My first blog ever....so this could suck

Hello all!

I am writing this blog to see how to do it. I have not used this fancy WWW tool, so I may do this all wrong.

Anyway, no, I am not in Japan. Not yet. I am in Vancouver, BC in TRAINING!!!!!!!!! It is a very arduous process, but I am sure important. I am not really good at sitting in a room all day talking about rules and regulations, so this is a challenge. I am more a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of girl, so all this formality is a chore. Grrrrrr!

Anyhoo, Vancouver is beautiful! If you have not been, I highly recommend it. It is a city surrounded by water and mountains that are so close you feel as if you can touch them. It almost looks like a Hollywood set: pristine, lush, and fake. Of course the street my hotel is on is full of hookers, pawn shops, and pornography, but it makes me feel like I am at home in NYC. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder anyway, right? Ah, I miss New York....

My training has been fine so far. Nothing real exciting to report except what I have to look forward to when I move to Japan, namely earthquakes and TYPHOONS! OK, earthquakes I knew about, but typhoons? What the....? The company I work for now assures me that the island that I will be living peacefully on only experiences about 20-30 per year (20-30 PER YEAR??). AND, most of them are small, but that I may have about 5 big ones (BIG ONES???).

OK, what does that mean? Something about staying inside and boarding up my windows was the advice I was given. But then I asked about flooding, and the manager just says nonchalantly, "oh yes, of course..." Then she moved on to a new topic. That was the end of my typhoon discussion (FLOODING???).

Now, this may seem like it could be a trivial and perhaps a rare occurrence that won't infringe on my life and most likely, that will be the case. However, let me remind you that I am somewhat prone to natural disasters. Let me clarify:

1) In 2000, Seattle had an earthquake of 7.3 or so, one of the biggest in decades...where was I? In Seattle.
2) In 2001, NYC experienced 9/11....where was I? In NYC.
3) In 2004 (I think) NYC experienced the blackout....where was I? In NYC
4) In 2007, Costa Rica experienced a huge hurricane (the name escapes me)....where was I? In Costa Rica.
5) In 2008, Kyushu, Japan has a typhoon with 100ft high waves and torrential rain....where will I be? Kyushu.

I always hope for the best, but plan for the worst, then laugh because planning never matters anyway.

I miss you all so much already!!

Love,
Andrea