Hello friends, family, and strangers who know Megan!
Thank you for taking the time to check out our blog; I hope our wacky adventures bring some entertainment into your lives. I would like to start off with a brief introduction of myself, and then I'll post what everyone's actually interested in... our VERY vague itinerary for the next year(ish).

My name is Jihelah. I'm 19, born and raised (for the most part) in Hood River, Oregon. I have two great parents Lee and Feliza Greenwald who started showing me the world outside of our cosy bubble at a young age, first to visit family within the U.S. and soon afterwards (age 5 onward) traveling for months at a time to more diverse places like Mexico, New Zealand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Eastern/Western Europe. Mom and Dad: when you're missing me... remember that it's your fault I'm gone because you made our trips too fun! I also have a 16-year-old sister, Naomi. Lots of traveling= lots of family time= very close siblings. I'm going to miss her the most, but she seems to fare exceedingly well without my immediate involvement in her life.

In high school I spent a majority of my time occupied with school, homework, and sports (running XC, Nordic skiing, and tennis), but in my free time also played piano and hung out with a close group of friends. Hood River was a great place to grow up because I was introduced to so many outdoor activities like skiing, biking, and hiking... all of which I hope to incorporate into the coming year.

In June I finished my freshman year of college at University of Oregon in Eugene.  It was incredible, a year of freedom from parents, from responsibility (besides classes), and from my high school reputation. I quickly realized that the rules my parents instated were for my own good, the awesomeness of not having to cook for myself got old after the 4th night of overcooked spaghetti and steamed cauliflower, and it is hard to pick out new friends when you haven't spent 18 years getting to know each other. But after a couple months I felt comfortable in my new home, had settled in with a great group of girls in my dorm, and was taking classes I really enjoyed. I can't wait to go back to school at UO next year. But I'm not going this year because....

Me and Megan became very close after my senior year of high school. We did virtually everything with each other last summer and decided we should take a GAP year together (although mine would be placed awkwardly between my freshman and sophomore year of college). There was much deliberating on the subject of taking a year off... but we decided it was the thing to do. So tomorrow the trip we've been discussing for over a year will begin.

ITINERARY (AS IT STANDS NOW):
Sept. 3rd-Sept. 7th I will be in Tokyo visiting my great friend from school, Riko Ozawa. It's my first trip to Japan so she's going to give me a whirlwind tour of the capital, explain 2300 years of Japanese history, and (most importantly) help me taste the best of Japanese cuisine.
Sept. 7- Dec. 6th I will fly to Beijing and meet up with a dozen young Americans. I'm exploring China with a program called Where There Be Dragons (no joke... Check it out at wheretherebedragons.com I'm doing the China South of the Clouds Semester). We are traveling, learning, and taking classes (on language/culture/economics/politics) together all over China (Beijing, exploring the Great Wall, Gansu and Qinghai-in the NE part of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and Kunming). Megan is doing a similar program in Nepal with the same company. She'll be doing a bunch of trekking(!!!!!!), a 10-day intensive meditation course, and taking Nepali culture/history/language classes. We're both going to have a fabulous time and hopefully pick up some travel smarts.
Dec. 6th-Jan. ? Flying to Katmandu where I'll meet up with Megan and we're going to trek in the Himalayas. It will be winter there, so we'll probably end up either buying a ton of wool socks or doing lower elevation treks. Geoff, Megan's dad, is planning on joining us for part of our Nepal leg of the journey.
Jan. ??- ??? India! Probably Northeastern India where there is a lot of great trekking. Or the Northwestern because Rajasthan is suppose to be spectacular.
Sometime in February My mom and Megan's mom, Beth, would like to visit. Probably in Burma... although official dates and locations haven't been decided.

****Disclaimer: We don't exactly know what we're doing or where we're going. We are interested in SE Asia, but New Zealand, Eastern Africa, and the Middle East are also very intriguing. But I think the  lack of direction will add to the general hilarity of our adventures. All in all... we'll cross that bridge when we get there. For the next three months I'll be posting from China, and Megan will be posting from Nepal.

So, wish me luck! Tomorrow I'll fly out of PDX with a 40lb backpack, clouded vision, and an open mind. Thank you to everyone who has told me traveling horror stories, given me contacts, lent me gear, and been supportive... I'm going to miss you all while I'm gone.

Keep checking the blog! I'll do my best to update often.
Until next time...
Zaijian!