About Higashi

I've been in Japan for almost three and a half years. And I realized I have never really given a good overview of some of the more basic aspects of my daily life. For example, what each of my three schools are like, how they differ. Or a mention of what kinds of activities I get involved in during my free time.

So for the start of this year, I've come up with a list of topics I'll be touching on over the next several posts. Here's a list, in no particular order at the moment:

• Higashi: what kind of place is it?
• My Schools: Higashi, Arume, and Takae
• My Perspective of Life as an Assistant Language Teacher
  
• Living in the Inaka (or rural area)
• Okinawan Karate: Shuri Sho-Rin Ryu (首里少林流）
• Studying Japanese (And How to Keep if Fun)
• Okinawa vs. Mainland Japan: how are they different?

It's my hope that through posts like this, you'll get an idea of - very brief as it may be - of how things are going in Higashi.

Aside from that, Happy New Year!

Cold Outside

Woohoo! 200th blog post.

Anyway, it's gotten cold in Okinawa. What's cold?

There's no official measure, but to me it's the feeling of having to wear long sleeve shirts and long pants to stay warm, even in my own home.

Granted, the temperature is more likely somewhere around the lower-60s, but in Japan (especially in my teachers' housing) lack of insulation and heating systems makes even mild temperatures sometimes feel downright cold.

In a few weeks, I'll probably break out the little electric stove heater I have. It's not very effective at heating much space, but it will keep a pair of feet hotter than you can imagine. There's always the food angle, too. Hot tea, hot oatmeal, and hot cooked foods.

Despite welcoming the mild chill, there's one thing I don't miss that much - snow. I don't mind visiting places where it falls, but I currently prefer not to have it fall where I live.

Changing of the Seasons

The season has changed noticeably in Okinawa. It's gotten cooler here in the past week or so.

Some other things have changed as well...

It was the lynchpin of my Halloween costume.

No Longer Indebted

I am happy to report that, as of today, October 29, 2010, I am debt free.

Supertramp Loan Servicing:

First Disbursement Date	Loan Program	Current Balance
2003-07-02	SUBSIDIZED CONSOLIDATION LOAN	$0.00
2003-05-13	UNSUB CONSOLIDATION LOAN	$0.00
Total Current Balance:		$0.00

The payment scheme I adopted for my student loans has varied over the past few years. When I worked in Chicago, I paid more than the minimum payment. But I put a lot more of my money into investment accounts, since the interest rates back then meant that I was earning more money than I was paying on my loans.

After coming to Japan, that changed. Interest rates crashed, investments were losing money, and in a practical sense, investing from abroad became harder to do. So I shifted my priority to paying off my debt. I slowly ramped up the payment amounts, looking for ways to squeeze my budget to make it happen.

When I passed below the $10,000 debt mark, I made a concerted effort to pay the loan off as quickly as possible. I was helped by the rise of Japan's yen against the dollar, meaning that a transfer for 100,000 yen, typically understood to be about $1,000, would turn into something closer to $1,200 or $1,250. These little "bonuses" helped the loan drop more quickly than expected.

And so last week, I submitted my loan payoff payment of $1,233.55 and eliminated my debt.

There were no fireworks. No special feeling, really. Just the realization that from now on all the money I was paying to a lender I can now pay to myself. And the savings are going to be fantastic.

Brown

初段
準初段 (black)
１級
２級 (brown)
３級
４級 (green)
５級
６級 (yellow)
７級
８級 (orange)
９級
10級 (blue)
初級 (white)

証

二級　ヴォーン　ワーイス
右の者頭書の通り允許す
平成二十二年　九月二十九日
首里少林流空手道円武館
名護道場
館長　平良英世

Certificate
Level 2 V. W.
This is to certify that named
has achieved the stated rank
September 29th, 2010 (Heisei 22)
Shuri Sho-Rin Ryū Karate-Dō Enbukan
Nago Dōjō
Master Hideyo Taira

茶色帯
Brown belt