Where's Jaci?

Sorry for the long absence... I totally missed half of July and all of August... ugh.

The short reason is that August I was travelling around the US getting study abroad students settled, and July I was working like mad to tie up loose ends (4 textbooks, 2 journal articles, end of semester tests and grades and a partridge in a pear tree) before heading to the US to get study abroad students settled.

I have several posts I never got around to before I left. Those should be up shortly. In the meantime: A quick update of the past month. I have been traipsing around the US for a month, and I have evidence!

Stop #1: Portland, Oregon

Spent the first few days with the students getting settled at Portland State University. They jumped right in and were off having fun before I was even settled. I therefore felt justified in slipping away one afternoon to have cupcakes with Michelle.

Evidence #1:


I also had some free time in the morning before I met the second group of study abroad students, so I went to breakfast with Michelle at Bertie Lou's. The Chevy was a surprise. Spoiler alert: this was not a low-calorie trip.

Evidence #2:


Stop #2: Corvallis

After meeting the next group of study abroad students (only one lost bag!) we headed South to Corvallis. I stayed with Steve and Anna (current guardians of Mavis and Manu). I have no evidence, but many a fine night was had enjoying the summer evenings on their back porch. I got to visit with some of my awesome teacher friends from the ELI, one morning. The bulk of my days were spent helping students sort out a few interesting quirks in housing, set up cell phones and Internet and helping to shepherd students (not all mine) through registration. We bid farewell over pizza at American Dream.

Evidence #3:


After the students were settled I went down to Eugene, had coffee with my brother and then met up with the UofO crew to make sure things were set for the third Oregon study abroad group which will arrive in September. After business was out of the way, I got to take vacation and spent a couple days with my mom, a day with Russell's parents and a day at the coast with my dad. It all went way too quick, as evidenced by a total lack of evidence.

Stop #3: Back to Portland

After some family time, I headed back to Portland to play with Justin and Michelle. Great food was eaten, great beer drunk and fabulous games were played. Macey and Ronnie were very welcoming as well. No evidence, though. Ooh... I do have some important evidence from the county fair, though. Rhubarb and raspberry... so good...

Evidence #4:


Stop #4: Seattle

Wednesday I caught a train to Seattle where I spent a lovely evening out swing dancing with my sister-in-law. It made it hard to to sleep on the airplane to New Jersey the next day, though. I was flying with my third, and last group to Felician College.

Stop #5: New Jersey

We were a few days ahead of hurricane Irene, so we headed into New York City for some sightseeing.

Evidence #5:


We spent the day exploring Time Square and Soho. My students scattered as soon as we hit Soho, so I was on my own. I wandered about window-shopping, bought a flashlight, poncho and first aid kit for the hurricane, and then found dinner. I had pizza and a beer by myself. I did crosswords at the table and generally relaxed. It was awesome.

Evidence #6:


We spent Saturday at the grocery store buying food and water just to be on the safe side. Between us we probably could have survived a month in a cave. No such ruggedness was required, however. Thankfully, the storm passed Felician with little event. The thick brick walls blocked all noise, so we all slept peacefully through the night and woke up the next morning to only a few soggy spots here and there on the carpet. Unlike many areas, we still had electricity and water. The students did complain that they were bored. Such a pity. Sunday, late afternoon, my dear friend Nicole came to pick me up.

And let me tell you about Nicole.

Nicole had been scheduled to fly into New York from Ecuador on Sunday morning. She got as far as Nashville and her final leg to New York was cancelled due to the hurricane. She was told she could be placed on a flight to New York on Monday. Instead, she rented a car and drove all night from Nashville, Tennessee into a hurricane, to Rutherford, New Jersey. She then picked me up and we made our way to our friend, Gwen's place. It was not a straight shot. While the storm had mostly passed, there were tree branches down and flooded roads blocking our way in the least convenient of places. After circling around a bit, we found a way through. I was really glad the students were bored in the Felician dorms.

Stop #6 New York:

The electricity was out at Gwen's house, but Nicole was able to make a delicious dinner (yay for a gas stove!) and we played games and drank wine by candle light for the rest of the evening.

Being surrounded by people who have and use cameras got me back on track. We spent the next day in New York City (things had dried out considerably). We started the day off with Dunkin' Donuts and a stroll in one of Gwen's favorite parks (picturesque view of the Hudson (?) and a castle that used to be home to nuns...) no evidence. We then went to see the Little Red Lighthouse.

Evidence #7


After all the strolling we headed to Katz's Deli for the biggest corned beef sandwich I've ever seen in my life. And a load of pickles.

Evidence #8


Fortified by meat, we headed to the Staten Island Ferry and a view of the Statue of Liberty (which I had previously never seen). I swear we were closer than the pictures let on... The lovely ladies in the foreground are more interesting, anyway.

Evidence #9:


At the end of the day, we had dinner together and then bid adieu to Nicole, who did the responsible thing and drove home to New Hampshire to start teaching, in spite of protests. More cards, wine and candlelight for Gwen and I. The next day, 1. I slammed my finger in a door, 2. we we visited a lovely property-turned-park near Gwen (I've totally forgotten the name, but it was beautiful and extensive and 3. went with Gwen's friend on her boat to a restaurant on Long Island. It was gorgeous evening to be on the water.

Evidence #10 & #11:












My last day in New York, we met up with my co-worker (who had chaperoned a group to Syracuse before heading to the city for a holiday) and hit the Museum of Natural History. We learned ALL about Sauropods (think brontosaurus - though there never WERE brontosaurus).

Evidence #12 & #13:











We finished the evening over beers (Pumpkin beer for me! Yay Fall!) with Johnny (Russell's roommate of yore). Johnny had also slammed his finger in a door and done a far better job of it than I had. Ouch. I have no evidence.

Gwen drove me to the airport the next morning (4am-ish? Sorry Gwen!) and I made my way home to Kobe. As luck would have it we arrived just ahead of a typhoon, which, just like hurricane Irene, was low grade but really took its time and dumped a crazy amount of rain. We hid out indoors for two full days before it stopped raining. I don't remember much of the first day, having sprawled out in the middle of the living room floor and dozed off for most of the day. I was afraid it would harm my chance of sleeping through the night (and worsening my jet lag) but I needn't have feared.

Apparently I needed the rest.