Merry Christmas!

Joyeux Noël
Selemat Hari Krismas!
Kuwa na Krismasi njema!
क्रिसमस की शुभकामनाएँ
Melkin Yelidet Beaal!
Froehliche Weihnachten!
क्रस्मसको शुभकामना तथा नयाँ वर्षको शुभकामना
Souksan van Christmas!
メリークリスマス
Feliz Navidad!
Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas!
圣诞快乐
Milad Majid!
즐거운 성탄절 되세요

What a joy it is to spend Christmas at home in Yakima this year. A Treece family Christmas: the big fake tree, the lights, the tacky Christmas decorations, the random nativities strategically placed around the house (my last count was 12), Gotta love it all. Here are some pictures of our Christmas day.

We got our holiday workout from playing the Wii




Yummy paper!

One of those days

*Sigh.......bliss.
Today was a day off. The weather was rather dreary but it was a perfect day for hot tea and soup and lots of homework! I went running this afternoon, following the curve of the ocean in the misty rain. I almost got blown off of the dock. I went into town with the intention of mailing a letter but was led astray and held captive by the newly decorated Christmas displays at Paper Products. Is it really that time of year? I bought a box of Christmas cards, because I know that I won't have time to make my own this year. I went to T&C and bought some of the most beautiful and fresh seasonal produce, went home and made the hugest and most amazing stew with chorizo. Hopefully it will last me all week.
I went back to my cabin, put away my laundry and tidied up a little bit, but with an extra spring in my step this time - I allowed myself to listen to some "pretend" Christmas music - as in not *entirely* Christmas music, but that which reminds me of the holidays. I'm going to resist the full-blown Christmas music as long as I can, because I am indeed fully aware that Christmas is still a month and a half away. My mind is racing with all the holiday possibilities - crafts, cookies, decorations - but I can't entertain those thoughts just yet. I don't have the time to have my thoughts dwell on such things!!

Connections

Here at IslandWood we teach (when I do indeed start teaching in a couple of weeks) about the interconnectedness of things. That glacier that came down a few thousand years ago that formed this landscape determined where we would live and who would live here; the trees that happened to grow here led the loggers to come here in the 19th century which eventually turned Bainbridge Island into what it is today. The glaciers, the trees, those early settlers and a myriad of other things are connected to us this day, on this Island and in this region.

On a little bit bigger of a scale is another example of connectedness. I just read an article from the bbc about the gas companies Total and Chevron being involved with the military junta in Burma.

The article can be read here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8249374.stm

Apparently Total and Chevron finance the Yadana gas pipeline project, which brings gas into Thailand. Watch groups state that the Burmese government has earned an estimated $5 billion dollars in illicit revenue from the project, discreetly hidden in Singapore banks. The Burmese army provides the security for the pipeline, which of course brings human rights abuses into the picture. The world feels like such a small place. It's hard to believe how the gas in my car could be helping support the Burmese junta, causing so much injustice happen and creating so many refugees. That the gas in my car could led those refugees to flee to Malaysia to hide in the jungles, whom I just so happened to have the opportunity and the honor to meet and to work with. And that those refugees who were oppressed by the Burmese military who were funded by my road-trip vacation happened to be resettled in Washington and happened to come to Yakima to pick fruit and happened to come to my church. Whew, that's a lot of connections.
The world's not such a simple and easy place anymore. Everything's connected, whether we realize it or not. Remember 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon?

In the Wilderness

I just finished 20 hours of wilderness first aid training. My brain is so fried. I just spent the last 48 hours what to do if someone gets struck by lightning or gets hypothermia. I learned how to irrigate a wound and put fractured bones back into place. If your eyeball gets impailed by a hummingbird, use your hand to squeeze the poor thing to death and leave it in there. If you lose a finger, I'll wrap it up nice and neat for you. I'll take care of your abrasions, lacerations, avulsions, punctures, and impaled objects. I will stabilize your C-spine whether you need it or not, and give you a full head to toe body check. I can do almost anything with ace bandages and a bandana. I had to roleplay a patient that had been in a terrible chain saw accident. I had fake blood splattered all over me yesterday.

So someday you might have your arm crushed by a fallen tree or perhaps a cougar chewed your arm off. You'll be glad to have me with you. "My name's Erin and I'm trained in Wilderness First Aid and I'm here to help you!" (p.s. all I could do for those two cases is stabilize you and wait for you to be evacuated)

Humanitarians

Happy world humanitarian day!! Although I have much to complain about the business of international aid, it has more to do with how the organizations are structured and how the money flows. There's nothing critical I can say, though, about the many people that sacrifice their comfortable lives to help others all over the world. Especially the volunteers and those living support, receiving nothing for themselves.
It's a tragedy to think of the 750 humanitarian workers that lost their lives in the last decade, but think of how many thousands or millions of people in the same time died as a result of hunger, poverty, and conflict. The lives that were worth just as much as those of the mostly Western humanitarians. I guess that's why we have world refugee day and world poverty day.


Oh happy day, humanitarians!

Humanity

They say that a society is judged by what it contributes to the welfare of the least advantaged. In the Israelites' early days, God established a social welfare system within Judaic law to take care of the 'least of these': the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger (sometimes called the foreigner or the alien). These divine laws were not just for the purpose of redistributing wealth, but to uphold the worth and dignity of every individual. To retain their humanity. I remember way back in my college days I did 'Urban Plunge' where I was dropped off on the streets of seattle with a bus ticket and a quarter for an emergency phone call, leaving me and 2 of my friends to fend for ourselves. After awhile we sorta got hungry so we sat in U-Village and pan-handled....begged. We had a little cardboard sign and everything..."Spare change?" It was so embarrassing. Even though I knew that I wasn't really homeless, I felt so judged and dis-respected. Maybe I judged myself as I unconsciously judged others so many times before. Poverty not only deprives - it humiliates and robs you of your humanity.

But in Israel, God's laws were put in place to avoid this kind of humiliation. Money was given in secret, and it was taken in secret. The Temple itself had a 'hall of secrecy' where the rich could give without knowing who took it, and the poor could help themselves know knowing who gave it. The story is told of a rabbi who would leave his wood shed unlocked so that the poor could take it without the embarrassment of having to ask (when his church complained that this was getting expensive, he responded by saying that he was saving them medical expenses, since otherwise he would be forced to sit in the cold and become ill. It was impossible, he said, for him to light a fire in his own home if he knew that the poor, in other homes, were freezing.)

A question that we have to re-ask ourselves is, Who are the 'least of these'? In Biblical times is was the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigner. Israel was a society who lived off the land: if you don't own land, you have nothing. Since the foreigner could not own property, he was unable to keep up with the way in which society worked...thus doomed to the the lower rungs of society. And because it was a patriarchal society, if you lost your father or husband, you were also nothing. Women didn't own anything. Must have sucked to be a widow or an orphan. But what does this mean for us today? Who, in modern America, are the 'least of these'? Which groups of people would find it difficult to function in our economic systems and society? I would say a few of the following: Refugees and immigrants (it's difficult to find work if you understand little English, and ever more difficult to rise to anything above minimum wage these days), single mothers, the elderly, the disabled, children who are abandoned, orphaned, or victims of abuse, and anyone else who is, for one reason or another, incapable of supporting themselves and becoming productive members of society. If God were to make a new law and a new system of social justice for the modern world, I wonder what that would look like. I'm guessing that it wouldn't look very much like our current immigration and welfare systems.

All I know is that the best way to restore dignity to a person is to empower them. "...You shall strengthen him, be he a stranger or a settler, he shall live with you...." (Lev. 25:35) Lift them up and equip them so that they can stand on their own. Relief (as opposed to Development) and hand-outs aren't bad; sometimes they're even necessary - but tomorrow they will be coming back for more. But I look forward to the day when they can stand on their own two feet, stop receiving, and start giving.

Baptism

On July 12 my little niece Aubrey was baptized. It was a joyous celebration of new life, of God's grace, and gratefulness for being part of God's family. She wore the dress that my sister wore for her baptism, over 30 years ago.

Whirlwind

Over the summer I have spent more than a month in Phoenix. In that space of time, many things have happened:

A new baby has been born (an aunt for the 8th time!) and baptized.







I started training for a half marathon...September 13!

I saw some rather wonderful kid's movies: Nim's Island (satiated my childhood passion to be a marine biologist) and Kit Kitridge (I loved American Girl dolls!) Aubrey went to her first movie, at the tender age of 6 weeks.



I got a new camera.



I went to the wedding of my very first friend in Cincinnatti.

I road-tripped it to Tennessee, to visit my aunt and uncle, in their new house:




I ate fried chicken at the very first KFC...Colonel Sanders Cafe. In Kentucky, of course.




I got a new driver's license...finally, it's horizontal!

I started watching the Bachelorette. It was an attempt at sisterly-bonding, but I totally got sucked in. I'm so excited for the finale on Monday (Reid comes back ---with a ring!!) I have to admit that I'm a sucker for Ed, and believe along with all of America that Wes is a jerk and Tanner is just...wierd,

I saw the amazing musical 'Wicked'. Glenda the Good Witch's dress looked EXACTLY like the dress that came with my Barbie Ice Princess in 2nd grade.



I went camping, in a trailer.




I started teaching ESL to a group of amazing Karen refugees in Yakima.



I got my first materials and textbook list for school, which starts in ONE month. A terrifying thought.

Speaking of books, my summer book-list: 'The Middle of Everywhere: Helping refugees enter the American community', the always-interesting travel writings of Paul Theroux, 'Freedom of Simplicity' by Richard J. Foster, and I'm just finishing up 'To Heal a Fractured World' by a Jewish rabbi. There's probably a few that I've read and already forgotten.

I ate at the always delicious Cracker Barrel and the delectable Skyline Chili...mmmmm. Just look at that mound of cheese!




I suffered through 117 degree heat....and I spent a great deal of time lounging in pools and/or swimming laps.



All of that, and lots of Skype.

That is a snapshot of the last month and a half of my life. I'm tired just reading it.

cacophonies

When I was studying for my GRE test one of the vocabulary words I memorized was "cacophony".


ca·coph·o·ny (kə-kŏf'ə-nē)
n. pl. ca·coph·o·nies
1.Jarring, discordant sound; dissonance: heard a cacophony of horns during the traffic jam: a cacophony of hoots, cackles, and wails.
2.The use of harsh or discordant sounds in literary composition, as for poetic effect.
3. Music. frequent use of discords of a harshness and relationship difficult to understand.

I've never truly understood what this word truly meant until yesterday. Combine six children, piano practice, a kareoke machine, a megaphone, a screaming baby, a nephew counting your last 10 minutes on the treadmill by the second, and another one trying to crawl onto the belt behind me, all while listening to my ipod and the hum of the treadmill underneath my feet - somewhere between the blaringly loud episodes of Hannah Montana and the Suite Life of Zach and Cody, I lost it. A little peace and quiet, please? Remind me never to have 6 children.

But I gotta love 'em :)

Chromosomes

I hated Genetics with a passion. I tended to dislike any kind of biology that is too small for me to see with the naked eye (which rules out genetics, cell, molecular bio, etc.) Staring into microscopes all day make me dizzy. This class sucked twice as much because it was during the dreaded winter quarter at SPU...January through March is not a pleasant time to live in Seattle. Only one word can explain it: BLAH. To make matters even worse, the class was at 8am. Which means, I had to walk to class everyday in the dark, cold, and rainy Seattle winter mornings.

Right after I graduated the hard drive of my laptop melted. I lost everything - all my hard work from college. Tonight I was scouring my room looking for a flash drive and I found an old 256mb stick. To my surprise, it contained some of my work from SPU! This is a chromosome that I took a picture with with a ridiculously expensive microscope/machine:



Because I was all too eager to throw out all my notes after my Genetics class ended, I don't know where this chromosome is from or how I got it. All I vaguely remember is that those red bands on them mean something, and mine didn't turn out nearly as pretty as everyone elses. My chromosomes were all tangled up while the others were nice and straight.

One of my worst classes in college was my last quarter of my senior year (same as Genetics, lucky me!) - Chemical Equilibrium and Analysis. A class all about equations and measuring things. It was as fun as it sounds. I have no tolerance when it comes to labs in general, but especially Chemistry labs. I have no 'technique'. Every good chemistry/biology major knows his/her way around the lab and is very cautious and keeps a steady hand. Most of them, after all, will be surgeons some day. I, on the other hand, am completely sloppy and careless. No matter how hard I tried, I never did anything right. I always poured a little too much in the beaker, heated it a little too fast, or blew something up. I made a beaker full of hazardous materials explode one time....my super genius lab partner wasn't too thrilled about that.

This is one of my lab write-ups that I found on my memory stick. This is proof that, at one point, I knew what the word 'spectrophotometric' meant. Check out those formulas. And those numbers, rounded to the nearest thousandth of a milliliter. Wondering what #DIV/0! means? It means MALFUNCTION! OVERLOAD! CRITICAL ERROR! The equations themselves are mocking me.

Spectrophotometric Determination of an Equilibrium Constant

Mixture Volume (mL) A Total volume (mL) [Fe3+]I [SCN-] [Fe3+]I[SCN-] A([Fe3+]+[SCN-]) A/[Fe3+]I[SCN-] A([Fe3+]+[SCN-])/[Fe3+]I[SCN-]
1 1.00 0.119 101 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
2 2.00 0.216 102 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
3 3.00 0.292 103 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
4 4.00 0.355 104 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
5 5.00 0.408 105 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
6 6.00 0.453 106 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
7 7.00 0.488 107 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
8 8.00 0.518 108 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
9 9.00 0.543 109 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
10 10.00 0.564 110 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!

I look at things like this and think: WHY AM I GOING BACK TO SCHOOL!!!? I have to reassure myself that I never have to look at a chromosome again if I don't want to. Nor do I have to remember what element Fe stands for. IRON!! It's ingrained in me, I can't help it.

Addendum

So now that Michael Jackson is dead, I feel bad for writing that last post. How was I supposed to know that his heart had already stopped when he got to the hospital? Farrah Faucett, Michael Jackson, Billy Hayes...which celebrity is going to go down next?

One of my friends posted this on her facebook status update:

"Since this has happened, I have not seen any news about the brutal post-election violence in Iran, the intense bombings in Baghdad or the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan. Thank you Michael Jackson, for finally bringing peace to the Mideast."

It's what MJ would have wanted.

News

I was checking up on the news online at news.bbc.co.uk just a minute ago and these are the top 5 most popular stories of the moment:

MOST READ STORIES NOW

* Michael Jackson taken to hospital
* Screen star Fawcett dies aged 62
* Michael Jackson: Highs and lows
* 'Stoned wallabies make crop circles'
* Strip-search of US girl illegal

Seriously, people? Is this really all we care about? I don't claim to know much, but I'm sure there's a whole lot more going on in the world than crop-circle-creating wallabies and Michael Jackson.

A Malaysian experience in Yakima

I met my new best friends tonight. Ok so maybe they won't be my 'best' friends, but they're probably going to be my favorite people in Yakima this summer. A few weeks ago I heard about a group of Burmese refugees that recently moved to Yakima to work for the fruit season (or as one man put it, he works in an 'apple garden'). My church is sort of 'adopting' them. My parents have been spear-heading most of the efforts: bringing them to church (they are from the Karen and Chin tribes, which are Christian), taking them to Wal-Mart, etc., and I'm so happy to see how excited they are about helping them. Since I've been gone in Phoenix for the last 2 1/2 weeks, I just met them for the first time tonight. It just so happens that most of them had lived in Malaysia before being resettled, so we had a lot to chat about. I never thought I'd get the chance to practice my Malay in Yakima!! It was a joyous sight to see men in wraparound skirts, to take my shoes off at the front door and have a seat on the floor. One does not do such things in Yakima.

While in Malaysia I visited a lot of different Burmese refugee groups - those living (hiding) in the jungle, on plantations, and in urban areas. I never met a refugee I didn't like. They all have a story to tell - mostly heart-breaking ones, but you can tell in their eyes that the struggle has made them stronger. They speak of children they've left behind, the human-traffickers they had to give their whole life savings to just to bring them across the border, the danger of the journey from Burma to Malaysia (often by FOOT), and the dangers of living in Malaysia - a country which sadly refuses to acknowledge them as refugees. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, they are arrested and find themselves in detention camps, where they can be held indefinitely or be deported to the Thai border. Through an unjust agreement between the Malaysian and Thai immigration officers and Thai fishermen, the refugees are commonly sold to Thai fishing boats and forced to work at sea. When they decide they are done with them, the Thai fisherman throw the refugees overboard. Or perhaps you heard the story of the Thai navy forcing hundreds of refugees out to sea in boats without engines. They were found near the Andaman Islands, more than 2 weeks later.

But these guys are the lucky ones!! I haven't had the chance to hear their stories yet. But I'm sure that they are equally tragic and compelling, because even if they didn't get sold into slavery or stranded out in sea, the life of a refugee is full of grief, injustice and pain.

Refugees have three realistic options: repatriation, integration, and resettlement. Of course, most refugees would prefer return back to their homeland and back to their families they have left behind (repatriation). Integration isn't an option in a place like Malaysia where they have no rights, or Thailand where there are few jobs for them. I'm interested to know if they are happy with their resettlement and how they feel about America. So many questions I want to ask!!

Starting this weekend, I will begin ESL classes with them Saturday and Sunday evenings. I'm giddy with excitement!!

Long lost photos

So my camera decided to break down the week I left Penang. I left it there in the hopes of getting it fixed for cheaper than here, but it turns out that it won't be fixed at all. I'm still trying to decide what camera I want to get next, so in the mean time I am stuck without a camera and have had to resort to my crappy camera phone. I have pictures on my phone from forever ago, and I always forget to take them off - plus the quality is so crappy that I usually don't even bother taking pictures with my phone in the first place. Here are some random shots of my life in the past 2 years.

One time I was took a trip from my itty bitty town of Mbita, Kenya to Kisumu. I should have known never to take the ferry on a Wednesday, because that also happened to be market day, which means all the cattle sellers turned the passenger/car ferry into a cow ferry.


Kenya is not known for its turkeys - they're unheard of, actually. So when we found these baby turkeys in town, we had to buy them and fatten them up for Thanksgiving. We had to hold them on our laps on the drive home.



Running is one of my favorite things to do in Africa. On the dusty roads winding from fishing village to fishing village, it's like an obstacle course of goats, cows, goat and cow poo, potholes, and trucks. Every morning about 20 children on their way to school would jog with me, at least as far as their skinny little legs would allow....only two of them usually made it all the way with me. Sometimes I would stop and wait for the little ones to catch up. Even the women balancing laundry, dishes, and fish on their heads would run with me. Have you ever heard of lake flies? Let me just tell you that you don't want to run straight into a swarm of them like I did. There was never a dull moment.




I tagged along with some friends of mine to Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. I didn't feel like doing poverty tourism that day, so I ditched the gigantic camera in favor of the much more discreet cell phone.



People love these pictures, as you can tell.

He speaks!

Today I heard the president of the United States speak for the very first time. I know, I know. I must be living under a rock. How could I never have heard the voice of my president and the most powerful man in the world, after a tedious year of campaigning and 4 months in office?

I've read about his eloquence and his powerfully delivered speeches, and his presence and cool demeanor. I READ about them. And I did read almost all his speeches, too. The presidential debates, the inauguration speech...I tried to keep up with American politics last year, even though I don't understand it.

But all I had was the internet. My news media of choice is bbc.com. It was on this website that I read his beautifully written words and his well delivered (so it was suggested) speeches.

Since I've been home I have been avoiding the television. My parents just got a super huge flat screen HD TV for the family room and I barely can even figure out how to turn it on. The only thing I've watched is one (ok maybe two) episodes of Oprah.

I turned on the TV today and there he was, in all his High Definition presidential glory. President Obama speaking about credit card interest rates. He made it sound fascinating. I couldn't stop looking at him. Even thought I don't care about credit card interest rates, it sounded important because it was coming from HIM. It was just a 30 second or so clip, but that was all I needed to be convinced.

I feel like I'm way back at the beginning of the presidental campaign. THIS is what the hype was about.

WA Run

I went for my first 'Back in WA' run on Friday. At first, I was wary about whether I could fare the 60 degree weather (brr!), and if I could brave the outdoors. I'm such a pansy. Having just arrived the afternoon before, I hadn't yet stepped foot out of my house. The idea of 'out there' was rather frightening.

It's amazing how CLEAN AIR makes so much of a difference! No suffocating humidity, or smog from motorbikes or cars. No smoke from burning trash or burning incense from the neighborhood Hindu temple. The air was crisp and clear and smelled like orchard. The cherry trees and the wildflowers in the desert are in full bloom. No mangy stray dogs to leap over, and no traffic to fear. Cars here actually go AROUND you. I could actually run in the day time...I didn't have to go out in the wee hours of the morning or eveningtime to escape the sweltering heat. I didn't have to bring my good morning towel, and I hardly perspired at all, in fact. No long and uncomfortable stares from the migrant workers. Strangers wave and say hello. The lawns are lush and green, and everyone seemed to be working (or paying someone to work) in their yards (including my mother). There's no trash, anywhere. The perfection of it all makes it a little bit creepy, like Wisteria Lane. But the long, open roads are refreshing. So THIS is what running feels like.

It'll never be the same as my rainforest runs. Reuben my faithful training partner/coach is not here to motivate me. We'll see how I adjust.

[Note: my sunday run was on the treadmill]

Back to America

It's so surreal to be back on American soil. I always wondered how the transition would feel like. My head is still foggy, so I don't don't really know. I went to bed at 7:30 and woke up this morning at 5:30. It's 8am now and I'm already exhausted.

It's funny how my habits have changed so much in a year, for little things that you wouldn't normally think about. Like I always knew I would, I went straight to the wrong side of the car. I will have to get used to this. I freaked out at a few oncoming cars on the right side, but good thing I wasn't driving. I have to re-learn how to cross the street. Here it's "left right left", instead of the Malaysian "right left right left right left". Good thing pedestrians have the right of way! There are so many white people here, and that's normal. I need lotion. I had to re-heat my tea 2 times because it gets cold so fast. The light switches are in different places. The eggs are white. The toilet seats are especially cold. I don't fear my bed collapsing on me at any second. I looked for a sponge in the sink to do my dishes but there's only a dishwasher. The milk is delicious. My hands are always freezing, and I have to wear socks. The showers are steamy and my hair doesn't air-dry in 30 minutes. I met my new niece!

Speaking of changes, there are so many signs of spring here. My mom's tulips and daffodils have bloomed beautifully, as they do every year. The trees are full of white and pink and purple.





I have a stack of Peeps and Cadbury eggs (genuine signs of Easter), at my request. The remnants of easter basket jelly beans (those are always the last to go) sit in a jar on the table. Fresh strawberries!!

My mom had 3 strategically placed "welcome back" signs prepared for me: one at the airport (one guy told he was jealous and wished he had someone to greet him like that), one in my room, and a rather large banner on the garage door to greet me in the driveway. How thoughtful mom. Olivia made many other "welcome back" signs that she taped all over the house. I feel very welcome.

Japan

I am in Tokyo – at least when I am writing this. After an uncomfortable sleepless night in the Bangkok airport, I boarded my flight to Japan. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have my own personal tv. The movie that they played was something about a guy inventing intermittent windshield wipers. How exciting. An American guy came and sat across the aisle from me. He sat down in the seat and said, “Another one of those tight ones!” No sir, it is not the SEAT that is tight. A stewardess kindly brought him a seatbelt extension. As soon as he opened his mouth he didn’t stop. For six hours. When he wasn’t chatting, he was snoring. I feel so bad for the little, innocent Japanese girl that had to sit by him and listen to all of this. If I were her, I would have pretended to not speak English, or at least have used the ipod trick for ignoring someone. After awhile, he started showing off his martial arts moves and flailing his elbows everywhere and across the aisle.
As all this ruckus was going on beside me, I was gawking at the ever-entertaining SkyMall magazine. It’s always the same, never changes, and yet I can’t peel my eyes away. I can’t stop staring at all that useless crap. The stuff people THINK they need! This is why I find it so fascinating. It IS refreshing and somewhat comforting to know, however, that after all these years, they still have the Kitty Fresh Water Drinking Fountain, the Worlds Largest Crossword Puzzle, and even the Aerating Lawn Shoes! You know you remember them too. In an attempt to modernize, a few new things have been added to the catalog, such as a Digital Camera Snorkel Mask and the Dog Indoor Bathroom Lawn.

Like I said, I am in Japan. I have been here many times, and yet I have never left the airport. I should venture out sometime. I’m pretty much the only one in the airport that isn’t wearing a mask. Health inspectors wearing their blue lab coats are carrying around their fever-detection equipment. I hope I don’t get swine flu. I’ve been trying to drink as many fluids as I can in order to take advantage of the amazing Japanese toilets.



I have one more 9 hour flight ahead of me, then I officially step foot on the US of A! I don't know if I'm ready for this.

Farewell Asia

This is my last post in Malaysia. I fly out at 10pm tonight, exactly 6 hours from now.

I had my last hot and sweaty Malaysian run this morning and my last swim in the currently green pool. I have my last pau (ok maybe two) packed and ready to go. Thanks Reuben :) I'm eating my last masala tosei for dinner on the way to the airport. After that, I'm good to go.

I arrived in Malaysia 15 months ago in one 50lb backpack, and I am leaving with almost 100 pounds of baggage. I have no idea how my stuff doubled in weight.

I'm sad to leave, at least I think I am. My mind hasn't realized yet. I'm so used to coming and going from places, it has become routine. I'm still pretty emotionless and feel rather indifferent right now. The emotions always hit me at the most in-opportune times. We'll see when it happens this time, and which strangers or airline personnel have to awkwardly witness this event.

Goodbye Malaysia! Farewell, for now at least. I'll miss you :(

Signing out from Asia, erin.

The Seedy side of Thailand

I returned 2 weeks ago from a trip to Thailand and Laos. I got busy when I got back to Penang that it took me awhile to settle down and go through my pictures. Now that I have more time on my hands, I can start getting caught up.

My first stop in Thailand was Pattaya, for a stay of just under a week. It's the only place in the world that I have vowed NEVER to go back to. It's the epitome of everything I despise about a place. Lonely Planet has the best description: "A heavy-breathing and testosterone-fuelled testament to holiday hedonism". I'll just leave it at that.

Nevertheless, I did find a few things in Pattaya to be thankful for. Four things, to be exact:

Chun-jo, the Korean-Thai Chihuahua. It's the only Chihuahua I've ever truly enjoyed. We stayed at the Rodem House, a Christian guesthouse run by Korean missionaries...and it was only because of these connections that we came. Good thing number one.



Good thing number 2: Pad Thai.



Now that I've counted, those are the only two good things I found there. But I have a few other 'interesting but not necessarily 'good' things' to add

Interesting find number one:
A van-turned-hookah/alcohol bar-turned restaurant-turned Bob Marley memorial-turned tattoo parlor. It had quite the set up with the neon rope lights. Just consider it a mobile tattoo parlor!




Interesting find number two:
Just your neighborhood weapons dealer.



That is all I have to say about Pattaya.