Things are beginning...

Well, things are beginning to settle down a bit. And in no time, things will start to actually become routine. (Funny that!?!) That will all start to happen once classes start next week. It seems like I've been here forever, time creeps by when there's no fixed plans... and as soon as you feel like your life is beginning... the time will begin to fly and in no time it's all over.... trust me... I've been here before. :-)
I took SO many pics when I was up North I thought I'd share some more with you... hope you don't mind. :-)
Believe it or not behind that huge white cloud in the pic there's a really nice mountain!! It's called Mt. Chokai and sometime next summer I plan on climbing it... again. I've tried to climb to the top a couple of times but have always been foiled. ;-)This is also a picture of the town where I used to live... and this pic is perfect because it highlights the rice and the mountains nicely.

I couldn't help but sneak in another great pic of Haguro. It was such a stunning day... I could have taken SO many pics! But decided to limit the number to just really cool pics... I hope I don't make anyone jealous. ;-)

Here's a novelty pic... I finally got to eat sushi when I was in Sendai. Now this is kaiten sushi, conveyor belt sushi. I just thought it would be funny to take a pic of ALL the sushi that was going round and round on the conveyor belt. :-) It amused me!!


I hope my pics have amused you all as well... Talk to you again soon.

love,
lish xx

BIG Yamagata update!

Ok... so last weekend/this week, I spent a lot of time back in Yamagata. Shonai to be exact. It was kind of weird in one way, because it kind of felt like I didn't belong. But in another way, it felt like I was finally home. i got to see some of my old students, I even got to help teach a few classes. Man, am I ever glad I'm not still doing that job. Filling in for a bit was fun, but 3 years of doing English lessons all day was quite enough. So... the following are some pics from my time up north... heck, north is always where I feel comfortable!

Me at Haguro on the red bridge... Ahhhh... I love that place!!
It also helped that the weather was absolutely gorgeous that day too!!



This is a pic taken from Haguro of the Shonai plain. Can't see it too well, but it's there... and you can tell that it was really nice and sunny that day too! Could hardly believe it. :-)
This one is a great Bond-girl pose, don't you think?? These little 4th graders were all playing with airsoft guns (surely they're a bit young!?!) so we had to pose like this. Was really funny seeing how these kids have grown up a bit. :-)

This last one is me and one of my old students, Naoya. He's currently studying to get into the pilot's program for the Japanese Self-Defense force (Jieitai). He's a really bright kid and I can't wait to see what he does next, once he graduates high school. :-)

These are just a small sampling of pics... there's LOTS more. May have to do an update part 2 or something. Hope you like this sample, I had tons of fun at "home."
Love you all!

Hockey in Japan!

So, the other day I was able to see a scrimmage between two university hockey teams here. It was a long cry from UAF-style hockey, but it was still hockey and I had a great time watching. I will definitely be watching a LOT of hockey this year. Yay!! I'm stoked. I had to rub it in with some pictures as well... ;-)
It was defininitely fun to be watching hockey again... :-)

Hope I made everyone at home a tiny bit jealous!!! ;-) Love you guys!!

Fun and Games in Japan!

So there's always something amusing about Japan. You've got this country with ancient culture, but HUGE highrises... you've got station wagons that are completely G-ed out because they are in fact the coolest mode of transportation and there's even coffee that is apparently trying to make people "deep-ressed." Go figure!?!
With the combinations of interesting and absurd, this country is a MUST visit. If for the sole fact that you want to see if the coffee will indeed leave you "deep-ressed" or not! ;-)
Hope these pics make you smile... :-)

First Japan update!

So, I made it back to Japan in one piece. No major issues... except for a HUGE epiphany about the Chinese language. It's UGLY and I don't really like listening to it. No more flights via Taipei for me!! ;-)

I've only had a few days and I've decided I like where I'm going to be living this year. Pretty lucky, eh?? ;-) It's a little ways from where I'll be going to university, but that's better because I'll be in the middle of Tokyo for school. It's nice and quiet out here in Kokubunji.

I have taken a few goofy pictures since I got back... so I'll attach the best of them. Don't worry... there will be plenty more pics being taken in the near future. And then I will post them right on here!

Anyone remember the Oz swimming star Ian Thorpe. Well in Japan he's famous enough that he gets his own sports drink!! In case it's blurred... it's called THORPEDO!! ;-)

Alisha's a REAL girl!!

I went to a wedding a week ago... and I even dressed up! :-) As you do when you go to a wedding. Much to the amazement of my guy friends... I am a girl... who wears dresses and heels and everything. :-) Here's some proof!
Dress is old... shoes are new... and there's a whole, new feminine Alisha... who knew!?!

Adventures in Alaska!!

So... these are pictures from camping with my Dad. We went down to Healy (near Denali Park) to work on the cabin that my parents bought (it was only half finished) last year. We've got the view... my camping face... and my Dad doing all the hammering. Too bad I'm too small and all I could do it measure the boards. Bummer!! More pics to come soon!! ;-)

Pictoral update!!

So, I know that I have been remiss in posting pictures of things and activities in my life. SO... here's the grand update with everything from pictures of Hawaii to me and Yo (my boyfriend!). I'll add commentary when needed. ;-)


This first picture is of the view (toward the mountains) from my apartment in Waikiki. It was quite the experience... but I would have to say I'll not be living in Waikiki whenever I do return to Hawaii. ;-)








This is my fantastic roommate Nicole! We were actually heading out for a great night out in Waikiki when we got one of our other roommates to take this pic. We had a blast that night and I miss her so much!!






This next pic is of Nicole, Mimmi and me on Easter. They wanted to come to church with me, so we all made a jolly group as we headed to church. After the service we had a fab brunch at the church. They were so impressed with church and the food afterwards. It was a great Sunday and I'm so glad we all went together.













Here's a picture of a beach that Yo and I went to. It was pretty, but windy that day.










And this next picture is also that day. Yo and I took a bajillion pictures... but for some reason I kept closing my eyes! (I took off my sunnies, you see!) So, we finally got a good picture in. ;-) Anyway, these are my updated photos. I just returned from an interesting weekend of "camping" so I'll be posting some of those pics soon!

*SIGH*

I've been house-sitting for the last couple of weeks. Living away from the ol' family. Driving their nice Toyota Highlander. It was GREAT! But now they get back tonight. Which means I'm heading home to be with the fam again and give up the nice freedom of NOT being at home. And so... I sigh. ;-)

However, I really need to start a countdown to Japan. It's getting close... I have 56 days to go!! Yay!! Am really, really, really stoked!! So, if there's anyone who has ever had an itch to explore Japan... now's your chance to come visit. ;-) I'll be there from September '06 to end of July '07. Exciting!!!!!

Hope all's well with everyone!

Have you ever seen....

a rainbow growing? It was SO cool. I left work the other night around 11pm and there was this bright sliver of rainbow off in the distance. As I drove along... the rainbow started to grow. It got to be about half a rainbow. And then I noticed I could see it growing as I drove along. I'd NEVER seen that before! As I got to the house where I was house-sitting the rainbow was full... AND HUGE!! It was so amazing! I've live in Hawaii... and seen a ton of rainbows. But the one the other night was by far the coolest!!

Just wanted to share! Hope things are well!!

Did a dumb thing...

So, I just had two days off... nice relaxing (relatively so) and then I had to work today. I made the silly assumption that I had to work at 7am. I thought it was pretty fair since I'd worked those hours last week. Too bad I didn't call work yesterday to check... I actually don't have to work until 3:00 this afternoon. Eeeek!! If I had just called, I would have known. Oh well... that happens sometimes. Grrrr...

Hope you're having a good day. I get to go through stuff in the garage today! Wheeee!!

ttfn

Back in Alaska!

So, I've neglected my blog as of late...

I was in Michigan right after school ended for a vacation/family reunion. I was freezing when I arrived there... but by the time I left I was more than ready. The 90+ degrees and 80%+ humidity made that completely clear.

When I arrived back home in Alaska last Wednesday I was in for a rude awakening. It was on 60 degrees!! And what's worse is that two days ago it snowed and it's been in the low 30s every morning when I drove to work. Eeeeek!! This is NOT June weather in Alaska. I promise.

I've been working since Friday. And on Saturday I started working 7-4. Argh!! I hate mornings. Needless to say, I am more than ready for the two days off than ever before. And I've only been working for the last 5 days. How is the rest of the summer going to go?? Don't want to even think about that!

Anyway... there's the general overview of things. I'll get back in the swing of my blog soon... I promise!

Hey all!

Things have been a bit crazy around here lately. Last week I went to Michigan for a few days to attend my grandma's funeral. I'm back and haven't had time to take a breath since I got back on Monday. I have a presentation today... two finals on Monday and Tuesday and then I'm done! This weekend should be TONS of fun. Haha... I will be able to go to kendo though!

Hope everyone else is doing well... I know I'm just trying to survive for now!

Take care.

A xx

This week....

Is going to be crazy hectic! Eeek! I have to meet with my research seminar professor to discuss things with my research paper tomorrow. I have to make some serious changes to the paper... but that's what happens after the initial rough draft.

Then I have to get to the airport by 5 on Wednesday to head to Michigan for my Grandma's funeral. On the way there I have to work on what I'm going to say at her funeral. It'll be nice to be around my immediate family... the extended portion... hmmm... not sure what to say about them. They are the epitome of dysfunctional and that's the just the tip of the iceberg! Lord give me patience.

That's what the week looks like for me... hope yours is a bit less crazy!

sad

I just wanted to let people know that my Grandma died yesterday. She was 89 and led a very long life, but it was very sudden and it's hitting my family pretty hard. So, if you would keep us in your prayers that would be great.

The birthday report...

Holy cow!! My birthday last week was great. I actually had more fun at my party the night before than on the actual day... but whatever that doesn't matter.

Thursday night a bunch of my friends came out for dinner at one of my favorite Japanese restaurants. Where we ate great food... drank far too much and just had a generally good time. And I got some great presents... not that that's what birthdays are all about, but that is a nice bonus!

From Yo I got some awesome Victoria's Secret perfume, bath gel, etc. He was on the mainland over Spring Break (we have no VS here!!) and brought it back. It's awesome and all smells good!!! I got cute earrings from Ji yon and some Hi-Chews (Japanese candy). I got a new Nike sports bra from Kenzo (weird coming from a guy, but whatever!?!).

Friday I got up and went to watch gymnastics with Nicole, which was awesome. Then I got back to the apartment and got a cool green Nike bag from Nicole!! Got a cute tank top from Mimmi and Emily that says "Miso Hot." And opened the package from my parents that had an awesome Patagonia capilene sports top, chocolate truffles and awesome eye shadow. It was GREAT!!!

Then we went to Tiki's for dinner (shhh... I had a better time on Thursday night!!)...

Also, big shout ot to Em and Jason who called on my birthday... it was GREAT to talk to them!

Hope you are all having a great week. :-)

One day and counting...

So tomorrow I officially turn the big 26!!! Eeeek.... I'll be on the older side of my twenties. Funny thing is... I don't feel that old at all. In fact I feel like I only graduated high school a few years ago... and that university was just last year. But... we all know how time flies while life is happening. Haha...

I am also very lucky because, just like Truman, University of Hawaii gives us a long weekend over Easter... SO... I get my birthday off!! That doesn't mean that I'm going to go crazy with the partying tonight or anything...

Hope you're all having a great day!

Once again I failed!!

After great intentions for my blog, I still managed to fail!! It's been a week since I updated it... :-(

What happened last week... It flew by!! Seriously, it went from Monday to Friday in about .5 seconds... I could hardly believe it! I got a lot of work done on my research paper and will continue working on it until it's due on Wednesday... whee! Gotta love papers... why am I in school again??
At least this semester I'm working on a paper that interests me... last semester was excrutiating.

This past weekend was my roommate Mimmi's birthday. So on Saturday we had a party and at precisely 12am Nicole and I started a rousing, slightly off-key, round of "Happy Birthday." It was a good night and the even better thing... when Mimmi and Emily came home... I kept right on sleeping... no 4am waking up or anything!!

So, Honolulu turns 100 this year. Last weekend there was supposed to be a festival helping to celebrate this landmark occasion... but due to the rain, it was postponed to this weekend. Nicole and I decided a few days ago that it would be fun if we went... and she wanted to go on the Zipper. Now, I foolishly said that I'd go on it with her... heehee... As a kid, I was never that adventurous... I only went on the egg roll ride at the fair once and that's because I was forced. Well, the Zipper was crazy... I just closed my eyes and went with it... Nicole and I both screamed like crazy and when we got off the whole thing had made our day.

So, if there's anyone in Fairbanks who rides the Zipper... take me too!!

The sun will come out.....

TODAY!!! Forget about tomorrow... the sun is actually out today! I went running this morning and it was GREAT!! Sun and everything. People were even at the beach in Waikiki!! Yay for sunshine!

And a BIG shout out to my runner girls!! I hope the half marathon went/is going well... I'm so jealous... maybe someday I'll live in the continental US and can join in the festivities. Wheee!! Here's to hoping anyway. ;-)

I'm going to do a bit of work on my research paper (rough draft... 11 pages and going strong!!). Wish me luck... I start back to classes tomorrow! Boo... spring break was such a bust because of the rain... but I'll try not to be too much of a downer... afterall I only have 5 weeks of classes left!

Have a BEAUTIFUL Sunday!!

Rain rain go away...

This morning...

I woke up at a little bit after 8am... got up to work on the rough draft of my research paper. Got up, fiddled around... looked out the window and saw it was still raining. Blah! Around 9:40 the rain was only barely coming down... so I thought, maybe I should go and mail my letters at the post office... then I thought, nah I can get more done on my paper...

So... round about 30 minutes later when I went to leave... it was pouring!! Within the first few minutes I was completely drenched... and a little over half an hour after that... I was looking like a wet rag and becoming very cold. Yes, cold... in Hawaii!!

If only the rain would stop... I'd be a MUCH happier person! And I'd look a lot drier while being that happy person! ;-)

Pray for SUN!!!