You’re probably wondering how a guy that just recently shed the carefree skin of his twenties was able to lose that much weight. Was it a secret Japanese diet or a new workout plan? And my answer is the mix of the two (healthier Japanese portions, accentuated with a heavy dose of sweat from boxing and other sports).

Living outside of America helps me to see the true face of dining out in America. And what I see is a bit alarming. America’s sustenance has been transformed into a great food challenge; A meal at a restaurant turns into a race to get to the bottom of the bowl. The restaurants partake in the equivalent of the cold war arm’s race: Bigger, badder and more firepower (fat). There’s also the notion that we should eat more to save more. In this economic downturn, food economics is an important issue. Why would anyone pay more at the drive-through to get a burger and drink with no fries when you can get the combo for less? Why would you order the medium size entree when the large is only a few bucks more?

People in Japan say that I’m a bit heavy for my weight. Most people back at home would say that I’ve lost too much weight; that’s its not healthy to be this thin. I feel just right. But when I look at the my friends blog post about their latest food conquest, a part of me is envious of the vast varieties of food that can be had. And the other part of me doesn’t want to readjust back to my former weight.

Take care out of there and eat safely.

The reduced hours at work and less responsibilities in the town was a welcome relief but I wasn’t expecting the almost complete exodus of foreigners during the winter holiday. And I wasn’t expecting to work on Christmas Day, although in a country that celebrates Christmas almost like I would celebrate Valentine’s, I wasn’t missing much. On the topic of holidays, the celebrations of New Year’s and Christmas in Japan mirrors America if you were looking through a circus mirror that flipped everything. Christmas in Japan is spent eating Christmas cake with your date / significant other, while New Years is spent cleaning, watching TV, and eating with the family.

As the snow drifted fromt heavens, dumping loads of snow that this area hasn’t seen for a long time, I realized that I would be alone on New Years with a sudden attack of a one day, debilitating malaise. And so I laid in bed until the strength came back, too tired to call for help, and too cold and dangerous to go driving in the heavy snow.

Despite the isolation and sickness, things weren’t so bad. I did a lot of catching up on movies, replaced the hard drive on my laptop, and finished my English Point Card system for motivating my beleaguered students. And I got a White New Years … that I would have to shovel away for the first time in my life.

Next winter vacation, I’m going somewhere warm and populated with people.

With New Years, comes new resolutions and this year I’ll be embracing my inner nerd a lot more, attempting to learn Objective-C and iPhone App making, Cascading Style Sheets and basic web design and I’ll be launching a new site. Also, I’ll be competing in my first boxing exhibition tournament as a light-weight… good luck to me and good luck to everyone on their New Year of hopes and fortunes, good luck to America and its economy; I wish you a speedy recover so that I can come home to a nice job.

To good health, good friends, and good eats this year. Enjoy! あけましておめでとう！

Happy New Years!

And all this construction is going to start during Winter Vacation. When everyone near and dear to me is leaving for home and the road, I’ll be hard at work finishing my check list of do’s and don’ts for the end of the year and next year. There’s quite a few things on my plate, including hard-drive upgrades, apartment makeovers, snowboarding, and boxing training, while excluding things such as laziness and debauchery. Hope it’ll all be finished so I can have a great and productive 2010. See everyone then.

Happy Holidays.

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I changed my tires last month. Usually, in my short life living in Japan, I change my tires at the end of November. That’s just what I thought I had to do, that the law mandated such orders. “Change your tires now or risk penalties while driving in the snow-ridden fields of Miyagi Prefecture.” I heard insurance companies don’t cover drivers who operate a vehicle without snow tires during the winter’s permafrost of Northern Japan.

But today, I heard otherwise. Conversations about what was on the news during dinner with the neighbors turned to issues about the condition of my car. To their astonishment, I told them I changed my tires last month because I thought it was the deadline. “So early!” And when I asked when the deadline for winter tire changing was, I was told, “Whenever you feel the conditions are right”. So, on this particular day, as the night-time temperature dipped, when the icicles could be felt looming in the dark, starless sky, people all over the Tohoku region of Japan were scrambling to change their tires. There were 3 hour waits at the tire and car maintenance shops. And even though there’s no official order, in a country that has a certain way of doing everything from bowing to using the toilet, everyone flocked to do their winter business on the same day.

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Thursday, December 17th. Today it finally snowed. A bit late and not enough. Snow has become my new California pitter patter rain of childhood. Calming and cathartic. Except this one freezes and melts away anxieties, worries, and the disorders of life.

I’ve turned 29 in this country a couple of months ago. Another year closer to something and by my itinerary, I’ll be careening into thirties while I’m teaching English in the land of rice fields and curry rice.

Before that I participated in my first Japanese semi-traditional dance festival, the Suzume Odori (Sparrow Dance). Suzume Odori is a Sendai tradition that harkens back to the days of Date Masamune and the building of the castles by stonemasons. In their drunken after-parties, they were reported to have pranced around like loony birds, hence the Sparrow Dance. Sendai’s annual event for the dancing festivities is the Aoba Matsuri.

I joined forces with the ladies of Wakuya to partake in the Aoba Matsuri. And at times it was hell. Ruthless practice schedules, language barriers, language-less non-communication issues, and my inability to follow a basic beat reminded me of past failures in other dance routines, but somehow I was able to rise the ranks and become a high flying sparrow in the troupe. And after rain outs, sore ninja-clad feet, legs sore from twirling and walking, livers beaten by after-parties I’m glad I did it. Another nice check-mark on the list of new things to do in Japan.

On the day before my birthday was the last assault on the artistic dignity of the Miyagi area, I sang in a concert in town. It was my first time performing in front of crowd, a lifeless crowd but nevertheless a crowd. And I performed “Falling Slowly”, accompanied by Jane on violin, Takuya on the piano, Hiroko on backup vocals and Endo-lady on the drums (did we really need drums guys?). There’s no video or no pictures yet so you’ll just have to imagine what happened. But I finished, and checked another box off my list.

So here’s to another year as JET and more amusing things to put on my list. Maybe cross-country scooter rides, or moto-cross, or surfing. Who knows, but I know I need to do something to keep thing fresh out here.

And what does passing Level 3 of a Japanese proficiency test mean? Well from one friend, it means that I can talk as well as his 5 year old daughter. But small battles here and there, small conversational subjects to add to a growing check list, and another level to prepare for. And if I can pass Level 2 in the near future one of my goals for living in Japan will be accomplished and perhaps the next step in my traveling and being an ex-pat will be a possibility. For now I’ll just try to understand the jokes that thrown at me by the old P.E. teacher at Nonodake JHS.

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Kanji: I like it. It fascinates and baffles. And I enjoy studying it. Recreating the shapes is different from handwriting, its more a creative process of joining lines in the proper order in order to make some recognizable pattern, kinda like drawing Doraemon’s face.

And sometimes I think my zeal for wanting to learn kanji is caused by the French. Vietnam’s colonizer, pillager, and ancient script remover. For there was a time when Vietnamese people had their own written language, something akin to Chinese characters, but it was tragically expelled from the writing system. Because you see, if you can tame a nation’s language, manipulate and control it, then you have an easier means to make the people docile. If you make a language more readable it paves the way for administrative control, smooths the lines for subordinating, and brings familiarity to the conqueror and the ensuing traffic of tourist. Most tourist like a semblance of the familiar when they travel, a notion that their own country is somehow linked with this one, either through borrowed food, tradition or language features.

So in my futile attempt to battle the linguistic wars of the past I will attempt to learn another country’s ancient script and regain a part of me lost in a war of languages and tongues.

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Besides, kanji reminds me of the spellcasting systems in old RPG games. Take an elemental magic, fire 火 and then throw some wood on top of it, 木 and then you got a burning fire spell 焚. Want to create a forest, take some trees 木, add some more and then you have a forest 森. You can make water spells and love spells, spells to build or destroy, its all there in your spellbook of kanji. And the good thing is there’s no MP (magic points) to use up. Its like being a magic user on crack. Zoinks.

And I envy the ones that take the leap, that jump into the waters of a new ocean without trepidation, without looking back or without care for their obligations. Sometimes I give sordid looks to the ones that have put their debts in their pockets and in the souls of their unborn children. That somehow those deficits will be repaid by another unwilling donor.

One glorious day all this wandering will come back to haunt us all. As the world and state crumble around us, we will lose the ability to raise ourselves up, and instead flee to the next destination on an itinerary of escape. God help us all :)

And here, I can’t break down, here I have obligations and duties that need to be finished. Here the sorrow is unforgiving and the anguish is crippling. Just a few more hours and I can spiral away into the darkness by myself.

I’ve been soaring and crashing all week long and I don’t know when it’ll stop but I guess hurricanes have a way of doing that to a person. And even though I’ve readied myself for this storm, I don’t think I’m strong enough to battle it on my own this time.

And now I’m the one slipping…

I gain a lot from my experiences while traveling and I left behind some trinkets and unnecessary baggage. I received an unexpected present from a new friend, gave an old pair of shoes to a new cousin, bought promised gifts from a lady on the beach, lost a irreplaceable pocket knife, gained unconditional kindness from a people who I knew nothing about before, and lost a great burden that’s been resting on my chest for too long. I gained new insights into old friendships and strengthened bonds on a new lifelong friendship. My old energy flooded back to me and the darkness of the winter seemed to lift.

I left with many great memories and returned with stomach issues. Hey you can’t make eggs without cracking an egg or three.

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But I’m going to Singapore and Bali tomorrow so Yippee! Sun and beach and tans and hot bodies and good friends. What more could I ask for now? Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone. Be merry and safe this winter and enjoy the little blessings in life, the small tokens of joy that give us sustenance even through the bleakest of times. Amen!

Yet I’m going to try to learn to play an instrument or sing a solo in front of an audience before I leave this musical little island where everyone can play an instrument and you’re the outsider if you can’t seem to manage a good karaoke session or keep a beat on the taiko.

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“I let her get away again, that same “her” that has been haunting me since time became affixed to a calendar”.

I’ve never been good with timing. Always danced to the beat that I have in my own head. Sometimes its on point and its meshed with the things and people around me but for the most part, its just doing its own thing, wandering off and frolicking about without a care about anything else.

And there have been so many times that I’ve missed a beat on those instances where timing was so crucial. So many times that I “uprocked” when I should have been “waltzing”, so many right turns to right turns and foots bruised by careless trampling. If I could sum up most of human history’s woes, I would peg it to “bad timing” (and to that effect my own personal history).

Sometimes the bad timing can’t be helped, just the unfortunate collisions of the universe taking its course and other times its my inability or lack of motivation to take a step forward. And its those non-movements, that lack of inertia, that has slowly been building into a mountain of regrets for me. And before I can overcome that obstacle I have to careen down that slippery slope. Amen.