I'm going to be honest I'm a tea drinker and specifically green tea or herbal teas . One of my travel gifts I always get myself especially when travelling in Japan is a package of local green tea. 

I never drank coffee when I lived in Canada I just didn't like the taste or the feeling it gave me after drinking it. Then after moving to Japan and after months of 3 hour round trip commutes to work and 8-10hour work days teaching English from morning to evening my physical exhaustion level forced me to try to start drinking coffee or I would've passed out in some of those late evening classes. As a person from Eastern Canada I realized after moving to Japan that I had a lot more relaxation time in Canada to do the things I loved to do ( reading, singing, writing music, cooking , travelling)  . The work day in Japan can be brutal and I am happy to now be able to go at my own pace as a housewife and online teacher with cafetalk. Though, I do take some sips from my husbands coffee in the mornings somedays , I prefer my green tea with a little something sweet next to it . :) 

To be able to relax with my tea and reflect on my day is a blessing, and recently I've been drinking my tea and reflecting on the past year 2020, and self reflection of where we'd like to see ourselves in 2021. 

After reflecting on 2020 with my green tea in hand , I realized it wasn't so bad and I look back on it with gratitude. There were good times , bad times and stressful times as well as relaxation times. 
So, as I drink my tea this morning I wrote a list of what I was grateful for :

1. My health in 2020 was comparatively better after the pandemic started as my lifestyle and work changed later in the year. 

2. My husband and I were able to use our camping car to keep a social distance and still enjoy some travel throughout 2020, even using the Go To Travel campaign in December. Together we have now traveled to 18 prefectures since I moved to Japan in 2017 ( 8 of which were new travel for us this year ) Okinawa ( Feb), Tochigi (March) , Iwate, Akita, Aomori ( June), Gunma ( September) , and Shiga and Nara (October). 

3. I am grateful for the stay at home order in April, May and part of June. We got to work on making our house feel more homey, I started a garden and discovered a great online workout routine :) with Jenny Ford in America. 

4. I am grateful for my mother in law for teaching me how to cook many Japanese dishes this year and for giving us her dog at the end of this year as a full time member of our household . ( though at times it has proved challenging and I am still trying to figure out Karin (the dogs ) routine and feeding times sometimes... she can be demanding at times LOL.) -- please note Karin might pop into the video during our lesson ( though usually she`s asleep) and rarely she may wake up and demand a treat I try my best but if this happens please bare with me it is a relatively minor, rare but cute interruption :) 

5. Last but not least, I am grateful for all the wonderful students I have met on cafetalk in 2020 and had the chance to chat with and get to know each other in the process of me helping you all with your English and/or music- singing skills. 

I am very much looking forward to our continued work together in 2021, and I know this year will be even better then last year  as long as we keep looking on the bright side of life. 

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon or meeting you for the first time. 
As I sit here drinking my green tea , I am wishing you all the best for 2021!

warmly ,

StephanieRiann