a year later
wow.... can't believe it's already been a year since i came back to Japan. i can't believe that i haven't updated livejournal since April, which as far as i'm concerned might as well be a year ago itself. i also haven't been checking my friends page at all, so i know i've missed out on a lot of important things in other people's lives... sorry. ;(
i'm not even going to attempt to recap what all has happened over the past several months, but i'm sure that this post will still turn into a wall of text regardless.
life, as always, has been full of ups and downs over the past months. i don't even know where to begin, really.
work is stressful, but that's to be expected. most work is. the hardest part of this particular job is the fact that i work 5.5 days a week, meaning i only really have one day off to recover before it's back to work again. thankfully the vacation time is good, so as long as i can stretch myself to make it through the weeks in between i can manage. the only difficult thing is the work-related anxiety and stress that carries over into my own personal life outside of work. it's hard to ever completely relax and recuperate sometimes... i often end up vegetating on the day that i do have off.
that said, there are also good things about the job. i have some great students (and some demons, ugh) who can brighten up my day. the job is also rewarding in that you can see the progress that students make and know that it's largely thanks to you. i have a lot of freedom when it comes to planning my lessons, which is great for the most part, and again, the vacation time is great as far as this line of work goes.
in august i signed a contract renewal... normally they offer renewals on a yearly basis, but they like me so much that they offered me up to 3 years. i agonized for a month over what to do... but in the end i decided to sign a 3 year contract with the provision that i may leave earlier if something else comes up, with 3 months advance notice. i went with a 3 year contract because i feel like that may be how long it takes me to get my shit together financially and otherwise, sadly.... we'll see how things go.
outside of work, things have been ok, finances aside. i've been focusing a lot on myself and the things important to me. despite being absent on livejournal, i've continued being active on my Tumblr blog and YouTube Channel Queer As Cat. both have become far more popular than i'd ever imagined with my Tumblr blog having over 1,700 followers and the YouTube channel having over 1,000 subscribers. keeping up with those two social outlets has taken up much of my time and no doubt contributed to my disappearance from livejournal..... but during it all, i've missed livejournal. the things that i talk/write about at Queer As Cat isn't the same as i'd talk/write about here. ;( i've missed having this outlet...
on top of Queer As Cat, i've also been going to LGBTQIA meetups, i marched in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride Parade and have been developing and nurturing my own identity. last month i finally took the leap and started doing therapy.... i've suspected that i've suffered from chronic depression since high school and am finally trying to take steps to do something about it.
last month was a big month for me for another reason as well. i finally started my sleeve!! i created the basic design and the artist, the work of whom i've been admiring for almost a year now, polished it up. i had my first (of four?) two hour session(s) on October 31st and now, over two weeks later, the tattoo is healing nicely. :) i honestly wish i had updated livejournal then... it would have been nice to have recorded my first tattoo experience as it happened, but oh well. hopefully i'll do better next time.
it's hard to make out wth you're even really looking at design-wise in the picture to the left. it was taken literally right i sat up at the end of the session and you can kind of see how inflamed my arm was. it actually got worse than that and ultimately took a week to completely go away. the next session is scheduled for December 21st and my current aim is to have the tattoo completely by April. soooooooooo excited! i feel like i should have been born with this tattoo honestly.
what else is there to say.... my family is pretty much the same as ever. mom's health is gradually becoming more complex as of late, but for now she seems to be alright. Kesha is same ol' same ol'. dad, i hardly ever talk to. Yuki, the hedgehog that i spoke of in my last post, is doing great, although we've had a few scares.
it has now been a year since arriving back in Japan. a year since finally being back on my own two feet again and beginning to move forward with my life. i feel like i'm mentally in a much better place now than i was a year ago. i just wish i could say the same for my finances and future outlook.
going forward into my second year i want to do better financially. for the past year i have literally been counting pennies by the middle of every month, barely scrapping by until payday at the end of the month. this year i want to do better. this year i want to put a dent into my credit card debit and have money set aside to fall back on in the event of an emergency. this year, i want to level up my Japanese ability and get it back to the state that it was in when i left Japan in 2010.
i have nothing to show for the last year that i've spent in Japan other than my own well-being, which i guess counts for something? but this time next year i want to really have something to show for my efforts. I WILL DO BETTER, DAMNIT.
may the future be bright.
i'm not even going to attempt to recap what all has happened over the past several months, but i'm sure that this post will still turn into a wall of text regardless.
life, as always, has been full of ups and downs over the past months. i don't even know where to begin, really.
work is stressful, but that's to be expected. most work is. the hardest part of this particular job is the fact that i work 5.5 days a week, meaning i only really have one day off to recover before it's back to work again. thankfully the vacation time is good, so as long as i can stretch myself to make it through the weeks in between i can manage. the only difficult thing is the work-related anxiety and stress that carries over into my own personal life outside of work. it's hard to ever completely relax and recuperate sometimes... i often end up vegetating on the day that i do have off.
that said, there are also good things about the job. i have some great students (and some demons, ugh) who can brighten up my day. the job is also rewarding in that you can see the progress that students make and know that it's largely thanks to you. i have a lot of freedom when it comes to planning my lessons, which is great for the most part, and again, the vacation time is great as far as this line of work goes.
in august i signed a contract renewal... normally they offer renewals on a yearly basis, but they like me so much that they offered me up to 3 years. i agonized for a month over what to do... but in the end i decided to sign a 3 year contract with the provision that i may leave earlier if something else comes up, with 3 months advance notice. i went with a 3 year contract because i feel like that may be how long it takes me to get my shit together financially and otherwise, sadly.... we'll see how things go.
outside of work, things have been ok, finances aside. i've been focusing a lot on myself and the things important to me. despite being absent on livejournal, i've continued being active on my Tumblr blog and YouTube Channel Queer As Cat. both have become far more popular than i'd ever imagined with my Tumblr blog having over 1,700 followers and the YouTube channel having over 1,000 subscribers. keeping up with those two social outlets has taken up much of my time and no doubt contributed to my disappearance from livejournal..... but during it all, i've missed livejournal. the things that i talk/write about at Queer As Cat isn't the same as i'd talk/write about here. ;( i've missed having this outlet...
on top of Queer As Cat, i've also been going to LGBTQIA meetups, i marched in the Tokyo Rainbow Pride Parade and have been developing and nurturing my own identity. last month i finally took the leap and started doing therapy.... i've suspected that i've suffered from chronic depression since high school and am finally trying to take steps to do something about it.
last month was a big month for me for another reason as well. i finally started my sleeve!! i created the basic design and the artist, the work of whom i've been admiring for almost a year now, polished it up. i had my first (of four?) two hour session(s) on October 31st and now, over two weeks later, the tattoo is healing nicely. :) i honestly wish i had updated livejournal then... it would have been nice to have recorded my first tattoo experience as it happened, but oh well. hopefully i'll do better next time.
it's hard to make out wth you're even really looking at design-wise in the picture to the left. it was taken literally right i sat up at the end of the session and you can kind of see how inflamed my arm was. it actually got worse than that and ultimately took a week to completely go away. the next session is scheduled for December 21st and my current aim is to have the tattoo completely by April. soooooooooo excited! i feel like i should have been born with this tattoo honestly.
what else is there to say.... my family is pretty much the same as ever. mom's health is gradually becoming more complex as of late, but for now she seems to be alright. Kesha is same ol' same ol'. dad, i hardly ever talk to. Yuki, the hedgehog that i spoke of in my last post, is doing great, although we've had a few scares.
it has now been a year since arriving back in Japan. a year since finally being back on my own two feet again and beginning to move forward with my life. i feel like i'm mentally in a much better place now than i was a year ago. i just wish i could say the same for my finances and future outlook.
going forward into my second year i want to do better financially. for the past year i have literally been counting pennies by the middle of every month, barely scrapping by until payday at the end of the month. this year i want to do better. this year i want to put a dent into my credit card debit and have money set aside to fall back on in the event of an emergency. this year, i want to level up my Japanese ability and get it back to the state that it was in when i left Japan in 2010.
i have nothing to show for the last year that i've spent in Japan other than my own well-being, which i guess counts for something? but this time next year i want to really have something to show for my efforts. I WILL DO BETTER, DAMNIT.
may the future be bright.