everyone, but especially Katie
• There is only 1 gas station - the Oxxo - and they have great coffee and Manzana (said in my Mexican accent!)
• Everyone, and I mean everyone, can cook good rice, beans, tacos and tamales. It is probably a requirement of being Mexican.
• They have advertisements (just like the US) to live without drugs (vive sin drogas!).

Adios!

Or maybe "hasta luego" is more appropriate because I'm not leaving for good, but only for a week.

¿Why? (¿por que? I'm promise not to do this the whole post...)

Because...porque...

Estoy yendo a Mexico! (or I'm going to Mexico)

That's why I won't be here. But be prepared when I get back (Friday, March 19) for lots of pictures and stories.

70ish of us from CBC are going are going to partner with a local church across the border, and I'm really excited to see how Father is going to use me and our team during our time overseas.

During our time there we will be painting the church in the morning and in the afternoon we'll be holding a VBS, or EBV en espanñol =), for orphans in the city we´ll be in. It's gonna be a great trip, and interesting because I've been practicing mi español and it usually only comes to me in Chinese.

So, you have a week of waiting, followed by lots of posts (there are several things I've been needing to blog about but haven't had time/have been recovering from my school death week). I hope everyone enjoys their spring break and I´ll see y´all in a week!!!

Where I Want to Travel: Iceland

So I've decided I'm going to use my blog as sort of a bucket list (along with all the other purposes it has). I have a bunch of things I want to do, and I'm afraid I will forget if it isn't written down somewhere. And maybe this way I get inspire some of my friends to do these things with me :)

Something I love to do is travel. I love new places and the idea of experiencing new cultures. Iceland is somewhere I have wanted to go for awhile now. I feel like people there are so lucky (at least during the summer) because it is so beautiful. When I see pictures of nature and scenery I am overcome with emotion and feel that in that moment I am even closer to appreciating the the creativeness and beauty of my God who created all things.

I have recently become slightly obsessed with blogging (not just writing them but finding new ones to read and look at). I now see what the hype is about. While I was doing this I stumbled upon a blogger from Iceland who has tons of pictures of Flickr. I'm slightly jealous of this person and am even more looking forward to traveling there someday.

So I want to go to Iceland, and here's a few reason's why:

All images courtesy of Alda Kalda