Blogs from Berkeley, California, United States, North America - page 4

Sunday Today I mostly did nothing. I didn't leave the house until about 6pm. Surely this is what Sunday is all about? Anyway...when I finally did leave the house, I travelled up to a place 30 miles north of San Francisco.... If you have never experienced an american motorway, it really is confusing. There's lots of lanes, and lots of post-yoga mums driving at high speed with mobile phones glued to their ears, and lots of other stuff to look at...a huge number of fast food restaurants that seem unreachable from where you are..like a lure of obesity, and some very large birds of prey hovering above the neighbouring fields. They look a bit like the Kites we have in the UK, but obviously as this is the USA, they're bigger, faster, etc etc When we ... read more

So its that time of the week again ( a little late though). This week has been a little less hectic than last, I am settled down in my triple dorm which is a lot less weird than I thought and luckily my dorm buds love going out partying too. We had to go to some patronising welcome meetings in which we were told not to get drunk at frat parties, come back and throw up everywhere...which my roomie then did 2 hours later. I've also been finding my way around campus, although in general it does still take me at least half an hour to find any buildings. I was pretty worried that there would be a leagally blonde moment in my first lecture as people around me started getting out their laptops, but in ... read more

My Dad left Berkeley today on a big jet plane and I slept in until 10:52, waking up startled and scrambling to get my things together for an 11:00am checkout. Needless to say, he wore me out! It was just what I needed, a good kick in the butt from my loving Dad to get out and explore the east Bay and San Francisco. I already feel more at home and feel comforted that traces of my dad and our time together can be found along the streets we walked, the delicious restaurants we enjoyed, and of course the 30 Tibetan stores we couldn’t pass up. I am grateful he came to visit me here, as this is where I need to be and am doing my best to make it feel like home, for the ... read more

The journey has continued. I am presently in Berkeley, enjoying the hospitality of a glorious fellow fairhaven student, Laura G. This is the somewhat abbreviated version of what has happened since the last entry: I took some sweet days of drinking in the nectar of my family, then traveled in a 40-year-old VW bus (named Ruby Slippers) from Seattle to outside of Eugene, with dear friends and crafting almost the whole way down. The Oregon Country Fair.... indescribably magical. It is a good reinforcement of the scale of creativity humans incorperate into their lives. It was perfect to work for Cory and Catska (check out their spirit-shaking art at enchgallery.com). Basically, it was the best possible gathering to go to for my last days in Cascadia, and I had fun dancing and dumpster-diving with everyone down ... read more

Hello hello, and welcome to my blog, JellyInJapan! I’m writing this as much for me as I am for you - For me, this will serve as a place to keep pictures, video, and stories, all together electronically; For you, this is either a) a way to follow my travels, if you are friend or family, or b) a guide to the JET Program, from application through my trip home, my adventures in school as well as my travels across Japan and east Asia (hopefully). Earlier this week I was informed that I will be in Okayama-shi (岡山市), also known as Okayama City, the capital of Okayama-ken, or Okayama Prefecture. It's set on the Inland Sea, near Hiroshima, Osaka, and the island of Shikoku. Okayama on Wikipedia Japanese prefectures are roughly the equivalent of American states, ... read more