October 26, 2018 + Photos

October 26, 2018

It's been a week...and I am pretty tired. Still, I have needed to update my photos, so here we are. Three sections. Scenerey, pictures of me, it doesn't happen often, and finally, the food. Enjoy.

I love the ocean and ocean we got a plenty as we rode the train towards Hakodate

Add this one to my collection of weird hazard barrier markers

Welcome to the Hakodate public hall. It gets bigger.

See, I told you. Gilded and beautiful.

The city...the city is beautiful.

Churches in Hakodate? Sure, why not?

I am not very photogenic, but enjoy.

Goryokaku with my friend.

Eating at the morning market.

Daimon Yokocho, the stall village.

Waiting on a train.

Disheveled and tired on the cruise.

Me and my friend at the Onuma park.

Last one of me, welcome to food. This is the best burger joint in the world.

Sushi on the way back home.

Morning breakfast for a friend of mine.

Tempura of an incredible variety.

Special Hakodate salty ramen

The squid ink Gyoza and the KING gyoza, most delicious in the world!

Special Chasu Ramen, with delicious pork and a boiled egg.

Cooking Yakiniku. I'll leave the actual body parts to the imagination.

Uncooked Yakiniku

And there we have it. Now, I'm gonna go sleep. It's early. Hope you enjoyed.

October 14, 2018

 October 14, 2018

What to say?  Well, how about I just got back from vacation again? Seems like a lot, huh? It’s felt like time has gone by so fast, from my vacation in summer to this fall trip. Anyway, details now, photos later, you know the drill.

My vacation started with an old friend of mine arriving in Japan. We had yakiniku together on Saturday night, with her favorite food there being the Karibi, or the fatty pieces of meat. It was a good time, but I…didn’t get much sleep. I truthfully haven’t been sleeping much the last few weeks. It’s not because I’m worried or stressed or anything, I just…haven’t. I’m getting more now and I’ll talk a bit about life after the vacation, but anyway, on with our story.

Yakiniku and ramen are standard stops for visitors because I want to show my friends the best food of Japan and I want to show the friends I’ve made at those restaurants my stateside friends. We had ramen on Sunday on our way to the cruise. Hokkaido, specifically, Hakodate, was the destination. We got to the cruise a bit early and my friend did some wandering as I rested, again, from lack of sleep. This is kind of a theme of our trip, as we do lots of stuff together, but she just loves exploring. For a 65-year-old lady, I couldn’t keep up with her, haha. She found everything in the journey very exciting, which made me feel good about our choices of visitations. I sprang for a room on the cruise ship and it was a much more enjoyable time with company. A relaxing cruise from Sendai to Tomakomai. I repeated a lot of where I went from last year, but we had a few new twists as well.

Our arrival in Tomakomai was fine, but we were waiting on trains all bloody day on Monday. The hokuto super express is a cool train, but it was late perpetually during my stay in Hokkaido, which was a major disappointment. Upon our arrival at the hotel, I was a little worried about the quality, but it turned out to be a solid place, with good A/C(it’s rarer than you think in Hokkaido) and clean rooms, with enough space for me to relax, which I did. We went to the stall village in Hakodate twice during our stay and had some wondrous foods. In order, they were, squid ink, lamb, and king style gyoza, three kinds, rice bowls full of fresh sea food and I had uni, or sea urchin, for the first time, we had tempura, including hunks of corn which I got a kick out of as it was sweet corn, and we had my favorite, wasabi pork, which really cleans out the sinuses. The vendors even remembered me, which was very touching.

Tuesday, we started out with a morning breakfast at the morning market. We’d do this every morning during our stay and it always proved to have great food at reasonable prices. Then we headed out to Goryokaku, and I wisely sprang for taxis, as I was not about to wear myself out with my more energetic counterpart. It was a fun tour of history and our trip to the tower was a chance to get some very good food and gifts for others. A running motif of our tour was my friend wanting to learn a little Japanese. Pronunciation was a problem for her, but hey, she tried and I taught. Following Goryokaku, we got a delicious meal at a local burger joint called Hot Box. I have to tell you, this is the BEST burger place IN THE WORLD. It’s small, but the owner is friendly and the burgers he cooks are magical. Couple that with the fantastic Hokkaido potatoes used to make the fries and you have a recipe for culinary mastery. Afterwards, we headed to Mt. Hakodate. Again, fate screws me and we couldn’t take the ropeway. We were one day too late. Ugh!  The bus trip was much more tolerable this year, though. Less crowded overall. I maintain the view is worth it. It’s so breathtakingly beautiful that I was smiling all night, especially with their little movie. They have a short movie about the view of Mt. Hakodate which they refer to as a full course viewing. It truly is a full course.  A full course meal for the soul. And, we ended the night with some Mcdonalds. Japanese Mcdonalds, especially in Hokkaido, are magical and they still had the Tsukimi, or moon burger, that I loved from September. Such a good time.

We planned to go to a park on Wednesday, but instead, went on a walking tour of Hakodate, to see the old brick warehouses the foreigners used, then we say the northern peoples’ museum, and we headed to see the old public hall and some churches. Great architecture all around and some wondrous sights to see, just in the local area. Unfortunately, the Hot Box was closed on Wednesday, but my friend and I headed out to a local ramen place and got the legendary Hokkaido special ramen. It’s…okay. I prefer my ramen in Natori better, but the salty flavor the pork is pretty impressive.

Thursday, we spent all day in a park, Onuma Koen. My time was limited last year, but this year, my friend and I went island hopping on a walking tour of the whole park. No pumpkins for Halloween, but it was still a beautiful tour, by land and by sea.  I had a great time there and when we got back to Hakodate, more Hot Box. I’m not exaggerating. Best burgers in the world. I actually went back to the Hot Box, AGAIN, for dinner. Haha, it was a surprising discovery that I was super pleased with.

Friday, was mostly a day for getting home. We rode to Shin-Hakodate, took the Shinkansen, once in Sendai we got sushi, which was great, and I bought a few trinkets to give to friends. Afterwards, we both called it a night. I bought a ton of gifts for people and I am buying more besides, to give my friends a real taste of Japanese sweets. Only two, maybe three care packages this time.

Saturday, I was still tired, but having slept in my own bed helped a great deal. We walked to the bath house, after I reserved a taxi to the airport for my friend’s trip to Korea and China. The bath house was a nice place to relax and I felt a bit light headed by the end. It was a good time, but also a bit somber. We both knew it was goodbye, but I feel we were both a bit tired, so it was okay, we could both rest afterwards. No goodbyes were said, because we know we’ll meet again. After our parting, I spent my days resting and trying to recover my strength to return to work. I’m feeling pretty good as I type this, but first, a few thoughts on the trip, then back to regular life.

Foods to remember. I mentioned the stall village, Hot Box, and ramen, but I also had some delicious sweets, including the white black thunder, the magical crème brulee style cake, and the wondrous butter cookies called Moonlight. I also discovered a variant of black thunder in two different stores. One had a bit more…nutty spices to it?  Almost like brown sugar or a different type of flour, but I couldn’t quite place it. Another was like a poptart full of chocolate, but it felt much healthier, not as sweet, and a perfect balance of sugar and chocolate. Wondrous.

The trip itself ran me a bit ragged, but I didn’t get sick and I didn’t tear up my legs like last year, so that was good. I enjoyed seeing the new sights and revisiting old stomping grounds. If I can’t live in Natori, I would definitely like to live in or close to Hakodate. It’s a beautiful place, but not a mega tourist trap like Tokyo. Hakodate is more open to the strange and bizarre, as many people there were not what might fit your typical idea of a Japanese person and that’s great. I loved seeing the variance there. Finally, the weather when I got home was just perfect. It’s finally cool enough for me to be KING OF WINTER!  When winter arrives, at least, haha.

To round out, let’s review the in-between time from the last post to now. My students have been working hard to try and prepare for the Eiken and most of them, I’m optimistic about their chances. We’ve been working towards the Halloween party as well, with question practice and Halloween related practice. I’m having a grand time living in Natori and have no complaints and my time at work is…well, it is work, but it’s very fun. I’m grateful for saving and sending money stateside, because I had to use my American debit card to reserve a lot of things for my trip to Hokkaido, but that account is running a bit low now, haha, something I need to fix soon. I said before I wasn’t sleeping much, but that’s not quite right. I’m getting a decent amount of sleep and rest, but falling asleep is harder, so sometimes I just lay in bed awake. Still, I am trying to get up early to do my walking, and that might be why I’m tired. Going to bed at like 12:30 or 1, falling asleep at like 3, and then waking up at 8:30 leaves a bit of a deficit, eh? Anyway, I’m taking steps to fix it, now that all the excitement is over. Finally, I’ll just say, I’ve met someone online. I told people I started looking and…well, I don’t have too much news. It’s still early. But I’m talking with a very cool person, who will remain nameless here because of privacy, and I’m having a good time with that as well. Life is fantastic. Now, wait a week for photos. Why? Because I am lazy, haha.

September 19, 2018

September 19, 2018

Vacation is coming up again…my word, it seems like I just got off vacation, right? I figured I should give an update before October, so here we are. How am I feeling?  Pretty good, overall. I saw my doctor and got a mostly clean bill of health, I’m feeling healthier than I have in a while, more on that later, and I am happy. It’s a funny thing. It’s often been so odd to say I’m happy without a qualifier. But I am. When I was in my 20s, this job would have been more than I could have ever hoped for. Now that I’m in my 30s, it’s something I aspire to in future endeavors…assuming I can’t just stay here. I’d like to stay because I do so love this town.

Anyway, before we get into adventures and the like, let’s break down a few lifestyle changes that came my way from being sick. When I was sick, I had to change a lot of eating habits, including more protein and fruits and vegetables, along with yogurt to help cope with antibiotics in my stomach. It’s helped my bodily systems immensely, so I’ve kept some of those changes and now have a small dinner at work instead of just waiting till after. It’s…I’m not sure if it’s good for weight loss, but I feel healthier and more energetic overall. When I can, I still have soups and honey water, from when I was sick, because it’s become such a part of my lifestyle and sports drinks like Pocari Sweat because I am doing morning exercises again and sweating frequently. My father made a statement/challenge to me of if I walk, not even run but walk, every day, I would lose weight. Let’s stress test that. I’m getting up earlier, around 8:30 most days and walking around 9:00, or biking if I want to head somewhere far away. Usually, it’s for 30 minutes a day and I do sometimes feel tired because of it, but I can tell the soreness is feeding into better health all around. Plus, it’s giving me more time to do stuff at my home that I need to do.

Lifestyle changes out of the way, what have I been up to?  Well, not much. I had a lot and I mean A LOT of doctor appointments to get to the point where I was healthy, so those ate up a lot of time. I also saw my dentist and finished some tooth care. I’ve tried to stay in Natori for rest, but I’ve also tried to get back into my old schedule, like visiting my favorite pizzeria and the bath house. Nothing really all that special. At work, it’s great. I love my students and my co-workers are very supportive. I even got to go to a Mexican restaurant, one of the only ones in Sendai, with one of my team and we had a good time just relaxing in a rare treat. It’s getting cooler too, and I have a list of places I want to see once it gets cool enough for me to wear my coat, so I’m looking forward to that. The rice fields have finally been cut down though, which is a bit sad. It shows that autumn is here. At the school we’ve been busy as well. Along with usual classes and planning, we set up for Halloween and we did some window cleaning, which was surprisingly exhausting. I didn’t think it would be so rough on my muscles.

In terms of local stuffs, oden soup is back and that makes me happy. It’s the perfect above average food. It’s not so wild and amazing you need it constantly, but it stands just above the usual fare you get from home cooking or convenience store meals that it is really convenient. I’ve tried a few new types of oden, like the sausages and chicken skewers and they’re all pretty good. September is also the month of the moon burger here in Japan and I need a few more, I’ve only had two. Hopefully I can get them before they go out of season.

A few random thoughts. I’ve had to get my absentee ballot ready for the November election and I hope I did it right. I don’t want to get into politics here, but we have a few spineless sycophants I’d love to see get kicked to the curb in NC. While waiting for my dental appointment, I got a chance to read some children’s books in Japanese and I forgot how fun they can be. I missed them. I used to read them when I was practicing my Japanese in China, since I had a few of my own. I may be terrible at kanji, but I can at least say my hiragana reading is pretty decent. Writing is slow going, but it is still going and I like where it is heading. Dating is heading nowhere fast, but it’s been a learning experience, though I may shut down my attempts with e-harmony for a bit and try somewhere else. Not giving up, just changing strategies. Not yet, but soon, perhaps. My father had his birthday recently and it saddens me that I wasn’t there for it. It also saddens me that my awesome card will take like three weeks to arrive(seriously, Japan has amazing cards). Finally, we have a Halloween party coming near the end of October and I may have gone a bit overboard with my costume. I just wanted to do right by my school and get something fun and original, so I ordered quite a few items online to get it ready. A tad pricey.

And now, games. Feel free to skip to the end, this is a section I am making for me, hehe. Gwent Homecoming is coming, along with Thronebreaker, which I am happy about. I want to play them and am…cautiously optimistic after the ruination of the game about 6 months ago. I like Gwent, so I want to see it succeed. Magic the Gathering Arena is a game I want to like, but it is just too greedy and devalues the special nature of free to play collectors. In Gwent or Hearthstone or any other card game, you can get a special legendary card and you can only have one. Put it in your deck and good to go. In Magic, to have ANY chance of playing a decent deck, you need FOUR of each legendary card…it’s not worth all the effort, so unless you want to pay, don’t play. Warframe, as far as free to play games go, is awesome. A bit too grindy, but the core gameplay of being a space ninja is so much fun. I even bought into it a little, I was having enough fun with it. My Switch has largely become a port machine, sadly, but at least I’ve had fun with it. Played through Stardew Valley again and finally beat it and got frustrated with another stupidly hard, poorly balanced platformer in Messenger, which I wish was better tuned. And, Dragon Quest 11. My god…such a good game. I’ve always enjoyed the old school nature of Dragon Quest, like no saves in dungeons, scarcity of healing items, etc. but the quality of life improvements in the game just make it so much more approachable, from more save points, to better balancing of enemies and characters, to ways to avoid the grind…so far, it’s a blast and I love the relaxed pace of it, along with the beautiful graphics. It is great. My one regret is my SNES classic has been a bit neglected for newer titles, but I still like having it around for when I get that Final Fantasy or Yoshi’s island or F-zero itch.

I am still tired some days, but I really enjoy life here and am having a grand time. I still worry about the future and I do want to get back to my Japanese training along with my other future proofing ideas, but for now, life is just great. It’s nice to say that. Life here is wonderful.

August 26, 2018

August 26, 2018

I’ve been sick. Very sick. For those who were not in the know, right after my family left and I posted my little trip down memory lane, I got deathly ill. We’ll end this with photos to be a bit of an upper, since I don’t want to be a downer, but it started off with me getting super dehydrated during my travels with my parents. We chugged water and sports drinks, but it weakened me greatly, to the point where it reached a head(or rather, it reached my head) and I got a throat infection when we were leaving Tokyo, which grew as I started to lose my voice, right up until it was time to go back to work.

I missed 4 days of work because of this sickness. It’s a great shame on my record, because the last time I missed work for sickness was 6 years ago. The last time I was laid out for more than a day or two by sickness and we’re going back DECADES. So, this was pretty bad. I learned that while I thought walking and standing was all I needed to work, but as a teacher, I also need my voice. And this bronchial infection cost me that. I sounded like a dead frog for four days. Then it got worse, if you can believe that.

No, really, it got worse. My infection climbed up to my ear and I lost hearing in my right ear. At this point, the writing was on the wall. I needed to see a specialist. I’d been to my local clinic twice and it just wasn’t cutting it, so, for the last week I’ve been seeing a throat and ear specialist. It was a harrowing affair, with the pressure in my head being so crippling I could barely walk, with the blood I had to get taken for tests making me feel too weak to stand, and with the sickness and coughing being so severe I couldn’t sleep.  Don’t let anyone tell you sick days are fun. I focused all my strength on just surviving to the next day and trying to recover. To that end, I cut all cheese, soda, and sweets, along with anything that could irritate my throat, from my diet. It was not fun.

I did manage to go back to work and while my voice isn’t at 100%, it’s good enough. I’ve been able to get back to my regular teaching schedule, so that’s good, but this sickness has been a trial for everyone. I am on the road to recovery. The specialist I saw gave me good medicine and cut into my ear to drain the fluid causing the pressure buildup in my head. I won’t go into more detail than that, but suffice it to say, I survived…somehow.

Now, that’s out of the way, so let’s do some Tokyo photos with the family. Enjoy.

My first big sight in Tokyo was the Ghibli clock right next to my family's hotel. I have video of it moving, but it's too big for this blog.

Had to get the local shrine on camera

Welcome to Kawaguchiko, gate to Mt. Fuji and a pretty magical place all told.

My mom and I standing at the start of the journey of our family to explore Fuji.

Love the architecture

My mom and dad loved this aspect of Japan and so do I. I love the just natural blending of nature and modernity to create a place that is calming to rest and beautiful to pass.

Lake Kawaguchiko, before lunch and the ropeway.

Speaking of the rope way, we climbed up high to see Fuji through the cloudy skies.

Along the way to Fuji, we came to the top of the ropeway and a fun little tribute to a local story of a naughty tanuki and the rabbit who punished him for his misdeeds.

Heart bell, to tie together those who love.

This is probably the best of the pictures of me, with Fuji in the background just through the clouds, if you look carefully.

Welcome to the music box museum, aka, Music Forest.

Mima the opera clown sang opera for us and it was a great performance after out long trek.

So many beautiful and elaborate music boxes that dance and light up when you start them

I loved the aesthetic of this place from start to finish

We must be home before midnight!

I did SEE the Tokyo Skytree, but the line was too much and I was too tired and starting to get sick, so I didn't climb.

Instead I hung out with Totoro

And saw the National Museum and all it's weirdness

Love me some museums.

This marks the end of the trip, which is how I wanted it to end. I shared my gourmand tastes with my family and gave them a hit of real, local Japanese food. I hate chasumen, my dad eating some donburi, and my mom with some special crunchy yakisoba.

My father's only picture because he didn't like the camera, but yeah, he did have a good time, tired though all of us was. I had a great time with my family, I just that I hadn't been sick through the last bits of it.

August, 16, 2018

August, 16, 2018

So, let’s talk holidays. Before that, though, I want you to know that as I am writing this, I am sick. I have been sick from the start of my holiday, until now, the end of it. Looking back, it was a very good vacation and I got to spend a lot of time with my family, but it was a challenge at the time, battling the heat, my own frustration with said heat, and sickness that cropped up basically from the word go.

So, where to begin?  Well, I didn’t sleep before heading down to Tokyo because I had a very early Shinkansen to catch and I was afraid I would miss it, so I started out this trip pretty out of it. I made my train and my family was on a tour that was unable to contact me due to some crossed wires, but the hotel let me into their room and I crashed until their tour was over.  We got Mexican that first night. You might laugh, but after so long without, it was so damn good. I was really happy…then the snoring. Everyone in my family snores, but it’s hard for me to manage, personally. So, I didn’t sleep much in Tokyo.

Fuji was…a difficult trial. Not a bad one, mind, but a difficult one. The heat was an omnipresent entity during this entire trip and it beat me down. I sweat from every pore and I was gross by the end of every journey. Thankfully, it was higher up in the area we went and cloudy, so it was more manageable, but I still felt like dying each and every day. The bus to Kawaguchiko, the lake just below Fuji, was supposed to take only about 2 hours but traffic caught us going and coming so we arrived and returned an hour late. It was super frustrating. The area itself was beautiful and I got to have a lovely Indian lunch and talk with another US citizen living in Japan. Gave me some food for thought about my future. We also got to climb using a ropeway to a tanuki and rabbit shrine and got a decent view of the peak of Fuji. Pictures to come later. A running theme of this tour would be our giving up on walking, as we were so tired and hot after the ropeway that we took a bus rather than walk to the last spot on our journey. The music forest, or music box museum. I love this place. It’s like a giant fairytale garden, but it’s based in realism, with music boxes from all over the world preserved. We even got a performance from a charming opera singer and our tickets could be turned into music box reading cards. We also got to see a wonderful concert that had live sand painting with the accompanying music. It was crazy seeing the indistinct sand smudges turn into a whole scene to enjoy. But after all that, it was time to go back. I was hoping to get Kaiseki in Tokyo, which is a special style of Japanese feast, but our schedule didn’t allow and we got back to our hotel right as the Kaiseki restaurant was closing. We could still get food elsewhere and I had a Japanese twist on American mini burgers which was great.

Sunday was where the chinks in the armor started to show. I began to feel not just hot and tired, but sick and with pain in my throat. I headed to the Tokyo skytree, but said to hell with waiting two hours to climb up. We visited a Ghibli store, which was cool and nostalgic, and then headed to the national museum. It was full of great art, but again, the walking killed me and my family. After that, we headed out to an Izakaya tour to try some amazing delicacies from Tokyo and all of Japan, including eating a still twitching fish. It was meh, I’d rather have had regular tuna, but the food overall was excellent and again I got a chance to think about my future as our guide was an Australian woman who found her calling in giving food tours with another company. Sounds like a heavenly job.

Monday, I felt like garbage. I’ve felt that way basically all the way up until today. My throat was on fire, I had a wheezing cough, and the heat didn’t help. So, I struggled to get ready for the trip to Natori. My family and I got Taco Bell which was a nice taste of home, plus now I can say I had Japanese Taco Bell, along with KFC, Mcdonalds, and Subway. The waiting and the heat was brutal and when we got to Natori, my family got lost and I had to do some quick thinking to find them. They actually managed to call my phone after we missed each other and apparently some wires got crossed so they were waiting upstairs while I was waiting on the 2^nd floor. After heading to Natori, we got a taxi, which we would get every day afterwards due to being tired of walking, and my family checked into their hotel. Then, I took them to Yakiniku. My restaurant had a great selection of different meats and my mom and dad left satisfied, so long as I didn’t tell them what was in any of them, hehe. It felt good to sleep in my own bed. After the snoring and the heat, I had my A/C and my own futon back.

Looking back, I think Tokyo is a magical and wondrous place, for example there’s a giant Ghibli clock sculpture that moves at certain times outside the hotel we stayed at. That said, it’s also too crowded, too hot, and a bit too busy for my liking. Some of my favorite times during the trip was when my family and I didn’t have to run around and could just get downtime together to relax. Natori and Sendai mostly provided that.

I couldn’t go to the doctor till Thursday due to the holiday, so I’ve had to tough out my sickness. On Tuesday, we took the Sendai Loople bus tour, but it was so crowded and so hot. I love Sendai castle and we had fun looking at all the souvenirs and trying weird stuff, but the Zuihoden mausoleum was a bit much with all the stairs, waiting, and heat. We were going to make four stops, but settled at two. We were all so tired. We also wanted to visit Matsushima, but with me being sick and down and the heat beating us silly, we decided against it. I think I’ve sweat more in this one weak than in almost a full year. Anyway, after the tour, we bought some trinkets in Loft, had some crepes, and tried omurice for my family. I love food and think of myself as a gourmand, so I wanted my family to try the weird and wonderful daily food that I loved in Japan, like yakiniku and omurice.

We headed to the bathhouse on Wednesday and had a good soak. We also ate some cold soba and tempura along with ice cream to help refresh ourselves after the bath. It was very restful for everyone and a much-needed break, which helped us all to relax. That said, I was still sick and worn down from the whole trip. Bless my family for helping me. I didn’t get mean or angry, but I did complain a fair bit. I really do hate summer. After that, we had dinner at a hamburger steak restaurant called Bikuri Donki. I haven’t been very hungry through most of the trip just through sheer dehydration and exhaustion. I’ve only wanted water and tea and indulged in generally one to one and a half meals during my time in Natori with my family.

The final day of my family’s stay, I had to get up early and book it to a doctor. I got medicine to help with my horrible, wheezing, painful coughs and throat burning. I managed to get what I wanted and it has helped me to feel better, but I am going into work a bit down tomorrow, as I’ve just been run ragged. Today, the goodbye was pretty light, as my family knew I needed rest. I took my mom and dad to my local ramen shop and they got to meet the lovely family who’ve given me delicious food for so long. We shared a yakisoba, katsudon, and chashumen lunch and it was excellent. They love pickled food and our hosts gave them plenty, to my delight. Everyone had a good time, but I was finally weakened enough to want to rest and write this. So that’s how we’ll end my vacation. Sick, bedridden, exhausted from the heat, but with some pretty good memories.

July 11, 2018

July 11, 2018

            So, let’s get a few things out of the way first.  I have a super amazing mega cute story at the end of all my updates, wait for it, but I do have some house cleaning to do first.

            Item the first, I have seriously considered getting rid of all my social media outlets.  I won’t, because I know that some people would miss me and some people will care that I’m gone.  That’s basically all that ties me to it.  I don’t like the news in my feeds, it’s all depressing, and while I do like writing these, let’s be honest, less than 20 people read them each update.  It’s not a huge deal.  Also, throughout my life on Facebook or what have you, I’ve always had any statements or beliefs I’ve made be countered immediately, almost as a knee jerk reaction.  It frustrates me.  The people doing it aren’t necessarily wrong, but I just want to express myself and ironically, social media is not the place for that because it is like a den of wolves.

            Item the second, I have started going into online dating again.  That’s about all.  It’s for the experience at the moment, to get used to online dating and trying to reach out to people, but so far, I’ve had no bites and have nothing of real value to share.

            Item the third, I’m not in the best of moods, lately.  It’s not that life here isn’t great…to be honest, life here is beyond my wildest hopes and dreams and we’ll get to that, but I just feel listless and a little lost, especially when it comes to games, which are my primary stress relievers, so if my mood reflects that, I’m sorry, but this is me.  This is me right now as I write this.

            With all that out of the way, let me say summer has been kicking our butts up and down the pacific here in Natori.  The heat is manageable on some days, but others, walking outside feels like stepping into an oven.  I had to step into the oven and head into Sendai to get some new clothes and a few supplies for the school and it worked out well, I now have a reliable clothes vendor that fits me, shock of shocks.  I’ve been struggling with the heat and with dry throat because I NEED my A/C on whenever I’m home to just function.  It’s not all that bad and it is getting more manageable as I get used to it, but it has left the last month a bit difficult, which might add to my listless feeling.

            Now, for work. God, I love this job.  I love working as a teacher where I am right now.  We have a supportive staff, my skills continue to get better, and my students and I have developed the kind of rapport I can be proud of.  More on that later, but this job is probably the best one I’ve ever had in my life.  Point of fact, my bosses are also pretty awesome.  They sent a care package to our school and my part of it had instant mac and cheese that only needed water.  Now, you might think that the instant stuff isn’t that great…but good lord, no.  It’s magic. Magic in a little plastic cup.  I haven’t had mac for a solid year and this is something I need my family and friends to send me more of.  Haha, so good!

            I’ve recently had a chance to just relax, more like been forced to relax due to the heat, but it’s nice to just explore the shrines, visit my bath house, go to fine restaurants in my area, and try new things.  I tried the 8-cheese pizza from a local pizza shop, you know, a hole in the wall delivery place, and it’s wonderful.  I am gonna get me some more of that later.  The Seims shop near my house has also been a wonderful supply of useful items from cleaners to candy.  I love my candy.  Exercises are still going, though I do miss days once in a while due to things like scheduling.  I had to get my A/C cleaned one day and that started at 8 and lasted till 10, so I just collapsed after that and skipped it, for example. As a way to try and deal with my listlessness and because I have money now, I bought an SNES classic, but since it was the English version, it’ll be near the end of July that it arrives.  So sad. And my family is coming to visit me in August.  Super excited for that, though we couldn’t get tickets for the Ghibli museum.  Of course not.  So sad.  Or is it?  I’ll have a good time either way.  As I get older, I’ve learned to let go of fleeting sadness more and more to try and embrace the joy in life. My writing of my personal tarot book is going well, thank you friend who sent me the awesome leather tome, you know who you are.  I’ve got the major arcana and two minor arcana done.  Just two more minors, the face cards, and my personal tarot quiz from Ogre Battle. My writing is going well, but it’s become difficult at times to keep going.  I want to tell a great story but sitting down to write is hard.  Anyway, we’re entering end game.  When I finish around December, I’ll need to start looking for a serious copy editor and then shop it around to publishers.

            Before we get to the awesome story, I need to take a moment of silence.  It’s been very difficult for me personally for a number of reasons.  One of them was due to the toxicity of the politics in the US, which I try to avoid, but which still drags me down.  In other news, Daniel Floyd from Extra Credits stepped down as the iconic narrator, which was sad…he’s got a good replacement, nothing against Matt, but it’s the end of an era all around. He’s still making videos, and that’s cool, but…yeah…and what I’m still trying to process on some levels is the passing of John “TotalBiscuit,” Bain from cancer. He was a world changing force and a source of great joy, humor, and happiness in my life as a video critic, commentator, and pundit and he will be missed.  I donated to the charity set up to help his wife and played a few games I normally wouldn’t have in his honor.

            Okay, okay, you want the juicy stuff.  Let’s get to it.  So, the reason I decided to write this today was because I had a special feeling.  It doesn’t happen often, but as I was riding down to the bento shop during my break to get food, a voice calls out to me from a car.  “Hi Stephen!” I look and it’s one of my students.  I get my bento and another student shyly waves to me.  Another student I taught.  I am riding home and I get another call of, “Hey Stephen-sensei!” from yet another student. I’m no celebrity, but…it got to me, a little.  These people know me and they think kindly of me enough to say hello.  They smile and wish me well.  And put that together with this wonderful town, that has everything I want.  Everything I need.  And then ask me the question, “Could you see yourself living here in 20 years?”  You’re damn right I could.  Seeing my students grow and improve has been a joy of mine as a teacher from the very beginning, but this time, I just felt…home. I love Natori so very much.  If I ever do leave, like for Hokkaido or China or to return to the states, I’ll make it a point to visit again.  My favorite places in the world.  Number 1, Fushimi Inari.  It’s because of an old love. Number 2, Hakodate. It’s the food and the beauty.  Number 3, Natori.  Because it’s home.  And yes, for you readers getting upset, my hometown stateside is tied at number 4 with Osaka.  It too is wonderful, but…Natori has won me over.  So, that’s my little cute story.  About being home.  I’m glad to be here.  Always.  This places makes me so very happy.

June 10, 2018

June 10, 2018

            It’s been a while since my last update, so I figured now would be an okay time.  The reason for the drought of updates is simply that life has stabilized around a routine.  I wake up between 9 and 10 most days, then I do exercises, which I’m proud to say I increase by one each day I do them. It consists of squats, push-ups, and sit ups, then a shower, lunch, and whatever project I have for the day before a quick nap, then work. My current projects are: a journal that details my views on Tarot, going through each card, with meaning, story, and picture descriptions for them.  This will take a while, since it’s hand written.  Also, I edit my book, and I’ve started working towards getting a dating profile back online.  I’ll drop the money I need for that come July, right now I’m still getting the Q/A section of it finished, or at least well along.

            My family and friends are coming to visit me in August and October respectively, so I’ve also been micromanaging that.  We have hotels booked, but I need to book the ferry and Shinkansen tickets for my respective visitors.  I also REALLY wanna get back to my Japanese studies.  My language has improved since staying here, but I feel I could improve more with proper time, even if it’s just once a week, dedicated to studying, so I think I will in July or August.  I want to take a language placement test to prove my worth as a Japanese language speaker at some point in the future.

            In other news, life is pretty stable here.  Summer has come and good lord do I hate that.  It’s got some beautiful scenery, like the rice fields which are a sea of green at this point, but the heat and sunlight are difficult for me, especially since I burn really easily.  Classes are hot, well, those without central A/C are, but the students get a kick out of my fan, which I need to survive.  I always doubt myself, no matter how skilled I become, but it seems like my students are having fun and enjoying my lessons, so I am happy here.  This year has been spectacular in small ways.  It’s the little improvements that make things, like going to Seimes weekly to get my special candy or visiting my ramen shop or yakiniku.  I can’t overstate how much I love this place and how happy I am these days, even if it is tempered by exhaustion after work days.

            My staff and I went out for an all you can drink party as well, which was cool.  I don’t drink beer, so I had my fill of soda, then headed home.  I’m not much for big parties, but I had a good time.  I also checked out a house because I am getting in the mindset of buying one.  Nowhere near enough money at this point, but…maybe someday. I’m also hanging out with people a bit more, some Japanese, some foreign.  But I do also enjoy my private time.

            The Switch is still really fun for me, though I just finished Hyrule warriors and good lord was that a slog. I like playing as Zelda characters, but the story mode is just awful.  And I’m stuck in limbo waiting for an entry into the Magic the Gathering beta online, which I want to try while Gwent gets its crap together.  Games are still a big part of my life, but…eh…I’m okay with less of them these days.

            A reason for less games has been the death of John Bain, which…I took harder than I thought.  He was British, but he lived in my state and was one of, if not the most, influential games journalists of all times, acting as comedian, rights advocate, critic, and newscaster, all with a level of wit, humor, and professionalism that shames modern news outlets.  It’s been about two weeks now, and I’m only just getting over it.  I still have his backlog to watch, but…it’s the end of an era.  A sad end, too.  Cancer at 33.  Just this once, I’ll also be posting a link to a gofund me for his wife and son, who deserve help after all the medical bills for cancer.  God bless capitalism.  I do want to take a moment and say how awesome universal health care is in Japan…get your act together, US.

            I’ve also been talking with my best friend a lot more.  She’s had more free time after a grueling semester working towards her masters.  It’s been…a nice addition to my routine.  She puts me at ease, though I feel we pick at each other sometimes.  She posed the question to me, do I want to stay in Japan?  I’ve kind of held out hope that the US would shape up and I could return and find work there, at least for a bit, and see my family and friends, but the more I live in Natori, the more I don’t want to leave Japan.  This country is wonderful and I love it.  Still, my future is up in the air.  The only thing I know is I want to finish my book.  We’re drawing close.  A few more months and hopefully it’ll be finished before the year’s end.  Then the revising and editing begins.

            So, yeah, we have small moments here, but my schedule is pretty set and, for the most part, I like it.  I miss family and friends, I miss DnD, I miss some of my foods, but it’s a small thing compared to how easy it is to live in Japan.  I do my job, which I love, and it feels as if I don’t have a care in the world.  Can it last forever?  Probably not, but…I intend to enjoy it while it does last.  Not sure when the next update will be.  Till then.