Ding Dong! (or "ping pong" in Japanese)

Living in big apartment building in Beppu has many advantages such as smelling other people’s dinners cooking, hearing other people’s children screaming, and having random folks ring your doorbell with all kinds of exciting things to tell you.

Just this morning a girl came by asking if I had any kids who would like to join her English conversation class. Her question was funny on a couple levels: 1.) I don’t have any kids…I don’t even have a spouse…so the thought of having a kid old enough to speak is crazy! 2.) I already speak English…and I speak it rather well, if I do say so myself…so if I did have any kids, I think I would be their English conversation teacher.

I’ve also answered the door to the familiar Jehovah’s Witnesses (who always speak advanced English!) with their many pamphlets and endless attempts to get me to join their Bible study. I’ve learned how to respectfully listen and then firmly tell them I’m not interested so they don’t keep sending delegations to save me.

Of course the most unique group who has came a’knocking was what I call, “the happy sunshine people” who meet every morning at the city park at 5am. They are on a mission to make the world a better place through early morning meetings and group breakfasts (or something like that…I didn’t catch it all). They were very nice ladies.

Ah yes, the many 5 minute visitors who patron my doorbell with smiles and offers. I never know who is going to stop by next. Perhaps it will be a CoCo curry deliveryman with the wrong address—one can only hope!

New Year's in Kansai

Pictures of my trip to Kansai!

I stole from Paris Hilton

Recently I asked my dear friend, Sheena, if she, given the option, would give up the need to sleep (just think of how much more productive one could be!). She said she wouldn’t because she wants to be able to dream and have a break from reality. I pondered this thought and quickly came to agree with her. Dreams are amazing little side quests to our lives and provide outlets for our thoughts and emotions…and sometimes give us the opportunity to be superheroes or see Mars or go on dates with Deanna Troi from Star Trek.

In a dream I had the other night I stole from Paris Hilton and got to eat some very tasty carrot cake. I don’t remember every part of the dream, but I do remember vacationing in Paris Hilton’s mountain mansion and having the chance to rifle through her shoe closet while she was out. I wasn’t stealing shoes for myself…but rather for Sheena and Selena who were waiting for me in the Burger King a few miles away. No, I didn’t care about the shoes…I instead went after Paris’ cell phone so I could have contact info for half of Hollywood (albeit perhaps the skankier half). While in the process of choosing between sparkles or leather heels (again, not for me, but for my friends…), I also found a hoard of carrot cake (one of my favorite desserts!). I was very practical about taking the cake and was sure to wrap it up neatly in plastic wrap before wiping my finger prints off all surfaces.

As I was leaving the Hilton mansion with cake, shoes, and phone, a massive Bigfoot creature appeared just outside the front door. Everyone started screaming and I knew I only had seconds before the monster broke into the house. This is the point the dream became something extra special! In the dream I was thinking, “oh dear, I’m getting scared…don’t like this…going to have to run and hide and blablabla…I just want to enjoy this bit of petty theft without the hassle of defending myself against a tired urban myth…” And while thinking this I realized, “hey wait, I’m dreaming…this is in my head…my imagination…so that means I can anything!” A second later Bigfoot was breaking through the wall and instead of being scared, I was getting stronger. I had enough realization in my dream to give myself superpowers and quickly repelled the beast with one big energy shockwave from my hands.

The dream petered out after that…I remember the house filling with water and something about a cat and my cousin Miranda…and then I woke up.

Anyway, I wanted to report this to everyone to give you something interesting to read as you start your week (for many people after a holiday). The next time you find yourself in a dream—which should be the next time you fall soundly asleep—try to take control and see what you can do. For surly the limits of what you can do/be in a dream are only bound by the limits of your imagination.

Happy New Year!

It’s 2008—the Year of the Rat—the Summer Olympics in China—and the year I’m finally getting serious about my future. Yes, that’s right, after adventuring around in Japan for the past 2.5 years, I think it’s time for me to get my goals and dreams together and get on a path to greater things. I’m posting this on my blog so it’s out there and I can’t procrastinate and push it aside anymore.

Resolutions anyone? Come on, tis the best time of year to make some positive changes in your life. Here are mine!

1.) Improve my Japanese! I have a good textbook and a cool sensei…so I just need to get my butt in gear and learn that Nihongo.

2.) Produce more creative works…aka WRITE MORE…and then get it published. I want to find a writing contest and make a submission in the next 3 months. I feel like I have a creative hurricane inside me just blowing around in a chaotic roar and I’d like to funnel that storm into a brilliant story or paper. Creating things makes me happy…and I haven’t been writing enough over the last few months.

3.) Figure out the next step of my life’s journey. This is the tough one…and one I’d reckon a lot of people are stuck on. What’s next? Where should I go? What should I do? Who am I?! Factors like job/career, relationship, dreams, opportunities, and destiny all intertwine here…and it can be hard to find the right direction to go in. BUT, the most important part is having a vision of where you want to go. I need to first figure that out.

So there you go! What do you think?

In other news, I just got back from a New Year’s trip to Kansai with some really awesome folks. I’ll have an update with pictures from that trip soon.

Happy going everyone.