Build a scale replica of a building that has been designated a "national treasure". Preferably have the "army" do the work.
Monday, February 05, 2007
uses for snow: #208
Build a scale replica of a building that has been designated a "national treasure". Preferably have the "army" do the work.
Friday, February 02, 2007
it's the little things
When I left work this evening, not only was there still a hint of sunlight, but I found that someone had taken care of shoveling my driveway. Which was covered in quite a bit of snow.
Tonight I have a chance to take it easy to build up to what looks to be a busy weekend -- cross-country skiing Saturday morning, then to Sapporo in the afternoon for dinner with friends and a peek at the snow festival.
How lovely.
Tonight I have a chance to take it easy to build up to what looks to be a busy weekend -- cross-country skiing Saturday morning, then to Sapporo in the afternoon for dinner with friends and a peek at the snow festival.
How lovely.
It's official.
Well, the deed has been done.
I have officially handed in my notice that I will NOT be staying here in Hokkaido another year.
It was a really tough decision for me. There has been a lot of pressure for me to stay on another year from many corners -- my kyoto-sensei sent me a new year's card with a hand written note hoping that I would stay another year, my office made it very clear that they really wanted me to stay, my friends in town want me to stay, and even my ALT friends (at least the ones who are staying on another year) keep asking me to stay.
But in the end, the decision is mine to make. And I think that staying on another year isn't going to bring me any new insights to living in Japan or to myself. I've had some incredible times here, and I will miss it terribly. I know I will. But it's time to move on and do something a little more related to the real world. It's time to get out of the bubble.
My contract finishes in six months, and so I'm starting the long goodbye to the life I have known here in Japan. Last chance to see the snow festival in Sapporo (this weekend), last chance to see the sea ice up north (next weekend). Last chance to see... lots of things.
Everything seems more immediate now that I know I'll be leaving. I have thoughts like -- I should be doing something exciting tonight/this weekend because I don't have an infinite number of evenings and weekends left in Japan to use. Which I guess is how one should approach life anyways. None of us has an infinite number of evenings, so we'd better make the most of what we've got.
Reading this over again, it seems a little sad. Well, I'm sad that I'm leaving. I'll admit it. And it's tough, because I'm not really sure what I'll be doing after this. But in the end, I really do think it's time to leave here and end my illustrious career as a human tape recorder. A job I've done okay with, but I need to go back to using my brain before it turns completely to mush.
I have officially handed in my notice that I will NOT be staying here in Hokkaido another year.
It was a really tough decision for me. There has been a lot of pressure for me to stay on another year from many corners -- my kyoto-sensei sent me a new year's card with a hand written note hoping that I would stay another year, my office made it very clear that they really wanted me to stay, my friends in town want me to stay, and even my ALT friends (at least the ones who are staying on another year) keep asking me to stay.
But in the end, the decision is mine to make. And I think that staying on another year isn't going to bring me any new insights to living in Japan or to myself. I've had some incredible times here, and I will miss it terribly. I know I will. But it's time to move on and do something a little more related to the real world. It's time to get out of the bubble.
My contract finishes in six months, and so I'm starting the long goodbye to the life I have known here in Japan. Last chance to see the snow festival in Sapporo (this weekend), last chance to see the sea ice up north (next weekend). Last chance to see... lots of things.
Everything seems more immediate now that I know I'll be leaving. I have thoughts like -- I should be doing something exciting tonight/this weekend because I don't have an infinite number of evenings and weekends left in Japan to use. Which I guess is how one should approach life anyways. None of us has an infinite number of evenings, so we'd better make the most of what we've got.
Reading this over again, it seems a little sad. Well, I'm sad that I'm leaving. I'll admit it. And it's tough, because I'm not really sure what I'll be doing after this. But in the end, I really do think it's time to leave here and end my illustrious career as a human tape recorder. A job I've done okay with, but I need to go back to using my brain before it turns completely to mush.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
jetlagger
Uuugh.
I had to actually go to work for a whole day today. No sleeping in, no reading newspapers, no lingering over breakfast and coffee, no deciding what to do today.
How boring.
Next thing you know I'll actually have to go to a class and teach.
Real updates to come soon. Really. As soon as I stop waking up at 3 in the morning and wanting to go to sleep at 7pm.
I had to actually go to work for a whole day today. No sleeping in, no reading newspapers, no lingering over breakfast and coffee, no deciding what to do today.
How boring.
Next thing you know I'll actually have to go to a class and teach.
Real updates to come soon. Really. As soon as I stop waking up at 3 in the morning and wanting to go to sleep at 7pm.
Monday, January 15, 2007
now here we have snow
I finally returned to my house this evening, only to be more than pleasantly surprised that my neighbors have taken pity on me and cleared my driveway. Wow. Good thing, because there seems to be a lot of the white stuff. It's nearly hip deep on the stairs up to my house.
This is just a short update to let people know I made it back okay. I did miss my flight back to Hokkaido, but I had already pre-determined to take today off of work for jetlag recovery, so it was not a big deal.
It was a great trip home. My one complaint? Too short. Really. I barely had time to acclimatise to hearing so many people speaking English (and then there was all that French) and then it was time to go back to barely comprehending Japanese. I guess that's what happens when you visit five cities in three weeks. Things pass quickly.
Okay -- one more complaint. I lost the majority of my pictures in a freak SD card erasing incident. So I have no proof of my travels to Calgary, Edmonton and parts of Washington, DC. Too bad -- I had some nice pictures of Christmas.
More later. I'm tired and I have to get up and go to work tomorrow.
This is just a short update to let people know I made it back okay. I did miss my flight back to Hokkaido, but I had already pre-determined to take today off of work for jetlag recovery, so it was not a big deal.
It was a great trip home. My one complaint? Too short. Really. I barely had time to acclimatise to hearing so many people speaking English (and then there was all that French) and then it was time to go back to barely comprehending Japanese. I guess that's what happens when you visit five cities in three weeks. Things pass quickly.
Okay -- one more complaint. I lost the majority of my pictures in a freak SD card erasing incident. So I have no proof of my travels to Calgary, Edmonton and parts of Washington, DC. Too bad -- I had some nice pictures of Christmas.
More later. I'm tired and I have to get up and go to work tomorrow.
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