Teatopia

Happy Birthday, James!

Wishing a very Happy 26th Birthday to the love of my life.

I just love his curly hair. :-)

Someone Please Take Away My VISA

I am totally using this trip as an excuse to buy everything. I feel so guilty. This trip is costing enough without me buying all these little things on the side.

--Lingerie for romantic South African evenings, $30.

--Furry high-healed shoes to go with, $20. (Yes, I actually bought furry shoes. Are you cringing? I swear I've never bought anything furry before, especially not to wear with lingerie. Was that too much info?) :-)

--Books for reading, $30. (Just how much time do I think I'm actually going to spend reading?).

--DVD's for watching on my long-a$$ flight, $30.

--A travel journal for recording precious memories, priceless.

Not Just Any Plane

After I posted about the colorful South African Airways plane that first sparked my attention, Valkyrie gave me some background on my plane. Apparently, the one I saw wasn't just any old plane! And just for the heck of it, here's another picture of it.

"I checked out your old post about the plain - and you saw "Ndizane" - that plane is in service by SAA - it was specially commissioned (the painting thereof) when our Olympic Athletes were allowed back into the Olympics for the first time - for Barcelona in 1992. The plain was painted and renamed in their honour - and it's first flight (in those colours) was to take the Athletes to the games. I always get so excited when I see it at some or other airport - because it represents such hope."

The Horror!

I woke up this morning feel uneasy, anf then I remembered the distressing dream I had last night. I dreamt that I when I got to South Africa I wasn't excited anymore and nothing was as I hoped. Silly me, right?

Not necessarily . . . I have a knack for getting myself all worked up and then when the event comes, it's like I don't have any excitement left in me. I just feel "blah." It's like I used up all my "excitedness" obsessing for like the 6 months before (see yesterday's post). Before you think "man, Hannah is way weird lately," consider this analogy. It's like Christmas. You get so worked up and enthralled with the holiday spirit that when Christmas Day comes, it's like, "this is it?" I know you all have done that, right? (Come on folks, you're supposed to make me feel better about this). Whenever I travel, I get soooooo excited and think about how happy I'll be to see this, and what if will feel like to do that, and then when I'm there, it doesn't feel that way. I have one shot at getting off the plane and having that rush of emotion at just being there, but if it doesn't happen, I'll be disappointed. When I went to the Buddhist Monestary at the top of the mountain in Korea, I thought I'd feel all peaceful, but when I didn't, I was disappointed and thought there was something wrong with me.

It could be that all these emotions at this stage in my life are quite normal. We do have a lot going on right now, which I will fill you all in on when I return (good stuff, so no worrying). Or it could be that your friend Hannah over at Teatopia has turned into a real crackpot. Hmmm . . . we'll just have to see. :-)

Just a Little Neurotic

Sometimes I drive myself nuts. I focus too much on plans and details. I can't stop thinking and obsessiving about our trip, eventhough I really am excited. I just have a general feeling of uneasiness and distress. Can you tell that Hannah can be a little neurotic? But you love me anyway, right? :-)

It All Started with an Airplane

I've had several people ask me in the last week, "Why South Africa?" It's a very valid question, as South Africa is not a common destination for a vacation. So I am going to attempt to put all my dreams and feelings into a good explanation. :-)

First let me say that ever since I was a small child I have been fascinated by anything "foreign" or "cultural". I remember going to ethnic festivals in D.C. in elementary school. I remember looking at the people in their ethnic dress and breathing in the scents of all the food cooking. I started collecting coins from other countries when I was 7 I think it was.

With that said, the truth is, I don't know exactly when I became interested in South Africa. I can say, though, that it all started with a plane. Remember this post? When I was little (I don't remember how little), we were at the airport and I somehow saw a South Africa Airways plane parked out the window. I remember staring at the colors and thinking that any plane colored so brightly must be going somewhere really neat, so whenever I heard anything about South Africa from then on, I remembered my plane. I always look for them each time I'm at an airport. Although I'm not sure this is what did it, I did do a very intense research paper on South Africa in college when I was part of an international program, but it focused mainly on apartheid and I don't remember getting super excited about it.

I really think my interest was sparked about 2 years ago when I found a website listing radio stations from all over the world-- stations that also broadcasted on the web. I was trying to find an exotic one where I could still understand what they were saying, so I went straight for South Africa. From then on, I've read, thought, and dreamed about South Africa.

I love that it's Africa-- tribes, wild animals-- yet I could go over there and live and lead what we Americans think of as a "normal" life. I think it's intersting that white, English-speaking people live in such an exotic place and it's normal to them. I think it's neat that it's so British. Some of my fondest memories are of my semester spent at Cambridge University in England. I also love the European influence.

So there you have it. I hope that made sense! :-)

The On-going Dilemna

Warning: I'll be talking a lot about poop today.

Ok, so here it is: the on-going dilemna that has been bugging me for the last few months. Since I can't decide what to do, I want you kind folks to decide for me.

You remember the crap load of pills and shots I mentioned, right? Well, there's still one more thing I *might* need to take. I have found so many conflicting things about malaria. Many sources say: Yes, it's safe to visit Kruger National Park in the winter because temperatures are cooler and mosquitos are fewer. Besides, if you cover yourself up and use deet, everything should be just fabulous. And then: nope, you should absolutely take an anti-malarial because you could get bitten and poop your guts out and die. Then I heard that the side effects from the anti-malaria drugs are totally worse than taking the risk of possibly contracting malaria. Side effects include: seeing things that aren't there, stomach pain, runny poop, throwing up, and just generally going insane. Soldiers don't call the day they take their anti-malarials "psycho Tuesdays" for nothin'!

So I ask you, what would you do? Should I risk getting infected and just be reeeeealy reeeeeeealy careful or take the pills and risk frequent poo-poo problems and insanity? Hmmmm..... now that's a dilemna!

Oh, and keep in mind that I actually have had malaria before (after taking a jungle tour in Mexico on our honeymoon) and it wasn't THAT bad. Unpleasant and very poopy, yes, but when I started my drugs I felt better. Hey, and you can't foget the 10 pounds I lost in the first week. I may have felt like crap (no pun intended) but I looked great!

Summer Reading List

Reading is something that has always been important to me, so here is my new and improved summer reading list! Because so many of you suggested such wonderful novels when I asked last week-- some that I read and loved and others that I didn't know of but really want to read-- maybe some on my list will be of interest to you cultural folk out there. :-)

Becoming Madame Mao: tells the stirring, erotically charged story of Madame Mao Zedong, the woman almost universally known as the 'white-boned demon,' whom many hold directly responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. Bringing her lush psychological insight to bear on the facts of history, Min penetrates the myth surrounding this woman and provides a "convincing, nuanced portrait of a damaged personality" (Entertainment Weekly) driven by ambition, betrayal, and a never-to-be-fulfilled need to be loved. With all the compressed drama and high lyrical poetry of great opera, BECOMING MADAME MAO is a "remarkable accomplishment . . . Madame Mao is finally given her own voice" (Ha Jin).

Pobby and Dingan: Pobby and Dingan live in Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. Only Kellyanne Williamson can see them. Her brother Ashmol thinks his sister is a fruit-loop -- until Pobby and Dingan disappear and Kellyanne, ill, begins to fade away. To save her, Ashmol must find Pobby and Dingan.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: Christopher Boone is a fifteen and has Asperger's, a form of autism. He knows a great deal about math and very little about human beings. When he finds his neighbors's dog murdered he sets out on a terrifying journey which will turn his world upside down.

The Life of Pi: the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.

The Other Side of Truth: Smuggled out of Nigeria after their mother's murder, Sade and her younger brother are abandoned in London when their uncle fails to meet them at the airport and they are fearful of their new surroundings and of what may have happened to their journalist father back in Nigeria.

Cool Things

It is kind of hard coming back to Columbus after spending 3 glorious days with classy food, great shopping at ritzy malls in Buckhead, Atlanta and lots of intellectual stimulation. Makes it weird to come back to my not-so-small-town with a very small-town-feel. Gosh, I sound like a snob.

I forgot to mention that I made a new friend there. Her name is Deborah and she's from California. We had fun hanging out and talking about teaching methods and life in general. I love meeting new people and we're going to keep in touch.

In other news, look what I came home to today. Do I have the coolest mailman or what? Tea from the latest swap and all my South African travel documents. When I saw the ticket to South Africa with my name on it, I got all teary.

I'm Back!

I'm back and wow! We are like 16 days away from our trip! I will post some yummy food pics later, but here are some random things from the past few days:

1) Here is what was on the plates. First food pic was Greek salad, some sort of spicey chicken, tabouleh, pasta salad with artichokes, grape leaves stuffed with rice and veggies, and hummus with pita triangles. The second pic was of Greek salad, mousaka, spanikopita, and more hummus! Yummy! :-)

2) How to make the passport holder. I used only one sheet of felt and turned it longways. I opened up my passport and measured the length to determine where to put the seam. The length was perfect, but I did have to cut off the top of the felt. I wish I had taken pictures of each step, but I didn't. I'll try to illustrate something to show exactly what I did. I cut the cupcake out of colored felt and put it together. I also sewed on little sprinkly
beeds.

Again I Ask . . .

why was I dreading this? These people gave me South African wine and samosas at cocktail hour after the seminars yesterday. Just look at what I had for lunch! Apparently, they knew the way to my heart. I've been attending the sessions for English teachers and I have gained such a wealth of knowledge on international literature. There are now about 10 books I badly want to read! I can't wait to share some of them with my students. I didn't even mention where I am really . . . I am attending a 3 day seminar in Atlanta at CASIE (the Center for Advanced Studies in International Education). This place is so British-- I love it! There are quite a few South Africans. :-)

The Way to My Heart

What was I complaining about? This conference is awesome! (and I don't mean because of the amazing international spread they had for us at lunch). This whole training seminar this week is based on internationalism. I teach for the International Baccalaureate Program-- an international approach to learning. There are IB schools in 119 different countries. Well, back to class!

Passport Holder

Today I was feeling crafty, so I made this passport holder with a cupcake on it. I wanted something to keep it safe and also hold my immunization records.

I am leaving at 4:45 am to head up to Atlanta for training. I teach for an international program at my school and 14 of us are going up until Thursday. I'll be blogging from my cell phone. I don't really want to go, but I know I'll learn some good stuff. Leave me some love while I'm gone! :-)

Our Weekend

Here are some things that we did this weekend.

-- Took advantage of Father's Day sales and bought a bright red luggage set by Atlantic. I love the sea horse emblem on the bags! (I blogged about wanting luggage before) Got the set for $70! The big suitcase was initially close to $200 alone! I got me a deal. :-)

-- Finished all the work in the front yard. It looks great, but boy am I sun-burned! I also have 22 mosquito bites! I couldn't sleep last night because I was so freakin' itchy!

-- Got my pink Sketcher's sneakers in the mail. They are so cute!

-- Enjoyed a lovely meal with my family for Father's Day.

Just Because

Yesterday James came home a little early with flowers and chocolates "just because." I love my hubby! :-)

Exhausted

This evening we worked in the yard for a few hours and I am T-I-R-E-D! Our backyard is landscaped and needed some work. It was hard, manual labor, but we'll be glad we did it. We tore out the old tarp and raked up the pine straw, pulled some weeds, and started to replace the tarp. Tomorrow we have a lot more still to measure, cut, and stake down. Then we have to lay out the pine staw. I'll post pictures when it's all done.

We were so tired after working and showering, that we opted for take-out Chinese: chicken with black bean sauce, crab rangoons, sesame chicken, and broccoli with garlic sauce. Fattening, I know, but after the work we did I'm sure we burned some major calories!

Hope everyone had a great Friday! :-)

Mint Julep and Chocolate Cheesecake

Look what my period made me eat!

Summer Reading

This summer I have some good books lined up: the Tea Shop Mystery series by Laura Childs, some great books on the Chinese cultural revolution by Anchee Minh, and another by Sydney Sheldon. I enjoy reading a variety of books. I thought I had enough stocked up for our trip since we'll have a lot of travel time, but I've gotten to quite a few of them. So . . . I am asking for recommendations. What have you read that you really enjoyed? Help me out here people. It's gonna be a long flight! :-)

This is a First!

I got these questions from Lisanne and decided since I've NEVER answered questions on my blog, why not? :-)

1] Tell me something obvious about you: I love tea!

2] Tell me something about you that many don’t know: I have a couple inch long scar on my lower abdomen where I had a hernia repaired when I was little. I also got malaria on our honeymoon in Mexico.

3] What is your biggest fear? Getting old, losing someone I love.

4] Do you normally go the safe route or take the short cut? I am generally one to play it safe, but sometimes I surprise myself! :-)

5] Name one thing you want that you can’t buy with money: Children (although if you consider the one we want to adopt from Asia, I suppose all the money it costs is sort of like buying. Sad, huh?)

6] What is your most treasured possession? my diaries, my tea chest we brought back from Korea, photo albums.

7] What is the one thing you hate most about yourself that you do often? worry and obsess over things when I really should just give them to God.

8] Tell me something about your sex life that I don’t know: Uhhhh..... I didn't have sex until I was married, seriously. We chose to wait.

9] Tell me something about your sex life that everyone knows: that I have one.

10] What is your favorite lie to tell? I really can't think of anything.

11] Name something you’ve done once that you can’t wait to do again:
travel around Europe again, go back to Korea to visit James's family, lived in a big city.

12] Are you the jealous type? I can be sometimes, but I try not to be.

13] What is the one person, place or thing you can’t say no to? coffee. If I see a coffee shop, I'm stopping! traveling. I'm always up for an adventure!

14] What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you? James moved to Georgia for me. We had only been dating 6 months or so.

15] If you could do something crazy right now, what would it be? Hop on the next plane and go somewhere exotic, or get pregnant, but it's not time yet. Or, I would quit my job and open up a tea shop.

16] When was the last time you cried? A few days ago when James and I were having a serious discussion about money, moving, and our future. It was just stressful.

17] When was the last time you felt so good that nothing else mattered? Seriously, right now. I was thinking the other day that things are so good right now I'm worried something bad is going to happen. I am crazy excited about this trip, I adore my husband, we own a nice home, and we have something else to look forward to soon that I'm not ready to talk about. :-) You'll have to wait a month or so.

18] Do you feel comfortable in public with no shirt on? Um, no. I like not getting arrested, thank you!

19] Name something embarrassing you did while being drunk: This may come as a shock but I've never been drunk. (Please folks, no goody-goody comments!)

20] If you post this in your journal would you like me to answer it? Yes!

Gone

Today I cleaned out some stuff from our guest room. I have a desk in there with my computer and I've been wanting to get rid of some of my stuff so it looks more like a guest's room instead of my old bedroom in high school! Anyway, I found several cards and pictures in a drawer given to me by my best friend in middle school and high school, Alicia. I read about inside jokes long forgotten and teared up at phrases like "you will always be my best friend" and "remember the time . . ." and it got me thinking . . . those days are gone. It's not that I won't have more friends or more good times, it's that those wonderful, innocent days are over for me. I have entered a new stage of my life. No more late night phone conversations with girl friends, no more sleepovers or trips to the mall to meet guys. It's not that I need to or even want to do those things now, but thinking about them is so bittersweet. I now have a career, a house, a husband, slower metabolism. Let's face it folks, I'm old. All grown up. It's all downhill* from here, but I'm taking my memories with me!

*Ok, so maybe not. I am still young, no wrinkles, perky breasts (had to throw that in) . . . and I have kids to look forward to. But the concept of getting old frightens me and I'm scared that when I become a mom, that will be a real turning point, that I'll be totally and fully ALL grown up.

More Travel Gadgets

Thank you to those of you who gave me advice about storing my pictures. We had a gift certificate to Best Buy, so we put it towards a 512 meg memory card. We are also borrowing another card from James's work, so even with high resolution we should have room for plenty of photographs.

In other gadget news, I finally got me an MP3 player. Eventhough I initially wanted a pink mini IPod, I decided to go with this 1.0GB one from SanDisk because 1)One AAA battery lasts for 15 hrs and I never have to worry about having to send it back to Apple and 2) It was much cheaper and I'm on a budget here people!

We finally narrowed down what toys we are bringing with us. We are leaving the laptop at home to save space, but we are bringing the portable DVD player, camcorder, and MP3 player. We also ordered a conversion kit for South Afica and Swaziland. We are going to be moving around a bit, so the less we bring, the better!

Mama's Got a Brand Spankin' New Toy

Here's the new camera we got to take on our trip. :-) It's a Panasonic Palmcorder MultiCam MiniDV 2.3MP Camcorder with 2.5" Color LCD Monitor. I'm a happy camper!

The only thing I'm worried about it memory to store photos, as it also functions as a camera. I can't spend a few hundred on memory cards. I also don't want to have to carry a laptop with me on the trip to upload photos. What would you do?

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways

I have been really worried about being able to afford a decent camcorder for our trip and still have some spending money for nice meals and souvenirs. It turns out that the TV we purchased about year ago, which was under warranty thank goodness, has a funy black spot on it. So, since it was not able to be fixed, we are getting our money back. Then we found a similar one for 1/2 the price, leaving me with a bit of money leftover. I was able to buy a camcorder and set some money aside for our trip. Sometimes when you think the money isn't coming from anywhere, God finds a way. It's these small things in my day to day life that lets me know He's there and he cares. How has God touched your life?

Totally Addicted

I am glued to Six Feet Under. I seldom get really involved in TV shows. Don't get me wrong-- I do like to watch TV: the Food Network, Discovery Times Channel, and the occasional reality show, but every once in a while I get super duper involved with a show. Nip/Tuck is one I love even though it's become totally sleezy and my other favorite is Six Feet Under, which sadly is in its last season. What do you like to watc?

New Template?

I found an adorable green tea template. To test it out, I used the blogger form of it on my old blog to see what I thought. There is a MT form also and I am considering using it here. What do you think? You can see it on my old site here.

This Bitch Can Stitch

That's right, I am now a chick with sticks! Ok, I am finally doing something I have wanted to do forever. I taught myself to knit in an hour. That's got to be some kind of record, right? Just kidding. :-) It really was just easier than I thought and I wish I had tried sooner. I am of course, starting out by making a scarf-- one that I actually need because I hear nights in South Africa are cold and so my neck will be warm.

I bought the book "Stich 'n Bitch", not because of the title, seriously, but because it seemed to explain things better than the other books I looked at. It was a good choice because I was knitting in no time! I will post pictures of the scarf when I'm done.

My question to you: do you knit or crochet? How did you learn? (I am hoping some people learned from a source a little more special than a book with the word "bitch" in the title. Maybe from a grandmother?) Oh, and after I told my grandma about the book and that I had started a scarf, she says, "Well I could've taught you! Why didn't you ask me?" Well, because I didn't know you could knit! Grandma, don't keep any more of your wisdom a secret from me. :-)

Rhythms

I've been wanting to buy some new shoes for our trip and I absolutely love these cute pink ones from Sketchers. I could wear them with jeans, skirts, or whatever. Lately I seem to really like things that are a little funky. :-)

TriniTEA

I can't wait for Adagio to release this new Electric tea maker, or TriniTEA! I tend to like the traditional way of making tea-- boiling the water on the stove, pouring it over tea leaves in a cast iron tea pot or my bodum, but there is something cool and ultra-modern about this new tea machine. How do you like to make your tea?

Updated

This morning I updated my "100 Things About Me." Just follow the link under "About Me" on the side bar. Hope you'll read and respond. I love comments so bring 'em on! :-)

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

At Last! (Imagine the song playing in the background)

OK, so for most of you this isn't a big deal, but I have been going through withdrawal over some things for the last 4 years we've lived here! We are getting a Starbucks! This is MAJOR for me. Starbucks was practically a daily stop for me in Maryland and I have been suffering all this time!

I seriously think I could've called my blog "Beverage Queen" or something because I love so many drinks besides just tea. I love smoothies, coffee (Vietnamese iced coffee, mochas, Frappacinos, etc.) and lots of types of tea (hot, iced, bubble tea, Thai iced tea) . . . So now I have one more place to stop for something refreshing.

What are your favorite drinks?

Just Chillin'

Swaps???

Ok, it seems like there are tons of bloggers involved in various swaps and it sounds like *so* much fun! I absolutely love being in the teaswap and would love to participate in something else, especially something international (but I'd do anything really). Help! What swaps are you a part of? Do you know of any? I don't want to join some random something on yahoo, so I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction? Or maybe I should start one? Hmmmm . . . I don't know. Help! :-)

My Poor Arms

Not only I am sore, but I'm also broke. No, I'm not complaining (well, maybe I am), but seriously, all this money is *so* worth it. This is really a trip of a lifetime so I can expect to be a little broke. I just spent tons of money on medications and vaccines and I haven't even decided on which anti-malaria pills to take which means $100 more I think! Better to be safe than sorry though, right?

Both James and I are getting the series of Hepatitis A & B shots. Hepatitis A is spread through food, so you never can be TOO careful. And eventhough I'm not planning on having sex with anyone in South Africa (except, ahem, the hubby) or sharing any needles, for only $15 more, I could get vaccinated for both, so I thought, why not? Besides, hepatitis is everywhere, so I feel safer I guess.

I also got pills for typhoid fever and a tetanus shot in case I get bit by a wild zebra and the wound becomes infected with tetanus bacteria! LOL! So tonight both arms are sore, so I'm trying to move them, as recommended. So basically, I'm walking around my house swinging my arms and stretching them over my head. It's helping, which is why I better go swing some more! Ciao.