Off to Kyrgyzstan

Tomorrow I head off to Philadelphia for a few days of Peace Corps training before I go in country. Once in Kyrgyzstan I will have about 12 weeks worth of language, culture, safety and technical training. This training occurs six days a week for about 8 hours a day... talk about exhausting. Plus we're living with a host family, so we're dealing with culture shock, living in a new society and being immediately thrust into a family dynamic. I've been told PST (Pre-Service Training) is the toughest part of the program... I'll let you know.

But before I get there let me share about my last few weeks here in America. They were done visiting family and friends. I saw my father and sister before I left the East Coast. They are all doing well and the visit was nice. I saw the nieces and nephew as well.. which was good since I won't be seeing them for another two years. They're growing and learning and being awesome kids. Soon all three will be bigger than me... ha!

After the east coast visits with family and friends I headed back to the St. Louis area. Back there resides my mother, step-father and one of my best friends. I stayed the weekend with Debbi, the friend, and we went to an animal preservation, to the drive-in and had a general good time. She will definitely be missed. I spend time with Susan, an amazing family friend. We ran errands, got some yarn for a beautiful new scarf and got some new books for my trip. Yay! I always have a nice time with her and once again did.

The week was also spent, off and on, with my mom and her husband. We all had a nice enjoyable time going out to dinner, staying at home, packing, cleaning up the place, organizing, etc. The times were sweet, nice and enjoyable. I know we all had a good time and will treasure the moments.

So all in all... craziness in coming but a nice happy few weeks just occured... all of which will be loved and remembered.

Ode to DC

Today was my last day of work at the EPA here in Washington DC. I will soon be leaving to visit family in Virgina and back in St. Louis before I head out permantely with the Peace Corps. So I thought I'd offer some reflections regarding my one year public health fellowship.

I enjoy this area immensely. The people, the location, the culture is awesome and perfect for me. It provides me with easy access to other major cities: New York, Philadelphia, Boston for example. Yet, I'm also close to the beauty of the south: North Carolina, Raliegh/Durham, West Virginia, and am even close to beaches: Ocean City. DC is a place thriving with various cultures and people from all over the world. I've seen thousands of tourists during all kinds of weather viewing the great sites within this city. I've been able to experience the world class museums that are part of the amazing Smithsonian Institutue and have seen almost every kind of exhibit imaginable. I've hiked throughout this city, explored various aspects and neighborhoods and yet have still missed so much. I've learned a subway system so completely I don't even have to look at a map to tell you the line it's on or which direction to go. My work area is known to me like the back of my hand and walk along the streets automatically. The architecture, sites, sounds are all awesome and will be thoroughly missed.

My apartment itself was great, although a little further out then orignially planned, especially from the metro station. It was a studio, although technically considered an extended studio. It was amazingly lit with a balcony window and even had a small bedroom alcove so that the bed area was not immediately noticed when entering the apartment. It had a full kitchen and bath, complete with a dishwasher- which I've never had before. Central air and heat, pool and fitness room access, security guards, front and back key entry and floor to ceiling closets. It was a truly an amazing place. I really liked it, and it was right next door to a park and so I'd often hike through the trails. The deer, foxes, squirrels, and other neighborhood park animals will be missed. Speaking of animals I saw the world famous panda bears at the National Zoo- very cute and sweet.

My job, though, will not be missed, nor the endless amounts of bureracracy that is rampant in Washington. My job definitely did not turn out as expected and did not need someone with a Master's in Environmental Public Health. It had frustrations, times of enjoyment and lots of reading... but overall not anything that I want to do forever. It gave me a chance to see federal work and how committees, reports, and guidelines are formed. I have come to realize why it does actually take so long for change to occur and how tedious it can all be. My mentor was great and he taught me alot and allowed me to see certain sides of government. I learned more about ethics, and especially about human research ethics and know that this will be important in the future. I've expanded my knowledge regarding environmental awareness and project reviews, but althogether know it's not my future.

All in all, the place has been great for me, the job, not so much. Now it's time to visit family and friends before beginning the next stage of my life.

Separation starting

So this weekend has been an interesting one in terms of Peace Corps preparation. I have been studying the language, although have been getting extremely frustrated with Rosetta stone and the speaking section. My newest preparations were entirely unexpected and not planned and thusly, I think, are all the more valuable.

The first incidence involves modern human comforts: electricity. Over the last week the East coast was first hit by a wave of poweful storms then a round of extremely high heat- high 90s. Being naturally from the Midwest, St. Louis in particular, we are used to heat and humidity. However, the heat here came out of nowhere fast and secondly there is currently no real way to cool myself in my apartment. Why is this you may ask? Well because my air is not currently working because it runs on electricity. The previous storms that rolled through knocked out power to multiple places and have thusly affected me as well. The weird part of all this is that I have actual power- lights, but no cool air. or hot water at times. Others in my apartment complex don't even have lights... and sometimes I'll have half my outlets that work and the other half doesn't... so who knows. So basically since Friday afternoon I have been without cool air and intermitent hot water. Ironically I find it humorous because I'll be facing a very similar situation in Kyrgyzstan, although I believe they don't have air at all. So it's been a nice way to see how well I'll survive and for the most part I've been okay. The problem is that I am currently packing to move which makes everything seem hotter. Again, kinda funny. I may even do the whole Peace Corps experience and boil water for a nice warm bath.. then again probably not.

The second situation involved the Baltimore Aquarium that I went to on Saturday. Two wonderful girls from church took me there as a sort of farewell trip. We had a great time and I loved seeing all the different types of organisms found within the ocean- it's such an amazing place and so untaped and hardly studied... a science geek like me loved it. Anyways, we go to the gift shop and here's this souvenior shop filled from top to bottom with stuff. Most of it is just stupid nonsense stuff that is found in any specialized souvenior shop and I suddenly just became so disgusted and overwhelmed by this blatant display of consumerism and materialism that is so rampant in our society. I walked through rows of objects wondering why anyone would want to buy them, the incredible waste of production used to create these items and I left the store fairly soon. I watched people buying multiple gifts and found myself thinking, "Are the people your giving this to really going to care?" Probably not... they'll probably just throw it away at some time in the near future. Also does buying a souvenior make the trip any more memorable... on the contrary, depending on the gift.. no. Maybe it's just my brain beginning the necessary steps of culture separation or maybe it's a look into the future- a vision of what it's going to be like those first few months when I return. All I know was that it was definitely a unexpected place for a lesson.

Therefore, although this weekend has been harder than some weekends... it has all been great preparation for what's to come. The great thing is it hasn't really bothered me that much... definitely not as much as some tenants. The view of consumerism is something, I know, will grow and change and I may always view it differently. Human comforts are just that... comforts... and some of them can be lived without. Until next time...

Languages

So lately I've found myself beginning to mix several languages. I took German for four years in high school and was an exchange student. Some of it I remember and most of it, sadly, not; however, at times, while studying another language words, phrases, structures, grammer rules will all pop up. Sometimes my very limited Spanish will creep in. So, what have I been studying hat has caused language chaos: Russian and Kyrgyz, yep two at once.

Since I'm going to Kyrgyzstan with the Peace Corps I figured it would be helpful to start learning some of the language, especially since both languages use the Cyrillic alphabet, which is very different from ours... the Latin alphabet. (Praise- I have successfully mastered the alphabet and know what the sounds are, pronunciation, symbols, and cursive derivatives- which my Russian tutor threw on me the very first meeting... ugh!). Since Kyrgyzstan is a former USSR republic Russian is the underlying language, although Kyrgyz is the official language. This is causing some confusion because, although Kyrgyz adds three other letters, I don't understand the difference. I assumed Kyrgyz was just like another dialect of Russian but it's not quite that. They have their own words for hi... Salam whereas in Russian its Privet (all words are written in English pronuciation.. not actual Cyrillic). They say good morning, and how are you differently so sometimes I wonder what the difference is and will I notice.

I've also noticed something else happening, which I understand is quite common... I've been inadverently mixing the two languages. I've been told most Kyrgyz people can speak and understand both languages but the Russians may not be able to understand the Kyrgyz... again not sure why. For instance, at my Russian lesson the other day my tutor wanted me to say some introductions and I said it in Kyrgyz instead of Russian... having not yet learned the Russian phonetically yet. She smiled and said no but was wondering what it was as it sounded similar but wasn't obviously Russian. It made me wonder if I had this experience in Kyrgyzstan if I would have been understood.

I also find language learning and teaching very different from what I had with German, and even somewhat from Spanish. With German we first learned letters, numbers, colors, days of the week, basic introduction... always with grammer mixed in and vocabulary. I haven't really had that too much. Sure I've had the alphabet and introductions but neither my tutor, Rosetta Stone or Peace Corps lessons have gone through the alphabet, letters or numbers. Even grammer isn't really explained. For instance, with Rosetta stone there's a grammer section and you say the word.. see it in a sentence then put the sentence together... that's fine... but what's the rule? Do nouns go first, verbs, etc? Seeing how the sentences get put together is one thing but if I don't understand how they're built, along with endings for nouns and verbs, singular and plural, then how can I speak the sentence correctly? Rosetta Stone is good in that it shows picture with words, has you speak, read and write, full immersion in other words... but I feel like they just jump you write into speaking, without going over basics. That's the same thing with the Peace Corps lessons. They don't cover the letters, numbers, grammer rules, etc. They just immediately jump in with phrases. How am I expected to speak correctly if I'm not taught how?

I know this is all preparatory work, that I get 10 weeks of in country training, where hopefully, this stuff is covered, but if not then I'm going to be so confused. I need to know how stuff is built, how it works, in order to properly understand. Maybe I'm just used to learning language the way I did with German or maybe I just don't understand how languages are supposed to be taught but teaching without grammer, without basic pronunciation skills, doesn't seem right to me. Oh well, I'll keep visiting my Russian tutor, doing Russian Rosetta stone, PC Kyrgyz and Russian and making my flashcards... while all the while wondering how to say a sentence...

Japanese Temples

If you've seen my pictures you will have noticed I saw many temples in Japan. Well that's one of the many things Japan has, along with mountains, rivers, small rooms, fast trains and many people. However, not all temples are Buddhist; some are Shinto. For you see, there are two types of religion noticed throughout the rolling landscape of Japan. The very colorful temples are for Shintoism, which is actually the first and original religion of Japan. These temples are usually smaller than the Buddhist temples but are definitely more colorful. They are usually designed with the colors green, orange and sometimes purple. They are wonderful to see because they pose such a sharp contrast to the Buddhist temples. The Buddhist temples, on the other hand, are more minimalistic- corresponding to their minimalist beliefs. They are simply designed wooden structures with very little color. However, the wood has all been exquistely carved with various form of kanji, katakana or other characters. Each temple has a beautiful worship room and this is the room where the statue of Buddha resides, and the only room that may show some color along with exquiste decoration. It's never done over the top but appears just right.

So what kind of temples did I see? Well I saw the second largest wooden structure in Nara City, the second largest Buddha, the only female Buddha and the skinnest Buddha. I also saw the oldest temple in Asuka and many five tiered pagodas (another common symbol around the temples). I saw the smallest scaled five tier pagoda (it was so cute) and also the craziest looking pagoda ever. I saw derelict looking temples and newly renovated ones... and even a golden temple.. yep golden... that one was a shocker. But by far, my favorite is the pagoda that has been affectionaly labeled as the fiesta pagoda (seen to the left).

I like this one for several reasons. Firstly, I saw it all by myself on my very last day in Japan. I went there during my layover in Tokyo and successfully managed the trains and purchasing my tickets to get there. Well I walked through this quaint little Japanese town on my way to the temple. I see other shops and food places and other tourists out enjoying the place. It warmed my heart. Secondly I really like this one because it's such a contrast to anything else seen. It just graps you and doesn't let go. I had seen other temples on my way up to this one (I had several levels to scale to reach thevery top temple- another common theme in Japan) and boom... here's this three story pagoda. I stopped dead in my tracks and just couldn't believe that I was seeing something this colorful and beautiful. Finally I like this pagoda because it is only three stories. Most pagodas are five and this one is definitely not. I don't know if it's because it was so exquite that they couldn't afford to do another
two tiers, but I'm sure it's symbolic of something... if only I had been able to understand the Japanese. Also, another great aspect to this pagoda was how it made all the other temples and shrines more colorful. Even the simply designed Buddhist temples had a little more color to them. It definitely was a place I very much enjoyed and quickly became a favorite.

So yes, you will see many temples throughout Japan, they're as common as the churches here in the Bible belt but each one has something special... find it and cherish it.

Peace Corps Update

Many of you know that I'm going into the Peace Corps. Woohoo! I live soon be leaving for the country of Kyrgyzstan (or The Kyrgyz Republic). It's a small mountainous country with lots of lakes, rivers and mountains in the north. The south seems to have fewer moutains, warmer and dustier. Both Kyrgyz (the official language) and Russian are spoken, though most people seem to speak Kyrgyz, however, both are understood.

I will be leaving July 3, 2008 for two days of orientation in Philadelphia. Then I fly out and start pre-service training on July 8,2008. Come September, if all goes well, I should be in my official site for the next two years. I don't yet know where that will be (I find out towards the end of PST). I'll be staying with a host family for the first six months and then will have the opportunity to decide if I want to stay with them or live on my own. Volunteers have done both, though the majority seems to stay with the family.

I'm officially labeled a health promotion specialist because I have extensive health experience. It seems like I'll be working with other organizations and groups throughtout my local area to help determine health needs, work on ways to promote changes and ascertain the best way to achieve change. I'm going into a relatively undefined field, which will pose both challenges and rewards. It also looks like I may be teaching some health workers as well along with teaching English (every Volunteer does this... no matter what the official title is).

Some of you I'm sure may want to help me prepare for the trip. If so, great. I've posted a list of items that I would like to get, some obviously are needed more than others and by no means do I need to get all of this. However, I do ask that if you are planning on getting anything to please let me know so I can provide you with the proper place to send it and also so I can take the item off the list. If you don't want to buy anything specifically but still want to help then money works great too and that can be sent directly to me. If you don't want to get anything at all then that's totally fine to... I'm not expecting anything from anyone. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Well that's the update... enjoy learning about Kyrgyzstan!

Japan Day One

Thus begins the first section of the recording of my latest adventure: my vacation in Japan... woohoo! This post will cover my initial departure to that amazing country as well as cover my first "official"day- i.e. Day One... so enjoy.

Thursday morning (very early morning, mind you) my good friend Sarah dropped me off at Dulles International Airport where I then began my journey to Japan. Five hours later I departed in San Francisco to catch my international flight to Osaka. Well, anyone who's travelled internationally knows that usually the food is of ok quality, sleep is often hard to acquire and they are usually late. I didn't have any of this (except that the movie selection was a little lackluster- I saw the Golden Compass way too many times). My flight attendents were awesome, the food was good, and the people around me great. However, the most astonishing thing is that my flight was actually 45 minutes early, yep- early. Then it only took me about 10 minutes to get through quarantine, immigration and customs, weird huh?

Unfortunately because we were so early my pickup person was not there to acquire me. She arrived about 15 minutes after I would have gotten in. This person, named Harumi, is awesome. She is a friend of Nate's who is kinda like a mother/older sister to him. Due to a school conflict Nate was not able to pick me up so she kindly offered her services. However, Harumi felt so bad about being late, eventhough it wasn't her fault because the flight was early. I tried to convince her that is was fine (she speaks English fairly well) but there's only so much consolation that can be done. However, my waiting time was not in vain as I met another American waiting for her daughter to pick her up. This lady's daughter is in the same program as Nate and so she, too, had to wait for her daughter to get off work. So I had someone to talk too, yay!

Harumi then drove me to Nate's place. She wasn't alone though.... I got to meet three other amazing Japanese ladies. They didn't nearly speak as much English as Harumi but they were still sweet, joyous, respectful and enjoyable no the less. We all had a good time, and I didn't have jet lag so was actually functioning, which was another good sign. I was driven through many towns and gradually began making our way into the countryside, and boy was it beautiful. I immediately knew I was going to enjoy this place. A little while later I was dropped off at Nate's apartment and gave a hug to my friend whom I hadn't seen in three years! It was a nice moment that culminated with an nice relaxing evening before heading out for the next day. So a great trip out, followed by great company and ending with a successfully relaxing night. On to the party!

Day One: was called my "jet laggy day", although I really didn't experience much jet lag- thank goodness. This was one of our lighter days (for they were all pretty jammed packed). It started off with a tour of Nate's town (Schimochi-cho). Sounds simple right, wrong. There were a few things that I vaguely knew regarding Japan that came into full effect here. First Japan is a very mountainous country, and although I'm in good shape, I wasn't fully prepared to begin walking continous up the mountains. Talk about being out of breath quickly and feeling stupid too. Nate's just walking along breathing totally fine and here I am huffing and puffing, looking back it's kinda funny actually. The second thing I forgot was that Japanese people walk and drive on the left. So I immediately go to walk on the right and Nate very kindly states that if I don't want to die I had better walk on the left. Ha, nice.

We walk thorughout the town and he shows me his apartment building, grocery store, local waterfall, river, temple and school where he works. We take a tour of the school and are greeted by the chorus club practicing. The teacher invites us in and they begin to sing for us! I have no idea what they're singing but they sound absolutely amazing. We then proceed up to the city cemetary which was absolutely beautiful, old, and ancient. It was a photographic gem, and I enjoyed snapping many pictures. We then headed off to the train station to meet his friends that were going with us to the Buddhist mask parade that we were attending. So that day I got my first taste of the Japanese rail system. Talk about on time trains and comfort. They were so much better than any of the trains I've ever ridden in the states. They were nice.

Near the town Kashihada we met up with another JET named Doc. He is teaching English at the high school in the area and was nice to talk with. He took us to this noodle place where I used chopsticks for the first time. Boy was it difficult and a mess but I managed to eat all my oudon... it just took a while... but was really good. Then we headed off to the parade and met up with one more friend. Her name is Eriko and is Japanese. She is a teacher as well, although not an English teacher. Eriko is a sweetheart and very patient with all of us regarding language problems (she speaks very little English but was amazingly patient with Nate and his Japanese).

The Buddhist mask parade was awesome. It consisted of 25 different masks being worn by people dressed up in these intriciate and gorgeously designed outfits. I don't really know anything about Buddhism so didn't fully understand what was happening but I still enjoyed it none the less. The adults and children involved were elaborately dressed and very reverent about what they were doing and one felt awed by their devotion. It was a beautiful sight to behold. Afterwards we all went and got icecream; I tried the famous green tea flavor and was pleasantly surprised by it. Then the four of us sat around on a park bench and talked for awhile and gradually began to head home. It was the nice end to a rather enjoyable first day. Stay tuned... additional days to come.