What I Should Expect From Myself in 2008

Due to various health issues, work, end of year antics and the like, it's been a while since I last updated this blog. Well... I'm just a lazy bum. That's the truth of the matter. Having said that though, I don't like to update my blog with short random entries that do little more than inform my readers (hahaha, that's a laugh) how many times I went to Starbucks in the past 48 hours (once) or what kind of weird festival I saw on my way home from the station. I tend to use this blog as a means to vent frustration or express an opinion about something that really is much more mundane than it seems to be. Since I've discovered that I am indeed a very opinionated person, despite my Friends School upbringing and extremely liberal college education, I strive to post anecdotes and whatnot that have a point... again, not how many effing times I went to Starbucks this week (three times).

Since it's the beginning of a new year, and I managed to totally screw over the last one, for the first time in my life I actually have a list of resolutions. And no, the last thing my skinny butt needs is to lose weight (59 kilos).

First off, I need to go home at least twice this year. I don't know how I'll manage that, but I should have a clear picture come April. Usually I get at least a month off in August and two weeks at the end of the year. We shall see. This sense of urgency to get states-side stems from two things: 1) I've been in Tokyo too long without a break (since my last break in the summer of 2006), and 2) I was supposed to go home this holiday season, but wussed out for several reasons, health being the main one.

Next up: health. The bugs over here are different, and by some bizarre twist of evolutionary fate, much more aggressive. Maybe the fact that Japanese doctors working in hospitals only hand out two days worth of medicine the day before they close for the holidays thereby keeping the patients sick (moi) far too long has something to do with it as well, but maybe it doesn't; what do I know? Anyway, I've been sick since the week before Christmas all because the damn doctors at the local hospital wouldn't give me more than two days worth of antibiotics. My goal for this year is just to not get sick. Period. Family practices are all well and good, but in a pinch sometimes the hospital is the only choice. I'd rather avoid hospitals in this country. They don't seem to have their priorities straight.

My third priority is work related. I love teaching junior high school kids, but I'd like to translate for a living. Anything I can do to get on that track would be nice. It's time to make that happen.

Last, but certainly not least, consistent keiko, especially aikido. 2007 saw a slump in my aikido training, which ain't a good thing. Helping Gyokufukai get off the ground was a high priority during the latter half of last year, but aikido fell by the wayside as a result. The last few months I was only getting two days a week. Not good. If I can get four days a week this year, I know I'll see some progress in both my aiki and iai training. Also need to sit more than four times a week and get my sorry self to the West Coast Tourny in August... which would coincide nicely with resolution numero uno, getting home this summer.

At the time I didn't think that what I was doing would end up being regretful courses of action, but hindsight is always 20/20, and looking back I can safely say that 2007 was a travesty of good decision making. Bah-Humbug.