Voyage Junkie

It has been some time since my last post.  Matt and I are frantically cleaning and packing, getting rid of things and making seemingly endless runs to the post office.  It hardly seems like it's been nearly two years since we first laid eyes on our temporary home, yet here we are, at the end of our run as ALTs.  I won't miss the job, but I will miss the friends we made here.  Japan affected me deeply and I am grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and travel in this incredible country.  There will be time for reflective essays later, when we have toured Europe and are again in the ranks of America's unemployed youth... for now we must continue packing and cleaning. To keep you busy as you wait for the thrilling conclusion of our world travels (did I mention we have quite the itinerary planned?), here are some shots from this year's plum blossom festival in Bairin Koen.  We visited on March 11, 2012, which you may know was the first anniversary of the Tohoku ear