It's been awhile since I posted. I had a great summer at home, visiting family and friends, working in the garden, cooking, and entertaining guests. I had a very special visitor come to Kentucky for about a week to meet more of my family and see where I come from. We visited the Kentucky State Fair, Mammoth Cave National Park, Natural Bridge, and Lincoln's Birthplace and Boyhood Home. We also visited Louisville and got to participate in the International Festival on the Belvedere. I was happy to see some old friends there. It was great to see how the festival has grown since the time that I worked there and helped to organize it. Louisville is a great city, and I was very happy to be there at such a nice time!!

Another highlight of the summer break was Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Since I will be somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean during Thanksgiving we cooked all of the traditional foods and had a big dinner in August! It was delicious and fun, and after eating we went outside and sat in the yard and talked. Hooray for great weather!! It was great to spend a lot of time outdoors this summer and fall.

The thing that made me feel oldest all summer was going to visit friends who had just had a baby! She is precious and they are as great as ever! Even tho I felt old, it was a great time. It was so nice to be with old friends again! We had fun at the Paducah Barbecue Festival and I ate way too much!

After a nice and meaningful time catching up with family and friends, I started my journey back around the world. I was very happy to stop and spend a week in the Portland area with my sister and brother-in-law. There I did some more great hiking, explored a bit of Portland and Vancouver, Washington, and came to better understand their lives there. It is always so rewarding to visit the home area of someone you love! Now when I hear them talk about their friends, their work, etc. I can put a picture with a name. Never undrestimate the value of seeing a place for yourself. Familiarity creates a bond, whether with a person or a place. I look forward to forging new bonds in the next few months!

After my time with Kate and Jon I flew back to Japan. Going from the airport to Tahara, I started to feel like I had never left Japan... It was a strange feeling, but nice to feel so at home! On the train from Toyohashi to Tahara I saw a friend/ teacher who I'd worked with, and we made a lunch date. Pretty much my whole time was like that, meeting people unexpectedly ["guzen"], and being involved in lucky coincidences. I was very happy that there was a jazz concert and a city festival, where I was able to see and talk with many friends, teachers and students. Another lucky coincidence was that my friend had an art exhibit that finished the day after I arrived, so I was able to go and see it! Beautiful stuff! I kept busy but spent really good time with friends! I also returned to most of my favorite places, and spent time showing the new English teachers around. It was great to see them so excited! I feel like the students are in good hands!

Some of the most meaningful moments for me were getting hugs from elementary kids, sitting on top of my favorite mountain, and watching the happy surprise on faces of old friends when they saw me. Probably my favorite outing was a painting session in my favorite park, followed by a super-fast lunch at a kaiten-zushi [revolving sushi bar]. It was so nice to be outside, to be with a great friend and to paint together! So happy and peaceful! I was sad to leave Tahara when the day came, but several friends saw me off. :) Then it was overnight bus to Tokyo.

I couldn't sleep terribly well but I was happy to arrive in Tokyo at 5:45 am. Not much was going on, but it was already daylight. You have to get up really early to see the sunrise in Japan! Soon enough I was off to orientation. Peace Boat Orientation was 4 days of training, information, team-building and just getting to know the people we are going to share a boat with for 3 months. I am really happy with the team and I can't wait to get to know everybody better! I know I will learn a lot from each person! I look forward to it! I am also really excited for a new kind of teaching experience! I can't wait to work on incorporating global issues into English lessons and to plan interest- related events!

So now it is one day before I embark on the journey of a lifetime! I can't wait to learn and grow, and hopefully share my experiences with everyone! I will do my best!!