Oz to Oya

Well….   January has been pretty busy.

On the 17th, Deanne and Peter came to visit me for two weeks.  So I was pretty busy showing them around.  Took them to Kinosaki, etc.  I also took them up the mountain to go snowboarding…  Side note:  The weekend before they arrived, I wrench my ankle (very bad sprain!!) while I was snowboarding.  I’ve been keeping it bound but I keep doing stuff… so it’s been slow to heal.

On one of the weekends they were here, on the sat. I took them snowboarding and then the next day, I drove to Himeji castle.  They did the castle tour and I played frisbee.  It’s been a while since I played and I’d forgotten how much fun it was to play.  I ended up hurting my ankle again though…so I was playing with a limp. haha… I need to take better care of myself.

I started my Chinese lessons, piano lessons and shodo (japanese calligraphy) lessons again.  Chinese is proving to be harder than I thought.  I think I need to practice more than once a week… I’ll have to think of a way to do that.  Piano is … progressing.  I’m still terrible but I learned something new at my last lesson.. (I need to play more “fluidly”… not in 4 bit chunks…. haha…..    as for shodo… I don’t think I’ll ever truly master it… but I love it.  And I found out that the Oya English teacher, Yuriko started to do it!!    She’s been going to class for a year, but we’ve never met because I go and leave early because of Tai Chi.  (I haven’t been to a Tai Chi class this year.  I will go this week.)

This last weekend, we played in the Yukigassen tournament again.  We played really well but just had bad luck with the refereeing… they called us out, but didn’t call the other team out when we hit them.    *pics here

After the yukigassen, we all went to Tanya’s house for a nabe party.  I love nabe… I ate sooooo much meat. (and I drank a few beers to drown my sorrows too).  The next day, we were up the mountain again snowboarding ….. I started to feel a little crook later in the afternoon and I was more than happy when we finally made it to the onsen.  I’m really going to miss onsen when I move to Taiwan.

Speaking of Taiwan, I’ve nearly finished my MBA application.  I’m just waiting on a “Certificate of Participation” and a letter of recommendation from my supervisor, then I will send it.

Other upcoming plans…  In two weeks, I will be going on a ski trip to Nagano with some of the Tajima people.. I’m looking forward to that.   Then in March, I’ll be going to the Returning JETs conference in Yokohama.  Unfortunately, I have to pay for that out of my own pocket…. yikes!   But hopefully, I can meet the Maeda’s and my other friends that live in Tokyo.

Also in March, NINJA TRIP!  A group of the Tajima boys (and Adrian) are going to a ninja village in Mie-ken for some ninja training.  We’re going to rent some minivans and do a road trip.  I’m really looking forward to it.

hmm… that’s about it for the update.. so time for the weigh in.

January:

• 5th… after christmas, new year’s party, etc.. I wasn’t surprised by my weight being… 89.1!!
• 7th    89.4
• 8th    88.2
• 9th    88.8
• 14th  89.4
• 20th  88.1
• 21st  87.2
• 22nd  88.4
• 23rd  88.5
• 24th  88.8
• 27th  87.8
• 28th  88.0
• 29th  88.0
• 30th  87.5

I am slowly losing weight and getting into better shape.  February I’m really going to make an even greater effort. I’m setting good habits for myself so that I can sustain the weight loss/ stay healthy.

G

When oh when will I learn about setting unrealistic goals. hahaha..

well.. it’s time for the monthly weight update.. and the figures don’t lie.  I haven’t really lost any “weight”… but I definitely have started to lose the gut.  Huzzah.   I’ll probably try and upload some progession photos on Facebook or something.

so… the weigh in for November.

5th  88.3
6th  88.6
7th  88.3
8th  89.2
12th 89.3
13th 89.6
14th 89.4
17th 88.6
18th 88.1
19th 88.4
20th 88.8
21st 88.8
25th 88.3
26th 87.7

and the weigh in on December 1st - 87.7kgs

Anyway.. that’s that for now.. I’ll try to post something more interesting than my weight in a few days.

Wow… what a jump… the last update was “Happy Halloween”.

Since then I’ve been pretty busy.   I’ve been thinking a lot about my future and putting some steps into motion.  I have been thinking about what to do when I finish JET a lot.  I truly love Japan and I especially love the area that I live in.   However, once I finish JET it would be very difficult for me to stay in this area.  I’d probably have to move to Osaka or Kobe or even Tokyo…. and even then what would I do…. I could get a job teaching English fairly easily… but I don’t want to be an English teacher for the rest of my life.  I enjoy the work, but the salary is not fantastic.   I don’t really want to be a recruiter like many other people become when they finish JET. So what can I do??

While thinking about all this, I discovered there is a similar programme to JET in Hong Kong.  I considered that for a while….  I figured I could study and learn Chinese while I was in Hong Kong and Chinese would be more useful than Japanese for my future career…. but then I started thinking…”why don’t I just study Chinese at a language school like I did at Yamasa?  “   Once I started thinking about that, I realised I have a lot of friends in Taiwan.  And I made a new friend at the Halloween party, Hannah.   She has been studying Chinese in Taiwan on scholarship.  After chatting to her, I started looking into my options in Taiwan.  There are many language schools and the Taiwanese government offers scholarships for people looking to study Chinese.   So I decided to go to Taiwan.

I discussed this with some of my friends and Colin mentioned that one of his old professors is teaching in Taiwan.  He put me in touch with his professor so I could ask him some questions.  I had a long conversation with the professor and he suggested that I don’t just study Chinese, he suggested that I study an MBA.  So again, I had a new option to consider. And consider it I did.   The Taiwanese government and Taiwanese universities offer scholarships that are VERY enticing.  They desperately want international students to enrol in their All English MBA programmes.  So I decided to apply for an MBA in Taiwan.   So I will do my MBA, study Chinese and embark upon a new adventure and open a new chapter in my life.

I hope that I can return to Japan in the future.  I wonder where this new direction in my life will lead me.

G

Additional.  It’s time for the weight update.  I was a fairly consistent weight for most of December.

so…. December

• 1st.   87.7
• 2nd.  87.3
• 3rd   87.1
• 4th   87.9
• 5th   88.0
• 8th   87.6
• 9th   88.4
• 10th 87.9
• 11th 87.9
• 12th 87.9
• 15th 88.6
• 16th 87.9
• 17th 88.3
• 18th 88.3
• 19th 88.4
• 22nd 88.1
• 24th 89.1

and today, weighing in after the New Year’s break… (I was quite worried because I haven’t really exercised and I’ve been eating and drinking a LOT).. but… the weight is…

January 5th, 2009.    =  89.1kg

Since the last update, I had a salsa performance (video on Facebook!), I joined the local Autumn festival and carried a small shrine around on my shoulder with several local men for several hours, I went to Osaka with Jim and crew to meet Jon Kerr’s sister. (She’s an actress!  Google Amy Kerr!) The following weekend, Kanako came to visit me.  That was a busy weekend too.  On the Sunday, the Tajima Gyu frisbee team joined forces with the Himeji Disc-O to form DISC-GYU!!  We took part in a frisbee tournament in Akashi… we did really well!

This last weekend was the busiest by far.  My friend, Hana came to visit from Taiwan.  Also,  some friends from Perth also came to visit… and of course, it was Halloween.  On Friday night, we all went to a small (well.. not so small) halloween party at the Stix restaurant in Toyooka.  Then the next day it was my turn.  As I have the party house in this area, I hold the Halloween party every year.  There was over 60 people at the party this year… I really didn’t know many of the people at the party! hahaha….. but the costumes were all amazing.  (photos on Facebook!)

The next day was a lazy day, but I have to thank Lydia and Mark Andal.  They both did a fantastic job of cleaning and tidying up for me.  I really appreciated it.  Later that day, we went out for dinner and then we met up with the Asago people for a small halloween / birthday party for the guy that runs the best ramen shop in Tajima - JaLan!  It was a good evening.

The next day, I dropped Adrian and the Perth people at the train station and then the rest of us made our way to the beautiful area of Ikuno for a BBQ.  We all had a great time.  We ate a lot and we even practiced some frisbee.

Anyway, now it’s time for the weigh in.  October was an interesting month.   My weight loss has been quite up and down.  I know I am definitely getting thinner. (My trousers are less tight, etc) and I am definitely gaining muscle… I feel stronger and healthier.  But my weight has been definately up and down.   I had dinner at Stix two nights in a row on the weekend  … and on the Monday, I’d gained nearly a kilo! hahah..

So… here are the numbers:

Sept
29th.  87.3
30th. 87.4

Oct
1st.  87.1
3rd.  87.0
5th.  87.9
7th.  87.5
8th.  87.9
9th.  87.7 - Dinner at Stix
10th. 88.7 - Dinner at Stix
14th. 88.7
15th. 88.1
17th. 88.4
21st. 88.0
22nd. 87.1 - Dinner at Stix
23rd. 88.5
24th. 88.1
27th. 88.3
28th. 88.1

I haven’t weighed myself since before the Halloween party…. today’s weigh in should be interesting.  I am determined to get my weight to 80kgs by the end of this month.

I also need to focus on studying Japanese because the Japanese Language Proficiency test is coming!  Only one month until I must go to Kobe for the test!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrgggghhhh…..

I have been busy lately.   I have too many hobbies.

I just started piano lessons.  It is so difficult but it is really interesting!   I must practice hard.

Also… I’m going to try and learn Chinese.  I really had a good time in Hong Kong, and I think knowing a little Chinese could help my career in the future.  Plus.. I like Kung Fu movies.

Anyway, wish me luck!
Additionally… I’m really trying to get fit, lose some weight and be more healthy.    I’ve been going to the gym quite regularly, exercising, eating well and I’ve been reading a LOT about health and nutrition.   I’m eating more now and losing weight!  haha.. crazy the things you learn about the human body.

Anyway, in the interest of motivating myself, I’ve been weighing myself almost everyday on the scales in the nurses room at school before lunch.    I started on the 19th of September.   Here is the break down.  I am going to write a monthly update at the end of every month to keep me motivated.

Sept.  19th - 88.7kgs

22nd - 88.0kgs

24th 87.8 kgs
26th 87.5kgs

29th 87.3 kgs

I haven’t weighed myself today.  I’ll add that to this post later.   It’s great to see my progress though!