Below are memories from my 6 month life in Chiang Mai.

Above: An image of the temple, Doisuthep. I went here for a 3 month meditation retreat.

Above: The main meditation hall. There were about 4 meditation halls in total.

Above: The little setup I had in my room!

Above: After being refreshed from the retreat, I met some really great people and made some long lasting friends!

Above: I also took a Thai language class for one month! A group of us (4 kids), surprised the teacher with a play (in Thai) that made up! One of the characters was a ladyboy (cross dresser at far right) who was the star of the show! I was the director (center girl in the yellow shirt). =)

Above: To get around town I rented a motorbike. It was blue Fino and very pretty! I also had a white helmet which I really liked.

Above: There are tiger farms in Thailand that you can visit in the afternoon when the cats are naturally lazy and have had their catnip.

Recently I started going to Hula every Wednesdays and I absolutely LOVE IT! I like it so much I have begun to go on Saturdays as well.

I enjoy representing the nature and love from Hawaii through traditional slow dance.

I am very glad to be from Hawaii and I feel very blessed that the culture here has such a beautiful connection with nature.

I respect and admire my kumu (teacher) very much. He is very experienced and very funny. You learn so much in his class while having a good time. I am very grateful to have been introduced to his school.

My first haiku since grade school! This poem is from my experience last month when I went hiking with my mom.

Wind cannot be seen
But the trees will sing her song
As she tickles them

Two summers ago I traveled to Doisuthep, a temple in Thailand. Doisuthep is a beautiful mountain top temple which overlooks the city of Chiang Mai.

I went to this temple for a mediation retreat which lasted for 3 weeks. My father had previously completed the retreated and had recommended I do the same. It was a great experience of self discovery and I have learned much from my time there.

After my time at the temple I enjoyed the city of Chiang Mai, for 6 months. I learned northern Thai massage, took a 1 month course in the Thai language, and made many wonderful friends from all over the world.

The Thai people are very nice, food is very delicious, and there are many things to learn and experience. My time in Thailand will always be very special to me and I am grateful for my experience from 2 summers ago!

 My post will be about the 3 hobbies I consider as lifetime activities of mine.

From before I could remember, I have loved horses. They were the reason why I started to draw when I was young. I began drawing because I wanted to draw horses! This is very important because I graduated from art school and am a graphic designer today!

I got my chance to ride horses whenever my family returned to Hawaii during the summers. My parents would enroll me in summer riding camps where I learned to ride and care for horses and enjoyed it very much! I currently take riding lessons every Saturday in Waimanalo, and hope to become a very skilled rider and caretaker of these wonderful creatures!

Swimming for me started when I was in elementary school. I was on the swim team up until middle school, however I never became super fast. I was a very skinny child and simply lacked power! I do enjoy swimming today still, and even though I am not very fast I love it because it helps me keep my shape and body weight down. Its also meditative, relaxing, and great for cardio fitness.

I started yoga in college and it has become one of my favorite things to do! I love the breathing, balancing, and concentration involved while strengthening and stretching my body. It corrects my posture and my flexibility increases. Its also great for stress release and loosening my muscles from sitting at a desk all day. Its a great treat to my soul, mind, and body!

My first post! I suppose I should introduce myself and why I am learning Japanese.

My father is a Japanese-American from Hawaii, and my mother is Korean. I was born here, however was raised in Seoul, South Korea since my father had an overseas job. Growing up my family would come to Hawaii every summer vacation and stayed with my aunts and uncles here in Honolulu. After graduating high school in Korea, I lived in Florida, New York, California, Korea again, Thailand, Japan, and now Hawaii! I returned to Hawaii right before Christmas of last year and was offered a job as a graphic designer which started in February.

I want to learn Japanese because I am interested in going to graduate school there or working with galleries and exhibitions in Japan. My first language is English, and I suppose I am around intermediate level when it comes to Korean. I started learning a little Japanese but hope to be fluent and comfortable in say, about two years. I am very excited to become consistent with my studies and await the world that opens up with the knowledge of this fun language!