Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Nagoya, Here They Come


I “met” Teresa from Lake Stevens though another blogger’s blog that belongs to First Mate (Bliss) in San Carlos, Mexico. Bliss and The Captain had sailed down the Sea of Cortez and were somewhere near Chacala. Teresa had been reading and commenting on Bliss’ blog and she knew the sailboat was anchored out in the water. One day Teresa spied the SV Bliss from shore and swam out with her son to introduce themselves. Yep, that’s just how she is.

Teresa, her husband, and son were in Chacala teaching English while on an extended stay in Mexico. At the same time Mike and I were preparing to move to Mexico to teach English and a connection with Teresa was made – via blog posts. We began to email each other and I found that she lived north of Seattle – not far from where we hailed.

When Mike and I moved back to the States, and landed in Salem, Oregon, Teresa came to visit and we met for the first time in person. It was as though we’d know each other a long time. Conversation flowed and stories were exchanged. During her visit we all hooked up with Mr. Steve Cotton – the blogger of all bloggers – who was still in Salem at the time. The emailing continued and when Mike and I finally made it back to Seattle, Teresa came to visit our new home. We’ve gotten together a few other times since then and our friendship has grown.

This past Sunday Mike and I met Teresa and her husband, Steve, for lunch. And to say good-bye – or I should say sayonara – for now anyway. You see, they are off to Nagoya, Japan, for a pair of years or more. Steve’s employer offered him an assignment he could not refuse so they packed up their house and this Saturday they’re off for a new adventure in the land of the rising sun.

We plan to keep in touch and I hope to learn about Nagoya vicariously through Teresa. In fact, if we plan it right, we might even go visit at some point. GOOD LUCK my tomodachi (=friend). See ya on the flip side!

8 comments:

Tancho said...

I admire people that are adventurous and allow themselves to experience stuff that I think about.
It would be nice if Teresa would blog about her experiences there.

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Hi Tancho!

HA...as we were leaving the restaruant I mentioned that Teresa should blog...as I have many times before. But I don't think it's gonna happen. She likes to read and comment, not write! I'll post about her and maybe she'll do a guest post once in a while.

Thanks for stopping by!

Steve Cotton said...

I remember that get-together. It is funny how one moment like that can spark a continued acquaintanceship. Mexico was our tie. Now we are in Mexico, Washington, and Japan -- but still in contact. We need to keep it going.

And we both need to work on Teresa about starting a blog. I think she would enjoy it. I know her family and friends would.

Anonymous said...

hi cynthia,

i was soooo busy yesterday that i forgot to read the blog. it's a good thing we had this extra week here because we had so many things left to do-ex. getting an int'l driver's license, writing up a will, checking our house post cleaning-it turned out great! etc, etc, etc.

the best part of having the extra time was getting together with friends. we've been at it all week, starting with you guys on sunday. it was great seeing you!

thank you so very much for writing such a lovely story about us and how we all met. i still remember that swim out to bliss' boat as if it were yesterday. it was so sweet of chris to swim out with me-he said he didn't want me to go out that far alone. meeting you guys and senor algodon in salem was also a highlight. it really is something how we have started and maintained our friendship (steve's and bliss' too) through blogs.

so many people have suggested that i write a blog that maybe i will do so eventually, if i have the patience because as i said, i am not too computer savvy-yes, i know that's a lame excuse ;-) i guess japan should provide some pretty interesting stories. we sure are looking forward to our move.

again, it was great seeing you guys on sunday and i hope that you will visit us, as you said, on the other side. mi casa es su casa ;-)

take care and keep in touch and i hope you will continue posting. as i said before, i need someone to keep me up to date on the seattle scene. i always enjoy reading your posts.

kyotsukete dear tomodachi! (take care)

sayonara,

teresa

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Hi Steve,

Yep, we are spreadin' out, but still in touch. (And for some reason I'm not able to post on your blog. Got any other people saying the same?) It looks like you're having a great time in the cool climate of San Miguel de Allende - say hello to Babs for me!

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

teresa,

Just 2 days till lift off! Maybe you can coach me on some helpful Japanese phrases I can use here at Nintendo. And see how everyone is egging you on to start a blog. It's easy! If you use Blogger it just coaches you through the set-up process - and you have a whole lot of us who use Blogger who could help out if needed. HAVE A SAFE TRIP and keep in touch!

Linda Lou and Senor, Too said...

So glad you are blogging again. how cool to see a pic of Theresa. She comments sometimes on our blog. yes, she should start thinking about a Japan blog. good luck with the resume! LL

Mike Nickell and Cynthia Johnson said...

Hello Linda Lou!

Jajajaja...yeah it's fun to see pics of people we hear about/from, huh? From what I have gleaned about you, you and Teresa would be "sisters in arms"! Felipe Zapata (see side bar AND next post) has inspired me to write again and I am going to explore my "creative writing" side. Keep posting about Alamos and your casa!