Update

Sorry I haven't written here for a while, but I've been major busy recently. Here's an abbreviated version of what's been happening lately:

• Last weekend, I got my first driving ticket ever, for illegal parking. The GF and I go by car every now and then to visit her family, and we've always parked in that same spot for about 2 years now. I guess the police weren't busy watching crime dramas at that time. Anyway, since I was driving, I had to pay a fine of 15,000 yen (about $140 US) and got 2 demerits on my license that come off in 3 months.
• On Tuesday, I taught at a kindergarten for the first time. I had four lessons, and man, did it wear me out! I could barely stay focused the rest of the day. But it was a lot of fun. Those 4- and 5-year-old kids were awesome, and smart, too. Once the buzz got around the kindergarten that there was a big foreign guy named Herman there, kids started visiting the office during my breaks, saying, "Herman-sensei!" How amazing is that? At my high school, there are students I've known for over a year and a half that still can't get my name right. (Well... either that or they choose not to.)
• For the first time ever, a foreign manager (Bobby Valentine?!?) won the Japan Series, the equivalent of the World Series here, when Chiba Lotte beat the (Osaka) Hanshin Tigers in a 4-game sweep. To realize how amazing that is, check out Robert Whiting's cool books You Gotta Have Wa and The Meaning of Ichiro.

"I love what you do for me..."

Apparently I had a little too much coffee in Biei, Hokkaido. 

That's Cold, Man!

Chillin' with a pal at the Asahiyama Zoo, Asahikawa, Hokkaido. 

Singin' The Blues

Me and a friend jammin' in Niseko, Hokkaido. 

"I have to praise you like I should..."

It's well over halfway through my second year at my high school, and I must say that this year's ichinensei (freshmen) are much, much better than the ichinensei last year, in terms of both behavior and English ability (relatively speaking). It's actually been a pleasure to teach them this year (well, most of them).

Take, for example, my daily morning routine of walking from the train station to the school among with masses of students. Often, there are a few students who will greet me. Last year, it was always in Japanese: "ohayou gozaimasu, ohayou gozaimasu." This year, some students, usually ichinensei, actually greet me in English: "Good morning!" Some students go farther than that: "Good morning, how are you?"

Another example: Every ichinensei class, I start off by saying "Good morning" to the class. Last year, I could count on one hand the number of times a student actually said "Good morning" back to me. This year, in the great majority of my classes, there are a group of students that say "Good morning" back to me every time. In addition, some students make the effort to say "Goodbye" to me after class! That gives me goosebumps.

I know some of you are throwing your hands up, wondering what the big deal is. But unless you've been in that situation, you probably can't understand the joy that it brings. When your job is to try to get your students to be interested in English, and then some actually make the effort to use English with you, even if it's just "good morning"... man, that's cause for celebration. So, kudos to my ichinensei students for making this year a pretty good one.

See, we were just wondering around the woods in Hokkaido, enjoying the wildlife and all... and this big 'ol bear just waltzed his way by and scared the crap out of us, messing up a pretty good picture in my opinion. 

Finally, after a crazy week, I have a chance to get back to the computer and send some more Hokkaido pictures. As you can see, despite a busy itinerary, I had a chance to help a local farmer with his plowing. 

ER meets... The Insane Asylum?

Since Tuesday, I've had this huge stressful feeling in my body. You know, it's the kind of stress you get when you're about to do a big event like a college exam, a public speech or asking that girl that you have a crush on out for a movie and some Red Lobster. Or when something's bothering you a lot, like your job or somebody you know. You know the feeling: a lot of pressure in your chest, mild shaking, nausea, loss of appetite, muscle soreness, throat tighness, heart palpitations. I've had all of that since Tuesday. It was so bad yesterday that I just bought a salad for lunch, and I couldn't even finish that.

It certainly feels like stress, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why. My life is good. The high school is... well, like it's always been. I've learned to deal with students' shenanigans (did I just say that?) , so it doesn't bother me anymore. At the Osaka office, even though things have been busy since last Thursday, I feel pretty relaxed working there nowadays. My relationship with my GF is at its best point in the 4 years we've been dating. I can't think of anything that has happened recently that would stress me out like that. I even thought back to what happened to me at my high school's sports day, but that was last Friday. This started on Tuesday.

Thinking that something was terribly wrong with me, I went to see a doctor after work last night. However, after checking me out, he said that nothing was wrong with me physically. My blood pressure was good, and my pulse was normal. Only thing he saw wrong was that my shoulders were very hard and tense (usually a result of stress). His conclusion was that I was very stressed about something. He asked me if anything had been bothering me lately, or if I'm dreading anything that's coming up in the future. I told him I couldn't think of anything at all. The doctor said either I'm lying or I'm too shy to tell him what's really going on, because from what he could tell, I was stressed out. He gave me something to increase my appetite, told me to exercise and eat healthy, and sent me on my way.

After leaving the clinic, I thought, OK, I'll trust the doctor on this one. So from last night, I've been trying my best to relax. I've been taking things slowly, breathing deeply and listening to bossa nova. And guess what? I've felt a lot better. I'm probably at 85% now. Maybe the old doctor was right after all. But that still doesn't solve the mystery: Why am I stressed? I still can't figure it out.

Roll Tide Roll!

Okay, I don't talk about sports that much here, but I had to on this occasion.

Alabama 31, Florida 3.

That's all I need to say. Looks like my alma mater's gonna have a pretty good college football season. Of course, now that I said that, they're going to lose the rest of their games.