Spring has finally sprung!

Cambridge is an entirely different place under the rays of the sun and 2 less layers of clothing! Grass is green (well, it is even green in winter), flowers are blooming, and the days are longer. Now I know why people would actually want to live in this country!

Anyway, it was a great time of year for my "mum" to come for a visit. We spent 3 days exploring Cambridge, including lots of red bus fun, and then another 4 days in London, where we hit every major shopping area and almost every restaurant in the Mayfair area, including a Polish-Mexican restaurant which I highly recommend. Sounds a bit strange, I know, but the Polish food and Mexican food are actually separate menu items-- they just happen to be served at the same restaurant. It's the best food I've had so far in England.

Now that I'm older, mother-daughter time has taken on a whole new set of characteristics. We still bicker, snap at each other, and get plain old sick of each other (particularly after 7 consecutive days), but all in all I think the time seems more valuable. Maybe it's because now that I'm living abroad there is less of it... but in any case, the challenge of motherhood is a daunting one, and I guess only until you grow up a little do you become aware of just how hard it must be.

Back to Cambridge life. I am on to thesis-writing mode. In two weeks, I leave for Tokyo to conduct some 10-15 research interviews with everyone from the former Minister of Defense to the bureau chief of the Financial Times. I'm picking their brains on too many topics which I have too little space to cover. But this is what my supervisor wants, so I'm doing it. Target finish date is mid-June, but I question whether this is plausible or not, especially with S visiting in the middle and a short trip to France to "meet the parents..........."

And finally, the after-life has been decided-- that is, the after-Cambridge-life. I've accepted a job back in Tokyo with a US-headquartered employment search/headhunting company as their Tokyo Marketing Executive. Don't worry, I won't be snatching people from their desks and trying to make them quit their jobs. I am simply the marketing person, doing brand building, PR, and fulfilling the corporate marketing duties in Tokyo for the company. Money is good, hours are great, and the people seem friendly. We'll see how things go. I start July 10th, which means I will ironically be going back to Jo-Lo in Tokyo. Tanoshimi ni.

Sore neck

You know you have been working for too long when your neck feels an ominous pull, your butt aches from a hard desk chair, and you are beginning to go cross-eyed. You know you have been avoiding work for too long when it comes down to this.

Believe it or not, I have been working almost non-stop, give or take 2-3 hours for eating, exercising, and showering. The thesis deadline is looming, along with that of two other 5,000 word essays, and I realized the necessity of getting a move on.

The good news is, there is good news! I have landed at least 2 very high profile research interviews while I am in Tokyo in May, so that should add a little bit of authority to my thesis. It's funny how all the meishi (business cards) you acquire and never think you will use eventually come in handy. The value of meishi exchange as a Japanese custom has never been felt as now.

On the side, I'm stressing about a job. I interviewed and have a tentative offer for a marketing position in Tokyo, which they are willing to hold for me until July. There are no huge red flags, only a couple of small ones, but still I am hesitating and don't know why. I think I should just take it. If I absolutely hate it, there is nothing to stop me from moving on, right? God I stress over these things way too much.

Time to move from desk to bed. Lucky for me they are less than one meter apart from each other!

From Kyoto and back again

There were no cherry blossoms in Kyoto. S and I took a 2-day mid-week trip last week to check out the status. We knew we would probably be too early for the height of the blossoms, but we didn't necessarily expect winter weather-- even snow at night. We snapped the odd picture of a tree or two which had also apparently gotten the date wrong on the invitation and appeared early for the grand opening. But our dreams of pink covered mountains are still without realization...

We did still have a great 2 days of lovely Kyoto gardens and temples, highlighted by a few geisha appearances at night on the streets of Gion. From our traditional inn, we could hear the "clip clop" of their wooden geta shoes on the streets and ran to the window to catch a glimpse. We both also had our first time in the Arashiyama area of Kyoto, which is possibly my new favorite part. We rented cycles that made my Cambridge mama-chari look like a Harley and explored some amazingly quaint streets, thatched houses, bamboo forests, and gardens. It makes me think again of how great it is that S and I really do have very similar interests-- we always want to see and do the same things, which makes spending time traveling together all the more pleasant. There's hardly any compromise when it comes to our interests.

The weekend closed in Tokyo with a beautiful hanami in Yoyogi Park and a big night out on the town. I think we finished around 4AM, but S should have finished way before! A capirinja put him over the edge, and I ended up practically carrying him home. It was his birthday. Good thing I'm a big believer in those.

I left Tokyo on Monday and capped the trip with a 2-day stay in Paris to see my uni roommate (another one) Trish, who was in Europe for work. I'd say that if last time I ate my way through Paris, this time I shopped my way through. One BCBG dress, two summer weddings. Not a bargain, but pretty things never are.

Now I have a hellish week of work ahead. All the travel hasn't exactly made me very productive this last... month. Time to get back to work before the next visitor comes along in one week-- the Mom, dun dun dun....