The Best Place to Visit in America

The Best Place to Visit in America

Zion in the Narrows

My favorite vacation in America is a place I have been trying to escape from my entire life, yet found a whole new appreciation for upon my return back to the United States.

It’s a state with not one, but five national parks.  It hosted the winter Olympics and is known to have “the best snow on Earth.”  It’s home to what some would call an over-zealous and somewhat strange religion.

Yes, my favorite U.S. vacation so far is not San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, or even Boston: read more

You’re not Western Enough: How I Got Kicked Out of My First Shanghai Apartment

You’re not Western Enough: How I Got Kicked Out of My First Shanghai Apartment

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“Mary, I published a book about teaching foreigners in China and I wrote almost an entire chapter about you.”

My Chinese teacher from Tsinghua University suddenly e-mailed me with the news, and I was completely caught off guard.

Me? …..In a book?

Impatient, I opened up the attached word file and scanned through the chapters hurriedly.

When I turned to the chapter about me, I realized that she retold one of the bleaker moments during my stay in Shanghai about…

My First Roommate:  The Leftover Woman read more

Why I Travel

Why I Travel

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There’s a scene in the movie Wild that stuck with me.

The protagonist is on the road.  She’s exhausted.  She has only taken the first few footsteps into her journey, but already she feels the weight of the road.  Can I do this?  Is this what I’m supposed to be doing?  Have I gone crazy?

And then she stoops down, pulls some sagebrush from the road, rubs it in her fingers, closes her eyes and deeply inhales the scent.

The scent of the Earth.  The scent of the journey.  The scent of the world itself. read more

How I Learned to Speak Mandarin in 6 Months

How I Learned to Speak Mandarin in 6 Months

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This isn’t a post about how great I am at languages. I’m not like some jerk on the internet claiming to achieve fluency in three months.

This is a post about the blood, sweat and tears I spent to learn Chinese.

I never thought I would learn how to speak Chinese: The tones, the characters, and the proverbs were frustrating.  The task of learning Mandarin was daunting and overwhelming–and honestly, there were many moments I thought I was just not meant to learn this language.

Yet somehow, I did it.  I learned Chinese in less than a year. read more

Resolutions for 2015 and my Favorite Posts of 2014

Resolutions for 2015 and my Favorite Posts of 2014

Before I delve into 2015, let’s look back at the resolutions I kept (and dropped) in 2014:

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I did travel!
  • Learn French.
  • Take a class in web design and economics.
  • Find an amazing job in the USA (although it’s not very amazing)
  • Keep up the habit of going to the gym 3 times a week, aim to run for an hour nonstop (can do 30 mins now, up the score!)
  • Take the GRE.
  • Grow out my hair.  It looks good short I must admit, but I do miss having my long black locks.
  • Continue to write, and publish an article!
  • Volunteer!  Find an organization in Shanghai or the USA, sign up, and go help others! (volunteered on Thanksgiving and have joined a volunteer Meetup group in my neighborhood).
  • Practice J-E interpreting 3 times a week, C-E once a week
  • Learn how to properly, and effectively, invest money (I purchased my first stocks this year)
  • Travel somewhere new (have plans of Thailand in March, so this one’s definitely going to happen!) (Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore–you were amazing!)

Alright, Time for 2015 Resolutions:

To more adventure in 2015!
To more adventure in 2015!
  • Lose 20 pounds–and more importantly, lead a healthier life.  I know.  It’s a typical resolution, but this year it means even more.  I gained a lot of weight since moving back to the United States.  I want to blame the unhealthy food, the portion sizes and the lack of physical activity (I used to walk everywhere in Shanghai–now, I drive).  But still, I can’t just blame America.  I already downloaded MyFitnessPal and I have a plan set in motion.  If this doesn’t work, I’ll join weight watchers.  Either way, I need to take control of my weight, my health, and my life.
  • Learn Italian and Sign up for an Italian Class.  I tried to learn French and my god, it just didn’t stick.  Since most of my friends are Italian, I’ll take this as a divine sign from heaven and just learn what I love: Italian.
  • Learn Advanced CSS, HTML, and Javascript; as well as Photoshop, Illustrator and In-Design.  I love drawing, coloring, and creating.  I have always loved web design and I want to teach myself more so I can make creativity my source of income instead of just a hobby.
  • Publish an Article (or ten).  While I did continue to write (as this blog so clearly showcases), I have yet to publish my work.  I want 2015 to be that year.
  • Update this Blog Once a Week and Really Commit to The Ruby Ronin.  I love this blog.  It’s my baby.  I love the people I meet through this blog, and I love writing.  I didn’t start to really invest time in this thing until 2014, and I want to go even further in 2015.  I know life gets in the way and sometimes I only update once a month–but that’s just ridiculous.  I need to show this blog, and my readers, that I’m serious about this thing.
  • Become an Irish Citizen.  I know, random.  I’ll write a post about how to apply for Irish Citizenship later, but for the time being, I just want to make this happen in 2015.
  • Pay Off My Student Loans.  After almost ten years of paying my stupid loans, this year will finally be the year where I write my final paycheck to the Federal Government.
  • Visit at Least One National Park.  Here’s lookin at you, Yosemite.
  • Run a 5k.  While this isn’t #1 priority, I’d really like to make it happen!

Realizations from 2014 to Push me Forward in 2015

I didn't just leave friends in Shanghai--I left a family.
I didn’t just leave friends in Shanghai–I left a family.

I will forever remember 2014 as the year of great change.  I moved back to the United States from my wonderful life in Shanghai and experienced some of the worst reverse culture shock to ever grace an American.  It was truly a painful and difficult experience.  Even a year later, I cannot say with confidence that I have fully adjusted. read more

The Movie “Wild” and Finding Yourself in Solo Travel

The Movie “Wild” and Finding Yourself in Solo Travel

When I saw the poster for Wild, I was immediately reeled in.

Courtesy of  The Pacific Coast Trail
Courtesy of The Pacific Crest Trail

As a solo female traveler, a movie poster featuring a lone woman on the road with a backpack immediately sparked my interest.  Although I wasn’t quite sure what the movie was entirely about, as a fellow traveler I was certain that I had to see it and discover for myself.

Wild is about Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) and her journey on the pacific crest trail, starting from the Mojave Desert and ending in the National Parks of Oregon.  While this movie showcases the splendor of America’s rugged pacific coast, it’s not a picture perfect,  self-discovery type travel epic filled with epiphanies and life’s splendor.  It’s a movie about cold nights spent in a tent; the weight of a backpack digging into your skin, suffering from dehydration in the sun, ripping a toenail off your bloody foot and eating cold food for days on end.. read more

5 Reasons Christmas is Different in Japan

5 Reasons Christmas is Different in Japan

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Japan has this strange tendency to take western holidays and slightly alter them.  I mean, look at Valentine’s Day–girls, not guys, give the chocolate and flowers–wha?

While China just plain doesn’t celebrate Christmas, the Japanese have, much like Valentine’s Day, adopted Christmas and celebrate it in their own special way.  Japanese Christmas traditions are so strange and bizarre, most Americans are stumped–or frankly, borderline offended at the perception and celebration of this Christian holiday in the land of the rising sun. read more

Merry Christmas from Salt Lake City!

Merry Christmas from Salt Lake City!

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For the first time in five years, I’m spending Christmas at home.   I’m not flying in on a 13 hour flight from Tokyo or Shanghai.  I’m not spending Christmas in China and Lunar New Years in the states.  I’m actually home during the holidays, and it’s a wonderful feeling.

I flew into Salt Lake City on Christmas eve and was greeted to a white blanket of snow on Christmas morning.  It was the perfect Christmas present to my morning.

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Although I’m spending the holidays in the United States, the month of December hasn’t felt much like Christmas because of Los Angeles. read more

First Time to the Grand Canyon

First Time to the Grand Canyon

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Nope, never been here…

I’ll admit it.

Until recently, I had never been to the Grand Canyon.

This was my first time to the Grand Canyon.  Although I was only a mere state away in Utah, I never made the drive down south to visit America’s unofficial landmark. When I told people abroad that I had never journeyed to the Grand Canyon, I was met with pure shock and looks of horror.

My parents weren’t much for the outdoors (my mom grew up in Saigon, my dad in Boston), so the mere fact these two city slickers moved to outdoorsy Utah is still a very, very big mystery to me. I was one of the few families that didn’t go skiing, didn’t go camping, and didn’t go hiking. I was always cooped up at home reading a book, painting, or watching the news with my dad. read more

The Shocking Truth About Women’s Salaries in Japan

The Shocking Truth About Women’s Salaries in Japan

photo credit: filmmaker in japan via photopin cc
photo credit: filmmaker in japan via photopin cc

As I was doing some random internet searching on average salaries across the world, I found a link for data on Japan. While the average, annual earnings of a 24-27 year old for your average Tokyo salaryman was alarming (27,000 USD/year), what shocked me even more was this:

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Photo credit: World 104 Blog

For those that can’t read Japanese, the men’s salaries are listed in blue and the women’s are in pink.

While the pay increases for men as they age, the salary for women actually decreases. In Japan, women don’t even come close to earning as much as their male counterparts—in their entire lives. I knew the pay gap was quite atrocious in Japan, I had lived there and read enough research, but this bar graph was like being splashed with cold water. It’s that bad? read more