rubymary, Author at The Ruby Ronin

Why 2017 Was the Craziest Year of My Life… With a 2018 Surprise

January 12, 2018 rubymary Comments 16 comments

I just have to say that 2017 was undoubtedly the craziest, yet also most unforgettable, year of my life.

My aunt told me that I had more life events happen in 2017 than people have in their entire lifetime. She’s totally right, because…

I Had Lots of Big Life Events…

Getting married on a mountain… no big deal

In 2017, I planned and executed a wedding while concurrently completing an intensive graduate degree in international relations.

Graduate school, as I mentioned, was really hard but worth every penny. Learning about international relations changed my life for the better, and now I suddenly see the whole world with a new lens. I don’t regret grad school one bit. read more

Traveling Off The Beaten Path in Ireland’s Rugged Northwest

November 7, 2017 rubymary Comments 11 comments

Off the Beaten Path in Northwest Ireland

Northwest Ireland is sadly passed over for its southern cousin. Most people skip County Donegal, Mayo and Sligo and take a beeline from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher in Southern Ireland, bypassing this part of the country entirely.

I’m here to tell you that Northwest Ireland is a must-see. Thanks to the expert vacation planning of my husband, I was able to discover a charming and grossly under appreciated corner of Ireland. The rugged northwest may be known as Ireland’s no-man’s-land, but after setting foot in the region I soon realized this is one of Ireland’s best kept secrets. read more

A Slice of Life From Japan: The Japanese English Teacher (JTE) I Will Never Forget

October 22, 2017 rubymary Comments 12 comments

Today, I found a memoir-like post hidden away in the depths of my hard drive. I thought this little piece perfectly conveyed what it was like to teach on the JET Program, as well as introduced some unforgettable characters all JETs are bound to meet on the journey. It’s a long post, but if you can slog through it, it perfectly summarizes my unforgettable experience working with my Japanese English Teacher (JTE).

“You have to meet Uchida-sensei,” all of the staff at the school told me repeatedly. “He’s going to be one of the English teachers you work with. Plus, I think he’s about the same age as you.” read more

Exploring Fall Colors in Rural Minnesota

October 14, 2017 rubymary Comments 11 comments

I could hardly contain my excitement when my husband told me we were moving to Minnesota for the month of October. After living in the land of eternal sunshine (aka Southern California) for the past three years, I was in eager anticipation to finally enjoy a proper fall season. I couldn’t wait to wrap myself up in sweaters and scarves, make pumpkin scones, wash it down with spiced cinnamon tea, and most of all:

See the colors that make Autumn my absolute favorite season.

Minnesota is renown for having some of the best fall foliage in the US, so last week I set off to Itasca State Park to see just what the state had to offer…. and this is what I found: read more

Five Must See Destinations in Northern Ireland

September 28, 2017 rubymary Comments 8 comments

As someone who has roots from the deep-Celtic-south of the REPUBLIC of Ireland, my jaw hit the floor when my husband told me our first stop of the Ireland trip was Northern Ireland….aka, Great Britain.

The few times my grandmother talked about the old country, she always managed to slip in an insult about the British with a spit and went on a tirade about how they ravaged her homeland. To say that I grew up with prejudice against “the north” is a vast understatement. I was aghast. I grew up telling myself I would never, god help my soul, go to the North. read more

Graduating, Leaving California, Traveling to Ireland and Getting Married

September 13, 2017 rubymary Comments 15 comments

I apologize for the long, silent hiatus on this blog. I usually try to update once a month, but since May ’17 my life has been absolutely crazy.

Graduating

I honestly thought going back to school would be a nice break from “real, work life,” but it was actually more demanding and taxing both mentally and physically than my previous 8-5 office job. In graduate school I literally spent 10 hours a day in the library reading (and comprehending) the 500+ pages of literature, as well as write an average of 2-3 essays per week. Graduate school was a repetitive schedule of sleep-study-eat-study-sleep. That was my life for ten months. read more

Discovering Japan through the Eyes of a Tourist

April 22, 2017 rubymary Comments 11 comments

My fiancee was dying to write a post about travel, and the both of us just couldn’t get memories of our trip to Japan out of our heads (and trust me, Japan tends to do that to people), so he offered to write a great piece on Japan. Unlike me, my fiancee has yet to live or study in Japan, so it has been fascinating to read his account of discovering Japan through the eyes of a tourist. Enjoy! (PS, if you enjoy my fiancee’s writing take a look at his finance blog, Millennial Lifehacker).

Mary has already written a fabulous article on Japan, but aside from the one week that we spent together there, I also wandered across part of the country with my parents while she acted as a tour guide for some other friends. Here are some things that I noted. Apologies in advance as I am not nearly as captivating a writer as Mary.

1. There are so many Chinese in Japan

Yeah, I know, Mary made this observation already, I know, but I still could not get over it. Seriously, everywhere you go in Japan has tons of stealth Chinese people. One particularly memorable encounter was at the hotel. After we checked in, there was a maid who came by with extra sheets and to do some supplemental cleaning. She was Chinese! I guess Chinese maids are the equivalent to Hispanic maids in southern California; they’re everywhere! Apparently they all have the same story as well. They moved to Japan after China started to open up but was still kind of poor (think most of the 1990s). They usually worked in low skill employment but stayed on even as China became wealthy because they got used to the environment and made their circle of friends.

April 13, 2017 rubymary Comments 12 comments

I know, the title of this blog post seems strangely unrelated–and actually, it probably is. The only common link between job hunting, the controversial United incident of this week and the Girl Who Escaped ISIS is my mental state of being.

So let’s delve right into that:

The United Incident

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should know about the United incident. A United flight from Chicago O’Hare to Louisville was overbooked and, despite offering an $800 voucher, no one volunteered to leave the plane and make room for four crew members who needed to staff a connecting flight. United felt that the only remaining option was to “randomly” select four people to forcibly vacate the plane. read more

5 Reasons To Visit Washington DC

April 5, 2017 rubymary Comments 8 comments

This week, I just traveled to my nation’s capital for the very first time. Despite traversing most of East Asia, I have yet to explore much of my own country–in fact, my trip to DC was only the second time in my entire life I set foot on the East Coast.

Although I was only there a mere five days, I have to say that I enjoyed the city immensely… and here’s why:

The architecture

This is what 90% of the US West Coast looks like

The West Coast is ugly. I’m sorry, it’s the truth. Much of the American west looks post-apocalyptic with its vast swaths of deserts, strip malls, and architecture that makes a Soviet commune look beautiful. There are few, if any places in the west where one can take a city stroll and honestly say it’s charming. read more

In Honor of Women’s Day: Women Studying International Relations

March 9, 2017 rubymary Comments 15 comments

Ok, I’m biased about this subject matter (international relations being my main area of focus, and me being a woman), but since entering my graduate international relations program I’ve noticed something quite striking:

Males outnumber females. By a very large number.

In my Chinese International Relations and Security Class, there are 5 females and perhaps 15 males. My other classes also hold the same demographic. I always imagined international relations to be a relatively balance degree of gender (it’s not engineering), but I was alarmed by the contrast. International Relations (IR) is basically an extension of politics–and there are no women in it. read more

The Ruby Ronin

Connecting China, Japan, and the World

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