When another place becomes another home

Flashback to three years ago from today...

I'm in my small room at Thompson Markward Hall, still unpacking things and getting settled. Although I don't know anyone here and I'm not used to big city life, I feel like I'm ready to begin my semester internship in Washington, D.C. "It will be an adventure."

Where has time gone that it's already been three years?

It's with fondness that I look back on my time as a resident of Capitol Hill. In many ways, I can compare my experience in Washington, D.C. to living in Japan.

I was living away from my family and good friends. I met many new people and made some life-long friendships. I tried new things and saw new places. I learned a lot. I grew as a person.

Being from the Midwest, I was living in a different culture -- a faster-paced culture where I was surrounded by people wearing black suits and talking politics. (At least they were speaking English! Even still, I didn't always understand.) :)

I have a lot of great memories from Washington, D.C. Some are memories from the internship, as a member of "Team Lugar." (pictured below)

Other memories are of fun times with my galfriends who I lived with at TMH.

It was after nearly four months of living on my own in D.C. that I knew I wanted to take it to the next level after graduating from college -- by living in another country, experiencing another part of the world.

And here I am. :) I'm still trying to live life to the fullest, knowing that in a few years from now I'll be thinking about the experiences and memories from my time in Asia.

I say Asia instead of Japan because I want to travel to other (relatively) nearby countries while I'm living in Kuji.

In fact, I'm very excited because I just made the initial deposit for a trip to the Philippines!! It's a Habitat for Humanity trip during the first week of May (which is Golden Week in Japan, so I already had days off work.) I'll be part of a team of 12 ALT's going to build houses. Of course I'll keep you posted on this opportunity!

My plans for traveling this year also include South Korea in June to visit my friend Wendy (I already have the ticket booked!), traveling around Japan with my good friends Amanda, Lauren and Jennifer, and hopefully a trip to Singapare and Malaysia in December with my friend Ariel!!

I really want to make the most of this time to experience Asia.

After all, time goes so quickly.