The Days Blend

it took me a year here to figure it out, but i'm most worn out at the end of the month because of the distances i have to travel to get to the schools that i teach at. the first week is a long week in yamasaki which requires over an hour of commuting each day to get up to a quiet town in the mountains north of himeji. i haven't found anything incredibly interesting to do up there, but i'm told that there are some fantastic onsens. tomorrow i'll be in himeji tsuji, the only monday i work in the month, thus robbing me of two consecutive days off and any concrete weekend-like plans.

the southeast asian excursion is always in the back of my mind, as i plan and gather the resources in what little time i do have as well as make a point of saving money here. i believe that i will receive my perfect-attendance bonus at the end of this month after managing to arrive to every class on time for the duration of my previous contract, and that money is being stashed away so that i'll be comfortable when i depart from japan in october.

the olympics are upon us again and old rivalries between vancouver and toronto are temporarily set aside in the name of cheering the canadian hockey teams on. i have been seen sporting my oversized home-ice jersey for the team, though now that i've had a look at the black team canada jerseys that they wore against germany i want to get my hands on one of them.

i've all but quit drinking over the last three weeks; having drank too much in early february i decided to have only a light drink last night in the spirit of sending a friend off at a sayonara party and it was the first in a while. david and i have been attending a local gym which is keeping me focused on the need for positive goals and will hopefully make me the strong young man i'll need to be when i set out to trek through the world between japan and australia. and the act of not drinking has been proved quite revealing in how my attitude affects the choices i make in the time i have. why waste any of it away? i think it's good to relax but health and moderation share a strong affinity.

anyone have any cost-effective ideas for what i can do with my wednesday this week? it's the day off i'll be getting in lieu of my monday circumstance.

what's onomatopoeia, you ask? it's what happens when you name something based on the sound it makes, such as "buzz" or "whoosh". there are many such words in japanese. your japanese onomatopoeia for the day is beron-beron, meaning stumbling-drunk. it only takes being beron-beron once or twice before you understand why it's called that.

i received a great postcard from a friend in france who is now in scotland. thanks christine. all of you over there on other continents are making it difficult for me to quench my travel appetite. europe's next, but only after a stint in canada.

more later this week when there's time. i'm trying to take my camera out with me more often but it seems like i'm rarely doing too much that's new these days. forgive me. i'll get something up here soon enough. stay warm, everyone.