September: September 1 - September 5, 2017

September, 2017

September 1, 2017

Well, start of a new month.  My stomach has settled, but I have a cough now, so I’m back to taking medicine again.  Joy.  Friday is easy for me, which was good because this week was rough.  It’s been blessedly getting cooler, so it’s easier for me to stomach and I feel better for the cool air.  September is a month where I need to get things done.  Sadly, I’ll have to put pen pal stuff on hold for a bit.  I have to make reservations for my October trip and I will be switching my schedule with another teacher, so they work Monday and I work Saturday.  This is going too be annoying because my schedule so far is easy-hard-easy-hard-easy.  Now, it will switch to hard-easy-hard-easy-hard.  Sigh.  And, since my handwriting in notepads and where there is little space, is garbage, but hey I can still read it, I volunteered to compile the notes they’ll need for class in a word processor document.  Because I’m just that kind of guy.  Lots to do

I feel like I’m making at least a few informal friends.  This is the second time the Yakiniku man has given me a gift for being a loyal customer.  Some strange, but good, banana cream bread treats for dessert after my yakiniku meal.  Good times.  Gwent is fun again, but I do need a bit of a hiatus as I’ve binged hard.  Hoping for pizza tomorrow along with some good times riding my bike.  I will take it easy this weekend…I hope.  And also…the Tsukimi burger…please oh please…more to come soon.

September 2, 2017

Sigh…I didn’t get enough sleep last night, so I woke up tired and slept in a bit.  Stopped to get my bike a tune up on the way to the awesome pizzeria, but today I had curry, naan, and masala instead of pizza and it was damned good.  Truly an amazing place.  I was a bit sad because I couldn’t get a Tsukimi burger.  They’re either not ready yet or not being offered at the current Mcdonalds and yes, you do get them at Mcdonalds’.  Anyway, that aside, I bought more soda and bloody collapsed again.  My week and sleep cycle have been erratic at best, so…I just had to lie down and rest.  I did get my writing in today, but…I dunno, I feel like my previous lifestyle in the states was more conducive to actually getting writing done.  Working right away and having time after to write made me more motivated, but now I’m only really motivated on the weekend and I need to push myself because it’s so easy to just quit.  It really is.  I like my story and I want it to be finished.  Still so many chapters to go, but I like it so…yeah.  I suppose that it doesn’t matter the amount of time I get in as long as the work itself gets done. I want to shoot for two hours on my writing days on Saturday or Sunday, but…not always easy with so many distractions around me.

Tomorrow, I’m hoping to buy some more games and maybe order a book online.  I want to try the Vampire Hunter D novel series, so…we’ll see how it goes.  I’ve heard mixed things about the one I want to start on, but it’s got Lovecraft in it, so it seems like as good a place as any for me to jump on.  Other than that, I’m just trying to relax.  Still, dealing with my cough, but I’m getting better, I think.  Hard to tell.

September 3 – September 4, 2017

Not much to say about Sunday, really.  I got food, then stayed in.  Played Overwatch with friends, which was nice, need to do that more.  I also bought the DLC for Nioh and ordered some cool new stuff, like a book and game for my home.  Looking forward to it.  I have to say, I think I might have hit culture fatigue for a bit, because on Sunday, I felt very listless, tired, and just…what’s the point?  Which isn’t me, since just casually researching Hokkaido tonight has got me excited that I live in one of the coolest countries ever at present.

Anyway, Monday.  I didn’t get much sleep so…that was a thing.  I also still feel sick, with my raspy cough being a major deterrent to me getting sleep.  I bought a bit of medicine today, but I think I need more.  Classes were okay, as per standard on Monday.  I am having a minor problem trying to adapt the difficult test questions for the upcoming Eiken for use in class.  I think progress is being made, but I get looks like, “The hell did you say,” even when I explain these ideas in the simplest terms.  We’ll see how it goes, as I have more of this to do.  Tuesday is going to be rough, but I so far had a good day.  Nothing much to report other than I am doing my research for the upcoming Hokkaido trip and my tentative plan is a 4-5 day trip starting at Sendai Port and ending in Hakodate, where I will get a Shinkansen home.  I’m looking forward to it as I’ve found some cool spots to visit.  Really excited, so long as I can get my reservations in order in a timely manner.

September 5, 2017

Sigh…I’m on the verge of losing my voice.  This seems to happen A LOT when I am teaching.  I survive by chugging medicine like water and so, I have.  It’s been rough.  The coughing isn’t so bad, but it is still an issue.  I sound like a frog.  Today was rough for a number of different reasons and while I am cracking down on discipline, I AM going to have to get mean soon because some people are not taking the hint.  It’s frustrating.  I’m also in the midst of Eiken prep work for the students and while they understand enough English for small talk, connecting certain dots are a bit harder for them. My workload has lightened a bit thanks to me using topics from a book recommended by my boss.  It makes the planning easier, but I have been super busy so far.  Hoping to get reservations for Hokkaido underway tomorrow.  And the cherry is my AC is leaking again.  Oh joy.  I don’t want this to become another China blog where I just complain all the time about how terrible I feel health wise and the struggles I’m going through because I love this town a lot.  It’s getting cooler, to life is easier in that area, but…still…I just want to feel healthy, happy at my job, and happy when I’m at home all at once.  Is that so much to ask?  Perhaps it is.  Life isn’t very accommodating most of the time.  Well…such is life.