Endgame

I started this draft on June 30, but I'm writing it write now on July 5th, which is July 4th in the US! So, Happy Independence Day!

June was a packed month, as you have read in earlier posts. Like, check out this barbecue we had the other day. Friggin' fantastic.

BBQing

Doesn't that look so delicious?

July will be even more packed.

In the first week, I've been preparing for the move back home. Things I need to do:

- Pack stuff
- Ship stuff
- Sell stuff
- Pack/ship my sword (this might be a bigger obstacle than just winter clothes)
- Sell my car
- Prepare for the martial arts workshop that I'll hold for the Miyagi Art & Talent Show
- Write "goodbye speeches" for my schools and going-away parties
- Go to Leaver's Party at Oshima Island this weekend
- Buy a bunch of chocolate for Mom
- Juggle those responsibilities with work and social life
- Enjoy the last of my days in Japan

I have a bunch of video games. Brother suggested that I ship them back, but I'm afraid something might happen to them on the way. So he suggested that I get a CD binder and put all the discs in there while I ship the game boxes. That way, if I lose the boxes, I at least still have the games. Suddenly, I wish I had all of that data in "The Cloud." Thankful for PSN. I'll do as he suggested, and carry the CD binder with me as carry-on. Or, I could pack it in my suitcase. Either way, they're comin' with me!

The martial arts workshop next weekend is something that I'm pretty excited about. We're still working out the schedule, but I intend to have some Kenpo Karate, board breaking, and Filipino Escrima in there. Unfortunately, the small budget won't allow for real escrima sticks made out of rattan, but I will try to make some out of bamboo poles. The hard part will be deciding exactly what things to go over. If I only have 45 minutes, that's 15 minutes for each section. Perhaps martial arts basics, self defense, escrima drills, disarms, then board breaking. Maybe a brief introduction of history or personal background.

2 meter bamboo pole for $0.68!

At some point, I'm actually considering writing a full-fledged book (or blog) that comprises all of my martial knowledge. Then add to it as I gain more experience. You might have seen a short film that I helped an aspiring filmmaker with back in the day. Since it was for a class project, the director experimented with various filming and editing styles. I wish we could re-create the film, as she and I have both grown a lot since then, and I think a new project would better reflect our experiences.

Last year, I helped out on the English translation for a soy sauce spray bottle product. And here it is!

Just spray it on your food. Yum!

Anyway, first thing's first. Gotta write up something for my car!

Word of the Day: 研修会　「けんしゅうかい」　"kenshuukai" or "training workshop."

Productive Day

Today was quite productive! Even though at work, I had no classes to teach, because it was test day. But I did give the Listening portion of the test; I hope my students did alright. I wrote the script myself (using the text book example as a base), but made it a little more difficult. Well, here's hoping! I also managed to work through most of my taxes. I should be able to submit it this week! And for those of you who think it's overdue, well, it isn't. For those of us who live abroad, we're given an automatic extension for the due date, and we can also file another form to extend it further (which is necessary in order to fulfill the strange "330 days present in foreign country" rule).

When I got home, I cleaned up my living room, put some things away on my book shelves, cleaned my yoga mat, sweeped the floor (actually, wiped it with a wet floor wipe), and worked out! Working out felt great (and terrible) since I hadn't done it in 2 weeks! And 8 weeks before that! I started P90X back in May, got to day 60, and had to drop it for a while 'cause of all my traveling. 75 days had passed before I had finally started it back up again (today). I started on day 61, where I left off, because I intend to finish this and move on to the 60 day Insanity Workout. It's unfortunate that I took such a long break from P90X, 'cause now all my results are messed up. The before/after shots won't make any sense. Really, I should probably start P90X over completely, but I really want to check out Insanity. Of course, I do have the option of just moving onto Insanity after I restart P90X from the beginning. Just a thought.

After working out, I did the laundry, bleached a towel and karate bag, and made myself a delicious Korean dish called bibimbap! Mmmmm, soooooo goooood. Just thinking about it makes me hungry again. Good thing I have leftovers. ;-) During dinner, I watched an episode of Breaking Bad. My brother was right; definitely a great series! After dinner, I washed the dishes, ripped open 25 milk and juice cartons for recycling, cleaned up some of my kitchen area, hung my laundry, brushed my teeth, and took a shower. And finally, after getting dressed, here I am writing a blog post!

Goodnight world!

Word of the day: 積極的　「せっきょくてき」　"sekkyokuteki," which means "proactive." It's a good word. :-)