Japan and Beyond

I got back from Japan yesterday and had a wonderful time! I spent about a week in Hiroshima with my friend Bo, his son Kaya and Kaya's fiance Yoli. Then I moved on to Kyoto where I made some friends at my hostel and we went out to see Fushimi Inari Shrine and Nara the couple of days that I spent with them. Off to Tokyo where I spent my birthday exploring and spent one day in search of Mt. Fuji. Nagoya was my last stop. One day there while I waited to fly out.
http://picasaweb.google.com/pamela.a.jacobsonThere are four albums from Japan. Since I only have a few days until I leave for Virginia I opted to have longer captions on the pictures instead of trying to get a blog out that would do my trip justice. The albums are in reverse order (most recent one first).

Only a slight change of plans for my drive to Virginia. I will no longer be stopping over in Las Vegas. Instead I will be heading straight to Flagstaff. So for everyone who I am visiting, that cannot seem to remember when I'm coming through (Maaaaarrrrrkkkkk... :)), here's a reminder.

March 28th-30th: Yosemite
March 30th-31st: Flagstaff
March 31st-April 2nd: Albuquerque
April 2nd-4th: Austin with a stop off in Rockwall on my way to...
April 4th-6th: Nashville with a stop off in Atlanta on my way to...
April 6th-8th: Ladson with a stop off in North Carolina on my way to...
April 8th: Virginia
Enjoy and I will talk to you all soon! Pam

Atlanta, GA

(title is a link to my photo page)
My family just got back from our last family vacation since, well, we really couldn't tell you when. But unlike all of our other family vacations, this one included more than the immediate family that I have known my entire life.

This weekend we added Helen, Eddie, Jonathan, Barbara, Chip, Amanda, Roz, Mimi, Terry, Pam, Tessa, and Gillian to the mix! If there was ever a chance that my family could be considered dull before, it's gone now. We're still a loud, outspoken, intelligent, independant family that doesn't take ourselves too seriously. We are still a family (from what I could tell in a couple of days) that is lead by women. At least dad and Nate now have Eddie, Chip and Jonathan to double their numbers, but it is no match for the women in our family that grew almost five fold. I was so happy to find that three of the four of the girls, lets call them cousins to keep it simple, are living a mear three hours from my new home in Arlington, while the forth is an easy 10 hour drive to Atlanta. Mimi is in Atlanta and does sound design for the theaters and makes beautiful jewelry. She sells some of it on Etsy.com under the seller name Hummingrose, check it out! Pam is in the process of getting her Phd in American History. This makes her my hero. Here I am dreading the final classes to get my Bachlors, even wondering if it will come together, and she taking it all the way. Tessa and Gillian. Goodness these girls crack me up! Both are fabulously successful and living together in Manhattan. Tessa is in advertising and Gillian is a lawyer. I look at all of them and think of my grandmother smiling down on all of us. Each of us with such different strengths.

Aunt Roz, as I have known her for the past month or so, is my grandmother's aunt. More importantly she was her best friend. Through their friendship she met Vi's uncle who she later married. Before meeting Roz I had heard a few things that made me suspect that her and Vi have much in common. I was delighted to see that this is true. I miss my grandmother more and with each passing year. It seems that I am fortunate enough to share a lot of things with her, more with every year that I grow older, more with every year that my life goes on without her. As much as I loved this discovery, it also made me a little sad. I have never stopped missing her and the feeling of loss became fresh over the weekend. Having us all together would have made her so happy. I clung to that joy.

Before Roz's big 90th birthday party my parents, Nate and I went to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. It was so intense to stand there, just outside of his church, looking at the memorial for MLK as well as Coretta. These people sacrificed so much to do what was right, what is right. There was also a Gandhi room that was so interesting. Old pictures of him from law school etc. It was something that I had wanted to see on my drive to Virginia and am glad that I had a chance to see it with my family instead.

Roz's 90th birthday was a very diverse group of people. Ranging in age from Nate at 22 to Roz and some of her friends at 90 plus. The food was great and the company was even better. I met Marrel who has a son working to help bring education to Africa (http://www.educateafrica.org/), and has been since he was 17 living on a refugee camp in Uganda. Helen was another new addition on Sunday night. She is brassy and definately one to leave an impression.

All in all this was a great way for me to start this giant transition in my life. Most know that my family means the world to me. To have the beginning of new family ties near by helps me decompress a little when thinking about moving so far from home.