Things I will Miss about Living in Saipan

In Taiwan, we did a post about things we were going to miss there-  read it here.  I always like to back to it and remember a little about Taipei, so I decided to make a similar list for Saipan.

Things I Will Miss about Saipan:

- running along the beach pathway
- cheap massages
- spending just about every weekend at the beach
- pearl shakes
- the jungle and the wide variety and trees and flowers
- geckos crawling up my walls and chirping outside my window
- fresh seafood- caught that morning!  cheap fish!
- you can get anywhere on the island in less than 30 minutes- fresh fruit smoothies from street market
- getting to practice speaking Chinese all the time.  No matter how incorrect I sound, I always try!
- our house on Navy Hill and the view of the ocean from our porch
- Saipan Community Church
- our friends who have become like a second family in Saipan
- the many ethnicities and cultures living so closely together on the island
- my students and coworkers at ALAI
- all of the many activities that are available on such a small island:  snorkeling, Flametree arts festival, hiking, Taste of the Marianas, races, ultimate frisbee, etc.
- the feeling of adventure and the laidback feeling of island life

These are the magazines that my mom and Aunt Carolyn have sent to Saipan.  There were more in Taiwan!  Thank you so much everybody for the care packages- they have meant so much to us the past three years!

Things I  will Not Miss about Saipan:
- stores not having things (all of our grocery items are shipped in by boat or plane)
- humidity and frizzy hair
- not being able to drive over 45 mph
- driving a stick shift!  Brian taught me how to drive a standard car after I fell of my scooter for the second time, and we bought our little blue standard Toyata. The first couple of times I drove it by myself I was so scared, especially on Saipan's hilly roads and with other drivers right on my bumper at stop lights. Now, it's no big deal, but when I drive my friends' automatic cars, they feel so easy to drive.


In other news, I'm all signed up for the 4th of July race in Kansas City with my Gram, Mom, and Aunt Carolyn!!!  It's a 4 mile race; they are going to walk it and I'm going to run it. So proud of my Gram- she's so cool.  And so excited to spend the (early) 4th of July morning with my family!