Six weeks down, six to go.....

"Missing someone gets easier everyday because even though it is one day further from the last time you saw each other, it is one day closer to the next time you will"

Enjoying Sakai
Made the most of the last weekend of summer (because officially it finishes on the 31st of August) by cycling around Oizumi Park, finally finding the local summer pool (and getting a hilarious tan line between my swim cap and googles) and heading out to Shirasagi Park for a Welcome (Back) BBQ that a few of the JETs in Nakamozu organised so its nice to know there's other people living in Sakai even though Im technically the only one employed by to the city (as the other guys are employed by Osaka prefecture).

Have managed a couple of meals out at the Riga Beer Garden and a local izakaya with workmates and even joined in with the local High School's Handball team so great to get back into sports although it will be a little while before Im a regular at training because running around outside for 2 hours in 35 degree heat was a little bit intense for me...

Work
Although it took me a little while to get into the swing of things and all I felt like I was doing the first few weeks was sitting inside translating various invitation, and "no thank you" letters full of super polite language, the last couple of weeks at work have actually been brilliant. So much so that last week when Stuart was away skiing rather than looking forward to it, I actually began to dread "no overtime Wednesdays" because it meant I had to leave at 5:30 and spend the evening at home.

The last couple of weeks has been a lot of planning in the lead up to things - so got to visit Harvest Hill for the morning on Monday to have a look around which was great to get out of the office and get a bit of colour. Im super excited about the next couple of weeks to come - I am the editor (if you can call it that) of a bi-monthly 6 page newsletter for foreigners living in Sakai to let them know upcoming events and important city information which is due to go to the printers on Sep 24, am heading to Tokyo next week for a business trip to watch some Regional Promotional Presentations at MOFA and get some ideas on how to do ours in November, and to go to an opening of an art exhibition at the Iran Embassy, and have 25 kids coming over on a youth exchange from Newlands and Wellington College to visit schools in Sakai for two weeks from September 27 so trying to organise some awesome activities for them :)

 

The Gym Saga
After spending about 3 weeks researching various gyms and heading out on the weekends and after work to check them out I had finally decided to join Nobiyaki Kenkokan - 4kms down the road from my house - because they were reasonably priced, have various classes, a good sized pool and the facility is zero-carbon because all the electricity used to power the equipment, heat the pool and for air conditioning is created by the residual heat from the burning of waste from the Green Centre factory next door. It's also supposed to look like a boat - pretty cool huh

Warning: blah coming up, if you dont want to read skip to the next section

No gym I found seems to open before 9 or 10am - so no working out before work :( but all gyms of them have different pricing options - of course there is "fulltime" but you can also choose "daytime", "nighttime", "weekends and public holidays only", "pool and spa only" etc for slightly cheaper. After a lot of deliberation I had decided to go with the nighttime option as most weekends will be busy with work or exploring the area. Nobiyaka's "nighttime" membership is from 7pm-11pm (as opposed to 9pm-12:30am at Konami) so it seemed like a good option because it gave me time to get home from work, eat something small and then cycle there without being out too late.

Unfortunately when I went down on Monday the 30th of Aug to join up I was told that the "nighttime" option was full, as was my second choice "pool and spa only" but I could go on the waiting list.....ARGH! I was just about ready to cry then and there as all I wanted to do was get / stay healthy and I couldn't believe it was proving this much of a mission. Decided not doing any exercise at all wasnt going to work (as its already been a month and 20mins of Windsor Pilates every morning in my apartment isnt quite cutting it) so out of the two options that still had space my budget doesn't quite stretch to the "fulltime" membership at $140 a month so will just have to deal with the "weekends and public holidays" membership at $105 a month, until a "nighttime" spot becomes available and I can switch over...

In my mailbox on Saturday the 5th of Sep (so it must have been sent mere days after I went to sign up) was a letter telling me I could now sign up for the "nighttime" option - yay but a little bittersweet. I was already locked into weekends only for September and decided to take a months break in October (because I will be working the first two weekends October and Stuart will be here for the last two so wouldnt be able to use my weekend pass at all) so that means my "nighttime" membership will start from 1 Nov - but better late than never I guess!

You Tube
So I never used to spend very much time on here but with a time difference of only 3 hours to NZ most of my friends back home are heading to bed by the time I get home from work and with not much to do in the evenings (seeing as I cant go to the gym and its dark by 7:30) especially last week when Stuart was away skiing I spent a bit more time here lately looking at links that friends have posted on their facebook walls. These are the videos that have been on repeat on my computer over the last few weeks
The Maine - Whoever she is (Cover)
http://www.youtube.com/user/SkydiveSabotage#p/u/1/1oDpEvKaWds
A Day to Remember - If it means a lot to you (Cover)
http://www.youtube.com/user/SkydiveSabotage#p/u/0/9J9lBjjZMeo
Ceo Le Green - WARNING Language may offend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAV0XrbEwNc&has_verified=1
Huntsville Bed Intruder Song - WARNING Content may offend
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrWu13Uh2Yw&feature=related
auto-tune of the original news clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlNDBFJCW_M&feature=fvst

So in closing, Im feeling a little bit more postive about things these days. I think I had almost forgotten how important it is to really enjoy your job as its been a while - especially since I dont have too much going on outside of work at the moment (am yet to find a way to learn sign language or cooking) but am slowly starting to feel more and more settled everyday - I even have potplants now! The next 6 weeks before Stuart comes will be very busy with work (most weekends too) and trying to get the most out of my gym pass so the time will fly by