Time flies!

GREAT NEWS!!!

December 24th came and went, and nothing terrible happened to me! Nothing at all! It is an immense relief to know that I've escaped without some terrible fate being visited upon me, as has happened the two Christmas Eves previous.

The past few months have FLOWN by! I had to deal with a ton of visits to various offices in the Japanese bureaucracy in order to renew my VISA and notify appropriate offices of my renewal, deal with some tax issues, and I also had bronchitis for about a month!

I also met my girlfriend's parents for the first time, which went as well as one can expect with a huge massive language barrier. They were very nice and paid for me to join them at a nice onsen, and we feasted on snowcrab. So delicious!!

Before I came to Japan, I was just barely beginning to dabble in seafood. At some point in my college years, I decided to open my mind (and mouth) and try out all the foods that I refused to taste out of some mental decision, taken as a child, that I wouldn't like whatever.

I took that to the next level when coming to Japan, arriving here in the mindset that I would try ANYTHING at least twice before making a decision. Interestingly, there is almost nothing I didn't like the second time, though often I dislike the first taste of something simply because it is so completely different from what I had expected it to taste like.

I'm still not a fan of prawn brains, though.

I had a nice two week holiday for Christmas and New Year's. Earned entirely by working extra shifts all through November and December. We got a measly three days paid vacation for the entire holiday season from our generous benefactors, but I can't really complain seeing as how my job is so easy and stress free.

I also went to Nagoya for the first time, adding another location to my "places been" list. (It is one of the largest cities in Japan, and the current "up and coming" city, seeing the most growth. It is an economic city with a lot of businesses based there.) It was a lot of fun, and I ate a ton of delicious food, including Nagoya's famous chicken wings, Nagoya's famous miso-tonkatsu, and a famous eel restaurant!

I also hopped over to nearby Okazaki city, which is home to the Tokugawa Ieyasu Bushi Museum. If anyone's read Tom Clavell's novel "Shogun", the main Samurai lord in that book is based on the real life Ieyasu.

He was a brilliant and ruthless man who ended the "warring states" period of Japanese history, brought peace and prosperity, and established a dynasty that would last for more than 200 years. Learning about his life and exploits is what originally inspired me to want to come to Japan, so it was really fun and exciting for me to visit the museum and see a bunch of stuff, including his real armor and other items that remain from his life.

For Christmas, we had a small party at the apartment and did a Secret Santa exchange. I got a really cool toy helicopter that really flies! That beats the hell out of the remote controlled race cars I had as a kid; toy technology impresses me constantly.

We also had 4 or 5 group dinners during the holiday break, where we (my roommates and I) met with our friends and celebrated over delicious food and cold draft beers. It was really fun and relaxing, but unfortunately my celebrating caught up to me and I ended up with a cold for New Year's day. (It's the most important holiday in Japan and a lot of fun.) Alas, this year I stayed home and rested, but caught some of the famous TV specials that they show every year.

At some point in the past year or so, it occurred to me that I wanted to work for the government. The harsh reality of being an adult, with a grownup job and the realities of needing insurance, savings, job security, and a decent place to live made me think that a government job would be sweet as far as most of those factors went. And most importantly: not having to work on public holidays!

I remember thinking to myself "it's a shame I can't work for the government and at the same time get to live abroad like I'm doing now in Japan", and suddenly realizing that its called Foreign Services (or "being a diplomat" in simpler terms)! So I've begun to research a career in that field, and things are looking promising. I'll have to return home to take a few tests first, however.

Home... that's a big question. Well, not really. I know where home is. The question is "When?". I've pretty much decided that I'll be home before next year's Thanksgiving, but at the same time this decision makes me incredibly sad whenever I think about it.

I'm 25 years old and not getting any younger. I do not want to waste my life as a career English teacher when there are much better options out there for me. But at the same time, my job is really enjoyable, with no stress, and I'm loving my life here in Japan.

I don't want to leave.