Upon return from Europe we had so many extra scraps and memorabilia (travel stubs) that I just couldn't incorporate into our digital photo book (which is currently in print - I can't wait for the outcome!), so I decided that I am going to make a small scrapbook to contain all the tickets, brochures, maps etc that we collected during our travels.

I had a very cute book from Typo that was just lying around and I decided it will be the perfect book to use!  The idea is to keep the book alongside the photo book so that we can see all the things we did. I used different stamps, incorporated some of the postcards I bought, some printed photos, pictures I drew, stickers, cards and stickers from Sn@p. I wrote what we saw in every city and country onto each page instead of adding elaborate journal entries. 

So here it is, I hope you enjoy! And please tell me what you think. (I have to apologise in advance for some of the photos not coming out perfectly - I'm still learning how to properly use my new camera!)

My fantastic Typo Book "Let's run away to Paris and live on Love and Macarons"

Here I added a photo and one of the paper bags I received when buying postcards at the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels, using it as a bag to hold cards, tickets etc.

Brugge - Here I added some snippets from my journal, a postcard, stickers and photos

Luxembourg - Here I added Sn@p envelopes, a postcard and even a souvenir coin

For Aachen and Oostende I used stamps, photos and postcards. For the Aachen page I used the (very expensive) bus tickets as the pocket to place in all the memorabilia. 

For Amsterdam I used one of the paper bags I received as an envelope, whilst pasting that on a map of Amsterdam (See below), and I added some watercolour pictures I drew. For Rome I also used a watercolour picture and some Sn@p envelopes.

Map of Amsterdam and a Sn@p Quote Card (on the back I wrote where we went and what we saw).

Venice

Milan and Athens - For Milan I used a postcard as an envelope and for Athens I added one of my watercolour sketches. 

Mykonos

Paris (Ah! Paris!!!) - The one page is made up of all the metro tickets and stickers

Barcelona - I used Sn@p pockets and a Quote Card

The back of the Sn@p Quote Card

For Stockholm I used a map as the background and a see-through envelope)

Stockholm page (when the brochures and pictures are removed)

For Brussels I once again used one of the paper envelopes I received at my favourite Souvenir Shop - The Brussels Corner. For the Geneva Page I used a Sn@p envelope stuck on a Sn@p Quote card

Back of the Quote Card

For Budapest and Vienna I once again used Sn@p Quote cards and envelopes. Later on I added my favourite watercolour sketch to the Vienna page (which I haven't photographed yet).

So, have you used Sn@p products before? And what do you do with your travel stubs? I would love to hear your ideas (and opinions)!

And so it begins...

Yesterday/this morning we finally got contacted by our predecessor and received our essential information booklet - now I know where I will be teaching; Kakegawa Higashi High School - a school Kakegawa City, Shizuoka. So far the description of the school and my "extra" duties sound very exciting and interesting. I really do hope that my experience is similar to what my impressions are!


Map of Shizuoka (found on Google Images)- see if you can find Kakegawa!

In the next few weeks I am going to make a few small "lists" of things I packed and am going to pack etc as well as any "survival tips" that I've gathered over the years of preparations (and what I have experienced so far). But today I want to introduce my new goal - Japanese language learning!

By putting my goals on the blog, it motivates me even more to learn and study even though I know I am not going to always be in the mood to study!

So my first mini-goal:
To be able to introduce myself in Japanese to my neighbors, colleagues, students and new friends upon arrival in Japan.

This may not seem like much but the reason why I am going to post several mini-goals is to make sure that I don't get too frustrated over time when it feels like I'm not able to do anything. If I am able to reach my mini-goals while working towards my ultimate goal (and that is to easily and accurately speak and read basic Japanese - aka to be understood whilst making minimal errors along the way in conversations - in 1 year's time). So basically I am aiming for an elementary level of communication.

Will keep you updated (and will post some more travel posts soon!)

So tell me, are you currently learning a new language? And do you have any goals in mind. If you are a JET - how do you feel about the daunting task of learning Japanese or being submerged in this completely new life?

Until next time!

Wow, my last blog post was just after I started working... that is too long ago! But, now I have a month before moving to Japan! And what an adventure it is going to be. I've compiled a short bucket list of some of the things I want to do and experience in Japan this coming year.

During our travels in 2010/2011 we traveled extensively and so experienced so many things - most of those experiences are thus not featured on my short "picture" bucket list (although I won't mind re-experiencing and revisiting all those places and things again).

[I take no credit for the photos in this post - most of them I sourced from around the internet and I just added the captions (thanks Tumblr for the idea!)!]

Well, enjoy! Will be posting much more frequently from here on out.

One of my missions for the year! 

And perhaps sleep in a temple...

Sushi Saito is a Michelin star restaurant in Tokyo