Happy Holidays!

Had such a stressful week, but I am off to Japan tomorrow.

Stay tuned for some winter photos from Japan! 

2012 was quite eventful as usual. It was a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride, but I hope things are moving towards a positive direction. It took me a while to get used to the life and work in this country, but somehow I overcame the challenges to a certain extent. 

I would like to thank friends for your support and  
wish you nice holidays and a very happy new year!

２０１２年も振り返ると、色々あったけど、なんとかポジティブな方向に向かっていると良いな。赴任国での生活や仕事に慣れなくて、辛い時もあったけど、なんとか克服することができたので、多少の自信にはなったかと思う。

お友達の皆さんには相変わらず、大変お世話になりました。良いお年を！

ゆらゆら

久しぶりのダイビング。今日は私もたまにバディを組んでたアイルランド人のひとがここを去るので、お別れダイブ。彼はミャンマーに行くのです。いいなー。

初めてピクニックアイランドに途中上陸して、お昼をいただきました。ほとんどの人は２本潜るのだけど、私はだいたいいつも１回だけにして、２回目のに皆が行っている間は、船のベンチでお昼寝。頑張らない主義。こんな青い空を見ながら、ゆらゆらボートの上で。

Taking a nap on a dive boat while others go on the second dive. Looking at blue sky on a rocking boat.  One of my favorite moments on weekends. 

キャンペーン終了

まだまだ終わらせなきゃいけない仕事はたくさんあるんだけど、キャンペーンが終了したので、ちょっと一息。ここ最近は週末返上で働いていたので、疲れが溜まってる．．．。

国連なのになぜこれをやってるの？と思うようなNGO的な仕事が多かったけど、それはこの国は女性団体もほとんどない特殊な環境なので、国連職員や政府の偉い人も関係なく、キャンペーンリボンを手作りしたりするのです。人が足りなくなって、急遽、私までテレビで流す、キャンペーンの公共広告（？）ビデオに登場したのです。

この１６日間のキャンペーンを通して、少しでも多くの人がDVや女性に対する暴力について考えてくれれば良いな。同僚や私自身もキャンペーン中に、声をかけられて、友達が悩んでいるのだけどどうしたら良いの？と聞かれることもあった。キャンペーンのメッセージを聞いて、一人でもDVに苦しんでいる女性が勇気を出してくれたらと思う。

大変だったけど、とても充実感のある１６日間でした。

The 16 Days Campaign has concluded this week. It was so much work, and I literally ran around and got my hands dirty. I really hope that it raised awareness about violence against women and girls and messages reached out to women who are currently living with abuse.. During the Campaign myself and other colleagues were approached by some people asking for advice about friends who were experiencing violence. It was so worth it. I also very much enjoyed working with young people (some of them are half my age!!) volunteers and colleagues. 　

The photo was taken when I went to an adjunct island for a campaign event. By the way, did I mention that I was one of (self appointed though) designated photographers for the campaign? One of my photos will be used for a next year's calendar of my organization in the South Asia region.  

Count Down to JPN

Taken at a resort where the retreat was held
- love this color

I am completely exhausted and stressed out these days. I had a two day office retreat with long (usual) UN type discussions on directions and strategies for next year. The 16 Days Campaign still has not concluded yet. Now all the reporting and planning has to be done in addition to normal programming kind of work. It can be exhilarating, but I badly need a break or at least proper weekend..

17 more days to go till my next holiday. I am going back to Japan for 10 days on the 24th. This time I am bringing along my boyfriend (yes the notorious non-committal boyfriend- small progress made), who has never been to Japan before. It will be hectic and interesting, but I look forward to seeing my family and going to Onsen together. My parents have kindly booked tickets for a Kabuki performance for two of us, which will be so special. I am certainly not so looking forward to the cold weather, though. Need to layer up with uniqulo heat-tec shirts.

This is what my life has become this year. Work work work and go on a short holiday every two months. This morning, I was counting how many times I have traveled this year. Including the up-coming trip to Japan, it is going to be 10 times! This includes four mission travels but doesn't include short holidays in this country when I had guests over. No wonder my less than 2 year old suitcase is so beaten up and I have become a gold card member of certain airline in spite of traveling in the economy class. 

Morocco Collectable 2

妹さん二人とお母さんへのお土産。バブーシュ。自分用は白をチョイス。もうすぐ会えるねー。