Winter Holiday

It`s been a long time since I posted and I appologize for that. Life in Japan has been a lot busier than I expected. School is very hard, I must study 8 hours a day at least if not more. Learning and remember Kanji is very difficult. I have been able to get in a little fun though.

Now it is winter break and I have about 2 1/2 weeks off from school. I am really enjoying the break, it`s just what I needed. I am in Osaka at the moment and will then travel down to Kyusyu for a New Years party and going to the onsen (Hot Springs).

I return to Tokyo on the 4th and will enjoy about 1 week of holiday in Tokyo before I have to return to school and hit the books hard again. I hope I haven`t forgotten everything in the meantime.

I hope you all are enjoying your winter holidays as well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Mostly Study with a Little Fun

I have been mostly studying here in Tokyo but have managed to throw in a tiny bit of fun. About 2 days actually. :)

Most of my days consist of 8-10 hours of study both at home and at school. Wow! I haven't studied like this since... maybe ever?

Anyway, enough about the boring stuff. Last Sunday I was able to break away from homework to attend the Kawagoe Matsuri or Festival. It was pretty traditional and lots of fun.

I went with a friend from school and so all the pictures are on her camera. You can see some of them on my facebook page now but I hope to get them on here soon.









I also went on a walking tour with my class last weekend and visited some government buildings in Tokyo, the Imperial Palace, Ginza shopping district and a traditional Kabuki theater.

Living In Tokyo!

I have been living in Tokyo just over a week and a half now and I am finally getting my first post up. Sorry for the delay. It's been pretty crazy and has taken a while to get settled. I am probably not even really settled yet but good enough for now.

My journey started off pretty great with an unexpected upgrade to Business Class at the airport in San Francisco. Wow! That is the way to travel. So comfortable and relaxing with almost a full reclining bed, my own T.V. and plenty of space between me and the people around me. The food is way better also. Here are a couple pics of what I ate.



Then I met my new friend Seiko who helped me get my prepaid Softbank cellphone. We had a great day and I don't know what I would have done without her. Thank you Kumiko for introducing me to Seiko, she is a sweetie.



Then on Friday night I met another new friend, Takehiro who invited me to his International Friends party on Saturday in Shinjuku. There were so many people from different countries there it was really cool. I had a great time. Too bad I had to return to my hostel I was staying at before the curfew at 11 pm. :(



Lili, a nice girl from France who was staying at the same hostel and I hung out for a bit and went to Meiji jingu shrine in Yoyogi Park and walked around a bit. She will be living in Tokyo for a while and looking for work.



Yoyogi Park is located in or near Harajuku which is a great place to see all sorts of fun and interesting things on the weekends such as street performers and crazy fashion.




Then I met my friend Jun for dinner at a delicious yakiniku restaurant. Made friends with an older Japanese guy staying in my room at the Hostel who then paid for my taxi when I moved to my guest house. Amazing how nice people can be sometimes. :)

I made some friends with my new roommates and finally met Kayoko from Osaka. We went to Odaiba and walked around the Fuji TV station and the Toyota showroom. We also played some games at the Sega game building called Joypolis.




This week I need to focus on my schoolwork as I was told it will be 4 hours of classroom work a day and 6 hours of homework a day. So 10 hours everyday of Japanese study. I hope after 9 months of this I will be pretty fluent. :)

がんばります！

1 Month to Go

I am back in CA from Idaho and had a wonderful time with my sister Laura and her family. It was very relaxing and I was able to let some of my stress go. We did a little work and had a lot of fun. Went swimming in the river, sat out and looked at the sunset, watered the goats, fed the chickens, sold a horse, had BBQ, watched movies, read books and learned a lot.













Now I am back in CA and I have one more month to go before I am in Tokyo starting a whole new adventure. I will be leaving SF on 9/29 arriving in Tokyo on 9/30 and starting school on 10/6. Full time Japanese Language Study! I hope I can squeeze in some fun. Needless to say I am extremely excited about this new adventure but before I go I hope to continue my summer of fun with my Sister Lisa in Yuba City and my friends in Sacramento and San Francisco. Cheers.

The art of relationships and love

I am reading one of the most incredible articles on love and relationships. Absolutely amazing!

http://tinyurl.com/6qllzf

I am learning so much about how people interact with each other and how so many people expect others to be responsible for their happiness. What many often don't realize is that we are truly the ones responsible for our own happiness and we can't expect anyone else to make us happy.

So many people live in fear which most negative feelings are born from. Feelings of worthlessness, selfishness, jealousy, anger, and many more. If you truly live a life of love then you will accept full responsibility for your own happiness and realize that we are all unique individuals with different dreams and we must all be responsible for our own happiness. Once we have mastered that, then we can share that love with others and be truly happy.

I couldn't think of a more worthy quest than mastering the art of love.

Idaho Camping

What a different life it is here in the Idaho rurals. Slow paced life. Dusty and dirty. Meltingly hot in the summer and with no air conditioning the only way to survive is to swim in the river every day. Even then you are only cool as long as you stay in the water.

However, talk about getting rid of stress and slowing things down! Thoughts about work have vanished completely. We cook every meal at home and make good natural food. We sit out and enjoy the scenery, the cool breeze, and the chickens and goats roaming around.

I think it's good to get such a different perspective to help you appreciate the variety of life, to help you really enjoy and cherish the good times and the abundance that you have everyday of your life. In less than two months I will be living in the incessant hustle and bustle of Tokyo life with no dirt or dust, no swarms of bugs buzzing my head, and no peace or quiet of the cool evening breeze that you get in the mountains.

But I can't wait! ;)

The Next Chapter

It's been a pretty amazing 2-3 years. Engine Yard has grown incredibly and I am so privileged to have been a big part of it. I am excited to see what the awesome team we have put together is going to do next.

It's a new chapter for me though, off to explore new worlds. Well I consider Japan to be a new world. :)
As of 5pm today I am officially on a really long vacation. I am looking forward to spending some time with my family before heading off to the other side of the planet. It will be a nice time for reflection and relaxation. Also a time for preparation for my new life in Tokyo.

I feel a little anxious but also very excited. I need to enjoy my time even though it feels I am just playing a waiting game right now.

More to come...