SPOTLIGHT ON... ROWDIE! March 26-28 « Back to Group Discussions

[forestmushroom]

Welcome to your spotlight on thread, Rowdie!

Some starter questions:

Where do you live?

What do you do (day job, profession, SAHM, etc.)?

How did you select your MDC name?

How many children do you have?

Ladies, ask away!

[Rowdie]

During this pregnancy, I moved from Japan to San Diego to Vancouver, Canada.

I've been an ESL (English as a Second Language) instructor.  Since we moved back from Japan, I picked up freelance editing and proofreading, which I can do over the computer, because for at least the first year I'll be doing the SAHM-thing.  I've published a few short stories (spec fic).

Back in high school, one of my friends used to say I was really "rowdy" (often like it caught him by surprise).  rowdy phantom in one form or another has been my longest-running e-mail nym.  The "phantom" part comes from an old Tori Amos song, "Happy Phantom".

This is my first pregnancy!  What a wild adventure.  This DDC has been a hugely valuable resource for me.

[persephassa]

what are some of your favorite books?

how long were you in japan? what was really amazing about living there?

[BubbleMa]

How did you and DH meet?

How did you end up in Japan?

[Rowdie]

Originally Posted by persephassa 

what are some of your favorite books?

how long were you in japan? what was really amazing about living there?

Favorite for books--eek, that's like asking my favorite song.  Ray Bradbury was an early favorite, but I'm not into his later stuff.  Ursula LeGuin, Douglas Adams, and Neil Gaiman never disappoint.  Right now, I'm reading a lot of short fiction as I'm trying to get a few more pieces published before the squid spawns and so I'm reading the markets I'm submitting to.

We were in Japan for nearly four years, my husband and I working for the same English conversation chain.  The amazing thing(s) about living in Japan... The contrasts.  You'll see a 3000-year-old statue right next to a 7-ll.  One block will be a modern shopping mecca and the next block will be a tiny alleyway with local storefronts that probably hadn't changed in a couple hundred years.  We lived in a suburb of Nagoya near a mountain crowned with an old castle which we used as our gym (bicycling up halfway, then hiking up the rest); the landscape went from urban sprawl to wilderness escape.  Bicycling is incredible there.  If you're patient, you can always find a quiet route far from traffic (through rice fields, along rivers, side streets, etc.).  Safe--I never felt nervous walking alone at night and if my bicycle had a good lock, I could leave it outside (while here in Vancouver, I lock my bike *inside*).  Clean streets--we were just laughing the other day at the gum-mottled sidewalks through downtown.  

I loved teaching there.  I taught the immersion classes, and the students were really enthusiastic and dedicated. 

[Rowdie]

Originally Posted by BubbleMa 

How did you and DH meet?

How did you end up in Japan?

We met working for a non-profit organization which uses meditation and archetypes to counter negative habits and reinforce positive ones (everything from increasing self-awareness to working on addictions).  I volunteered in a branch in Los Angeles while he ran a branch in Vancouver.  The first time we met was during a gathering in Vancouver.  He doesn't remember meeting me then since he was running the show (I tease him about that).  I sure remember him, though: I loved his long hair.  At the time, he was in a long-term relationship with another member, so I quelled my little crush figuring that since they had cats together, it was a done deal.

About two years later, a couple of the instructors in Vancouver had to leave, so they asked for help from the LA branch.  Being the itinerate type, I offered to relocate at least for the summer.  We ended up working together for a couple years.  His relationship with his ex ended. Though I really liked him, I didn't think I was his type (she was really fey-like and I'm pretty curvy).  Turns out, he doesn't limit himself to a physical type (yay!).  We got together and married about a year later (his ex helped me make my wedding dress).

We ended up in Japan because I had spent three years there after university.  DH asked what I would be doing if we hadn't gotten together, and I said I probably would have gone back to Japan because I love the work I did there.  "Let's do that, then."  We planned to stay long enough to pay his student loans off (which we did in less than two and a half years).
 

[BubbleMa]

Originally Posted by Rowdie 

We met working for a non-profit organization which uses meditation and archetypes to counter negative habits and reinforce positive ones (everything from increasing self-awareness to working on addictions).  I volunteered in a branch in Los Angeles while he ran a branch in Vancouver.  The first time we met was during a gathering in Vancouver.  He doesn't remember meeting me then since he was running the show (I tease him about that).  I sure remember him, though: I loved his long hair.  At the time, he was in a long-term relationship with another member, so I quelled my little crush figuring that since they had cats together, it was a done deal.

About two years later, a couple of the instructors in Vancouver had to leave, so they asked for help from the LA branch.  Being the itinerate type, I offered to relocate at least for the summer.  We ended up working together for a couple years.  His relationship with his ex ended. Though I really liked him, I didn't think I was his type (she was really fey-like and I'm pretty curvy).  Turns out, he doesn't limit himself to a physical type (yay!).  We got together and married about a year later (his ex helped me make my wedding dress).

We ended up in Japan because I had spent three years there after university.  DH asked what I would be doing if we hadn't gotten together, and I said I probably would have gone back to Japan because I love the work I did there.  "Let's do that, then."  We planned to stay long enough to pay his student loans off (which we did in less than two and a half years).
 

That sounds like something that only happens in movies!     So sweet!