14 Months Already?

We arrive back in Canada tomorrow. Well, it's kind of tomorrow and kind of the next day depending on which time zone you prefer. In any case, in less than 24 hours we will be en route to Vancouver and beyond.

It's funny to think about it all - I feel pretty much the same about going back to Canada than I did about leaving over a year ago. To quote myself, "...I am excited, but there are a lot of unknows and I sometimes have trouble with change, but it will be great when we get there, blah blah blah". I wrote that in my very first blog post.

Though I've had some moments during our travels when all I really wanted to do was "go home", I can honestly say that the time has gone by quickly. And New Zealand was amazing. Exceeded all my expectations. If I had my choice, I would like all my friends and family to move to NZ and we would head back there. Just something to think about :)

For those of you wondering, Mark is feeling a bit depressed. He is excited to see people, but he loves the adventure and the unknown and is sad that this part of our lives is ending. I keep telling him we can have more adventures, but I'm not sure he believes me.

I'll probably write a few more posts once we are back to wrap things up. And then maybe I'll keep writing. A blog should force me to do interesting things in my life to write about. But as far as I can tell, this will be the last time I write from abroad. I should probably be nostalgic or impart some sort of wisdom. Hmmmmm.

I guess if I could say anything, it would be that if you truly feel like you want to make a move away from your regular life, experience a different culture, live somewhere new or travel the world, you should do it. No more excuses. Don't be afraid of change. Sell your house, quit your job and go. You can make it. My husband (and New Zealand) taught me that.

And if you don't want to go anywhere, then don't. But make sure you enjoy your life where you are. No more saying you wish you could travel if you don't really want to. Don't compare your life to others that seemingly have a more exciting one. Just make your "regular" life more fun in the everyday. Read this blog if you need ideas http://www.happiness-project.com/ * Ok, that's about as wise as I get. And most of that stuff wasn't even original :)

If you live in Alberta, we will likely see you soon!

*Thanks to Karen Unger for introducing me to the world of Happiness Projects.

Michael and Masami

Congratulations to Michael and Masami. We so enjoyed being there to share in your special day!

Theme Parks and Flower Markets

A couple of days ago, we ventured out to Tokyo Disney Sea - an all original Disney theme park created in Japan. It was really great on some levels and only ok on others. But it was still obviously fun. I mean, it's Disney. It's magic.

To help me explain, let's talk about theme/amusement parks for a bit. Mark and I are slowly becoming rather well versed on the subject. On this trip alone, we have visited four. We also spent a family vacation in Florida a couple years ago honing our park visiting skills and have each had a childhood visit or two. Needless to say, if we lived somewhere by a park, we would probably have seasons passes.

So far, it appears that parks choose to usually focus on and excel in one of a number of different areas.* You've got the parks with the great rides, the ones with the most "natural" appeal (i.e. zoo type ones), the ones that have good attractions like shows or demonstrations, and the ones that appeal to your visual senses and overwhelm you with fake, but still awesome, creatures, buildings and even whole worlds. That last bit - that's Disney Sea.

The rides were not so high on the thrill level, but the quality of the sets and props and visual effects was really great. So much to look at everywhere we went! Although, The Tower of Terror was pretty good as far as thrills go - not such a high drop but it's dark so that automatically makes it scary! On that note, why do I still close my eyes in fear even when it's dark? I don't get it.

There was also this show we watched in the "harbour" with all these crazy boat things and magical jet skiis. I thought it was awesome - like a huge as parade on water. The boys apparently thought it was uncool. Whatever.

It was also raining the day we went, but it turned out ok. The rain kept the crowds away which meant no line ups and no waiting for us.

In other news, I needed a break from the testosterone the other day, so I went shopping for a couple hours while the boys went to arcades and karaoke. I really wanted to buy some shoes - all the nice high heels have inspired me to have nicer shoes. But get this - my big fat North American feet did not fit. Nope, not even the largest sizes. And I don't even have that big of feet! Too bad.

I was cheered slightly when I stumbled across one of the greatest little flower markets ever - smack dab in the middle of a Tokyo train station. It's called the Aoyama Flower Market and you (by you, I mean Lindsay) can visit their website if you are interested in such frivolity by clicking on the link.

We are down to only four days left on this journey and it's hard to put into words how I feel. Mostly, I'm very excited to be back in Canada and see some faces that I have missed so much! For further information on what happens next, see the previous blog post. Oh, and tomorrow we part ways with our one and only Dan Child. We aren't really talking about it - too emotional. But we'll see him again soon.


*There is probably a science to building theme parks - I think I learned about it in university, but have forgotten the details, so please don't take my theories as fact. Although I am a recreation professional, I am not really qualified to make any such claims.

The FAQ's

One of my least favourite things in life is answering the same questions multiple times. I don't want to sound rude here - I just don't seem to have a lot of patience for those ever present type of questions that come up often.

For example, when we were getting ready to move to New Zealand, we must have answered the same questions about 987 times. "Where are you going to live? Do you have jobs yet? Are you excited? How long are you going for?" And etc. All of these are very valid questions from people who love and care about us, so I do honestly thank you for asking. And I'm sure that I am guilty of the obvious question asking myself from time to time. But as we approach the end of our 14 months away, I expect the questions will start to come again.

So, here is my solution. A "FAQ's of the Koslowski's" blog post. Here we go:

Q: What the highlight of your year+ travelling?
A: This is a difficult question. I honestly cannot narrow it down to one highlight. I guess I would have to say that New Zealand in and of itself is a highlight. I just love that country. That is very vague, so please refer to the next question for more specific details.

Q: What did you like best about living in NZ?
A: Mount Maunganui beach, all our fantastic friends (Jamie, Laura and Kristin, Brandon and Kristen, Mel and Breno, Dale and Amber, The Stouts, The Camerons, Mikaere and Nicky, Jolinda and Kevin and more), cheap avos, the Deckchair Cafe, espresso, Mauoa, Pilot Bay at sunset, fruit and veg stands, WINE, springtime freesias on the sand dunes, YMCA people, Hoyts cinema, the Bettie Monroe shop, fish and chips, Milford Sound, blue penguins, rugby games, the HAKA, magnolia trees, Rotorua luge, bubbling mud, my bicycle, and Nikau palm trees.

Q: Did you have jobs?
A: Yes, I worked as an After School Care superivsor for the YMCA Tauranga. Mark worked as an Occupational Therapist for a company called Quality Rehabilitation Services (he helped injured people get back to work).

Q: Would you move back to New Zealand?
A: Yes, most definitely. Sorry, Moms.

Q: Where did you travel after you left New Zealand?
A: Australia for two weeks, Thailand and Laos for a month, and Japan for 18 days.

Q: Where are you going to live now?
A: That is an excellent FAQ. I ask it to myself quite frequently, in fact. We are going to spend some time in the Edmonton area over the summer and see what happens. We have family and friends to stay with until we find out where we will settle for a while. We would like to move to Victoria or somewhere on Vancouver Island if we had our wish.

Q: Do you have jobs?
A: Not officially. We are applying. In Edmonton and elsewhere if anything comes up. Anyone want to give me a job?

Q: Are you going to keep blogging?
A: I have actually had a few requests that I keep writing after we are back in Canada. Who knew people would enjoy reading my thoughts! Some people have even expressed that "they had no idea I was funny!"* That's one of those backhanded compliments that you're never quite sure how to take...
Anyways, the intent of the blog was to keep in touch while we were away and I never really considered writing after we were done travelling. But maybe if I have interesting things to write about I will. We'll see.

I feel those are the questions that can be considered "frequently" asked. If you have other questions that you really would like me to address, please feel free to ask. And if someone who reads this blog regularly purposely asks me all these questions when we get back, you are going to be in trouble :)



*Mark and Dan do not think I am funny. They will give me "witty" at best. They just don't get me.

3 Sites in 5 Days

I have only seen about four cities so far in Japan but to me, Kyoto seemed like the "quintessential Japanese city". Temples around every corner, bamboo groves, wooden traditional houses lining the cobblestone streets, and....four westerners and one Japanese girl riding bycicles.

We saw about four temples and one shrine in Kyoto. My favourite temple had this amazing zen garden surrounding it. It felt, oddly enough, very peaceful! Even though there were about one million other people walking through. I tried to imagine myself in there alone - would have been even more amazing! The sand was also raked into nice designs, like those little mini zen sand things you can buy for your office. There was even one section that was shaped into a "Mount Fuji like" dome - although Masami's friend told me it looks more like a giant pudding than Mount Fuji.

Other delights of Kyoto included green tea soft ice cream (which is delicious), a ton of cute little tea pot/cup and china shops, and a quant little restaurant which was named Rangitoto and had a picture of a kiwi bird on the window. Ah, I miss NZ :)

While in Kyoto, we took a day trip over to the city of Nara which consisted of more temples and more shrines. You might think we would have been tired of them by now, but they are all different and unique. Plus, they are on my World Heritage List of places to see, so I basically have to go.

Nara is also full of deer - I did not really get the history on why this is, but it's kind of funny. They are everywhere in the city, just hanging out, being fed these rice cake things by children and tourists. But beware - the signs warn of possible "biting, kicking, butting, and knocking down". However, in the depictions on the sign, these things are only happening to old ladies and children, so I think if you are an adult you are ok.

We headed down to Hiroshima after Kyoto. It was a really good, but sombering experience to be in a place that has experienced the horror of an atomic bomb. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum was an educational experience in more ways than one. I don't claim to be an expert on world history or even current events (just ask Mark - I often have to ask questions about the state of the world that any conscious person really should know...) but I can say that after visiting Hiroshima and seeing the testimonies of survivors, nuclear weapons shouldn't even be an option. My opinion.

We are now back in Tokyo and I can check three whole sites off the list - Temples and Shrines of Kyoto, Temples and Shrines of Nara, and Hiroshima Peace Memorial! I am being quite productive on my vacation if I do say so myself :)

P.S. Is it bad that I have seen almost as many listed sites in Japan as I have in Canada? It appears I need to go to Quebec to catch up...

North America could learn a thing or two about toilets...

For those of you who are unaware, Mark's older brother Michael lives in Japan. It has always been a dream of ours (Mark especially) to visit Michael.　Luckily, we found ourselves on the same side of the world for once and were able to make it happen (and it just about didn't - after that whole earthquake, tsuanami and radiation dealio:*). But, here we are!

Michael is getting married next week to the most lovely Japanese woman I've ever met. And I can say that without it being one of those "oh, that's funny because she is the only one you've ever met" thing, because I actually met about five other ones at her bachelorette dinner. They were lovely too and said I was cute and had a small face. I don't really know what that means but after some thought I realized I do kind of have a small face. I decided it was a compliment. Anyways, I digress. Masami is wonderful and will make a great addition to the Koslowski women. We will be here spending time with Michael and Masami until mid-May.

Here are some intesting facts that I have learned about Japan so far:

- Things here are like space age/robotic. The toilets have so many functions, I don't even know what to do. They have heated seats, play water sounds, the seats go down with the press of a button, and there are many options for "freshening up down there" if you get what I mean. It's kind of nice, but a bit confusing especially if there are no pictures and only Japanese words. I'm pretty sure nothing bad would happen if I pressed a random button, but how do I know?

- The ladies all dress up quite nicely. All the time. Like, ladies, I'm sorry to say you can't go run to get groceries in your sweatpants. And I don't think they would approve of Lululemons either. High fashion and high heels are the way. It sounds high maintenance and it probably is, but...they do look nice.

- Shopping is loud. The store clerks all yell out stuff like sale prices and what you can find on special, etc. You kind of get used to it but the one time this girl bellowed something right in my ear, I almost lost it. Maybe it makes it worse not actually being able to understand what they are saying, but I feel like it would be annoying either way. Let's just say that shopping was not a relaxing experience but still a fun one. They sure do have a lot of stores.

The country is very beautiful - green and lovely. Today we took the super fast train (you know that white one you see on movies and stuff) down to Kyoto and are spending a few days here. We got lost trying to find the hotel, but now are safe and sound. Hard to believe we have under a month of travelling left - but I'm ready to have a home base again. As Dan and Mark would say, I'm weird that way :)

*I did feel another afterschock in Tokyo already and did not enjoy it. Fact about Laurel: I officially hate earthquakes.

Oh, and p.s. Dan was supposed to part ways with us after Thailand but he just wasn't ready to leave us so he came to Japan too. Koslowski family with Child is still intact.