A Champion

Last Night in Sapporo

It's 1:34 am at the start of this post. I justify staying up this late by thinking of the several hours I'm going to have to sit on two planes tomorrow as I make my way back to Okinawa. While it's true that I could make use of the flight time by studying or reading, I prefer to sleep most of the way, converting normal travel time into a sort of "teleportation."

I've had a good time here in Sapporo. The short trip has reminded me that my time in Okinawa is both valuable and impermanent. I look forward to renewed determination in certain aspects of my life when I return - notably the pursuit of karate, fitness, and Japanese. And in fact, I've started to think of these three things as more than just a hobby, a healthy way of life, and a nice skill to have (especially in Japan), respectively.

Thoughts like, "When I'm done with the JET Programme, are their opportunities out there for me that involve karate?", "Are fitness and health only nice things to have, and not actually very important to my quality of life?, and "Why am I not devoting myself to being better at Japanese, considering all the options it could open up for me?"

So as I stood at the window of my hotel room, looking over a part of Sapporo's lit streets and dark buildings, I could only help but to think that despite whatever small piece of land I find myself on, I should do everything I can to make the most of my time on it.

You Read It Here. First.

The results are in.

Our dojo's girl placed 1st in this year's 4th Annual Hamanasu All Japan Junior High School Karate Elimination Tournament.

Amazing! She truly did an amazing job. Her performance was solid and steady, winning several rounds by a margin of 5-0, others much closer at 3-2. In the end, she came out on top, this year's national champion. It's an understatement to say that everyone is pretty psyched about it.

Karate in Hokkaido

Tomorrow (Friday), I'll leave for Hokkaido to support one of the girls from my karate dojo. She placed 1st in a tournament held in Okinawa some months ago. That placement qualified her for this upcoming national tournament - The Hamanasu 4th Annual All Japan Junior High School Elimination Tournament.

Below is a portion of the 1st grade junior high school girls bracket (and a link to the full bracket).

http://www.karatedo.co.jp/jkf/04jr_hs_senbatsu/index.html - she's number 37

That's 122 competitors in total. To win, she'll need to win seven rounds of kata (performing various sets of moves). Considering it's a national tournament, I think the fact that she's participating is pretty incredible. A placement - let alone a win - would be amazing.

Blue

What`s the occasion?

Today, I received a bag of sweets (I`m assuming as a late (late!) Valentine`s Day gift) from a 6th grade girl who graduated today. This bag brings my total Valentine`s-related score to 9...I think. I promptly ate it, even though it was only an hour before lunch time.

So cute. They died a quick and tasty death.

UPDATE:

As I was typing this, the junior high 3rd grade homeroom teacher (9th grade) came in and announced that one of our students made it into the hard-to-get-into Futenma High School. As a small thanks, the family provided the teachers with a snack, donuts from a local shop.

I`m not sure I`m going to be able to eat school lunch now.

28th Higashi Azalea Marathon

Today, I ran the 5k race at Higashi's annual marathon event. I signed up with a two other ALTs from down south (it was free for me, so why not?). I haven't been running recently and wasn't expecting much. But the adrenaline kicked in and I did pretty well.

I finished with an official time of 28'50", which I think is a personal record for me.

I feel good, a little tired, yet mostly excited that I ran without event or injury. I'm looking forward to getting back into good running shape this summer.

(Edit: Here's my certificate.)

Taipei: Pictures

Oyster omelet - cheap and delicious festival food

It is said that if a lantern takes flight, the wishes of the people who flew it will come true.

Warming up

This person's wishes won't be coming true this year

Leaving Taipei

It's early on my last morning in Taipei. I've had an incredible couple of nights and an amazing couple of days. I have met people who exhibited kindness that makes me want to become a better person. I have had the opportunity to share and participate in peoples' lives for mere hours, yet come away from those encounters with a feeling of such happiness (and hope for the happiness of others). By the time I board my plane this morning, I will not have slept for 24 hours. But the missed sleep has nothing against the great moments of these past few days.

I am grateful to my friend M for calling me from Osaka and suggesting we reunite in Taiwan (almost a year after our first meeting there). I am indebted to my new friend C who invited me along to the PingXi Lantern Festival, included me in her group that evening (despite the unlucky occurrence of my debilitating headache), and met up with me and friends tonight. I am thankful for D and S, two awesome people who hosted me via Couchsurfing.org last year during my second trip to Taiwan and welcomed me back today like no time had passed. Another thanks to R for taking me around Taipei last night and helping me find all the little things I promised to get for people back in Higashi (and for the help picking out some good Taiwanese music).

So I leave in a few hours. But I know I'll be back. Maybe as soon as May. Maybe not until next year. Whenever it is, I know for sure, just as I knew a few years ago that I'd be living in Japan now, that I'll be living in Taiwan a few years from now. It's a feeling I can't explain. And it's these feelings that have always worked the best for me.

Taipei

This weekend (later today, in fact), I'm heading to Taipei, Taiwan for a weekend trip with my friend from Osaka. In preparation for this trip, I've been writing a few messages via Couchsurfing.org to some people who live in Taipei, just to see if they've got some time to hang explore the city or just have a cup of coffee or grab a bite. The response has been pretty amazing.

The biggest development from all these emails was getting an invitation to participate in National Taiwan Normal University's trip to the PingXi Lantern Festival this Saturday. It looks amazing (I'll have to keep myself in check with my camera and work to find the balance between enjoying the festival and capturing some nice photographs). The Couchsurfer who invited me to that event also extended an invitation for later in the evening to hang out with a group of friends in Taipei.

Sunday seems to be a more chill affair. There are a few Couchsurfers who have offered to meet up, though I will likely try to get in touch with the awesome couple that hosted me last year during my Golden Week trip (in an email I got last night, one of them said they were going to the same festival, so there is a chance we may just run into each other).

All of this hospitality and welcome has got me thinking. Last year when I visited Taiwan (two times) I felt so comfortable and welcome there that it planted in my head the idea of moving there after my JET appointment is over (currently contracted for a fourth year, which ends July 27, 2011; might do a fifth?). Traveling around the island also gave me a chance to see the diversity of the place - fog-shrouded mountains of the west, ancient gorges and rivers of the southeast, and beaches surrounding the island (surfing, anyone?). Not to mention the lively night markets of Taipei, the food (!), and the couple of friends that I have made there.

While there are no definite plans at the moment, I'll give you a basic outline of what's going through my head right now:

• stay in Okinawa and complete 5 years on JET, which will allow me to continue to improve my Japanese ability and (most likely) obtain my black belt in Shuri Shorin-ryu Karate-do (首里少林流空手道);
• figure out a way to start learning Mandarin without impeding my progress in Japanese;
  
• participate in the Rickshaw Run Autumn 2012 (any takers?); then
• move to Taipei and begin the next adventure.

Girl's Day and Turning 30

Today is Girl's Day in Japan. What does that mean?

It is an annual festival held to pray for the health and maturity of girls. It's also the annual festival of my birth.

Today, I turn 30 (though technically not until 10:56 PM Eastern Standard Time). It's a great day so far! Unlike the assumed image of people turning 30, I have been looking forward to this day. Why?

Why not?

There's nothing wrong with getting older. I hear a lot of people say the body slows down, it shrinks, it starts to die. Well, that's fine with me. I'm not going to live forever, so what's the point of worrying? Instead, I focus on everything I've come to learn so far and all the things I continue to learn (maybe I'll call these possibilities). There are so many possibilities - who knows where I'll be in a few years.

Today, I'm working at my middle-sized school for the morning. We'll have a group lunch (all students and teachers - it's a coincidence, not for me). This afternoon, I'll head to my large school for elementary class. Tonight I'll do karate as normal. And after that, I'll meet up with some friends for a good curry dinner at a small restaurant in Nago. If I get the time, I'll make some Skype calls to family and friends in the US, but I won't make any promises.

This weekend, I'm heading to Taiwan with my friend from Osaka. We met last year in Taiwan and hit it off. I stayed with him in Osaka for a few days when I had visa issues getting into Palau last year. His birthday is tomorrow (March 4th), so it should be a fun birthday weekend (my friend Shan, from Taiwan, and I share birthdays. Shan, if you're reading this, Happy Birthday, too!).

Now, to steal an idea from my friend Dave, here are some basic facts about me on this day:

Height: 181.6 cm (5'11.5")
Weight: 75.80 kg (167 lbs., clothed)
Wake up time: 5:30 a.m.
Second wake up time: 6:57 a.m.
Time in Japan: 2 years, 8 months, 5 days

Lastly, I asked one of my teachers to take a picture of me. So here I am, 30 years old and smiling like an idiot. Peace!

I showered and shaved today.