(no subject)
I moved a couple of weeks back across town, to the north side, and I am still waiting to hear
back from the internet provider. In a big city like Osaka it can sometimes take over a month to
get a proper internet hookup, and all the wifi networks in my hood are security blocked.
So anyways, I`m at Naomi`s parents place tonight without much to do so I thought I should update
and let people know I`m gonna be out of touch for a while yet.
anyway, here`s what`s up with me lately in convenient point form:
- The album is more or less finished but until I get internet back I can`t upload it. Thats all I can
really tell you about that.
- I am writing the JLPT Level 1 this year, the highest attainable qualification of japanese
profeciency. The test can only be written once a year on Dec 9th. I passed level 2 last year
and feel I stand a pretty good chance of passing Level 1 this year. If I do, its going to mark the
end of my japanese study, probably for good. I feel I accomplished what I set out to do; Japanese
is really a second language to me now, and I think its time to move on to other things.
- And speaking of other things, hey here we go. Both for the benefit of my job and own personal
interests, I have been studying, at the same time no less, French and Mandarin Chinese.
After learning a language as grammatically complex as Japanese, both of these languages aren`t so
hard really. French in particular is sticking to my brain like glue, maybe because I was studying it, afterall,
from elementary to junior high - I am already able to speak in fairly stable sentences without too much tripping up.
Mandarin is maybe the most grammatically simplistic language I have ever seen, if it wasn`t for the brain
twisting tonal based pronounciation schemes it would be a ridiculously easy language to grasp. As it is, I am starting - and I mean only starting - to be able to form some basic sentences in Chinese, but I`m tripping over
pronounciation a lot.
- And on the chinese tip, I recently made the best decision I`ve made in years and enlisted myself back into
hung gar Kung Fu. I train at the Shaolin Golden Center in Osaka, which is an actual temple, with only 3 other pupils
under the same Sifu. Its the same Hung Gar 5 animal style that I trained under Sifu Garreth Warren in Halifax, but
there are some minor differences in the forms which means I have to be re-trained from the beginning.
The training is particularly more brutal than it was under Sifu Warren, even on the first day I was required
to hold the ever-torturous horse stance for 5 minute intervals between learning the Blossom form.
Also, the physical training session lasts over 2 hours rather than one, with an extra 30 to 45 minutes spent studying
theory of pressure points and chi, and also meditation on balancing the body/mind and such and such.
As anybody who has ever trained in Hung Gar will tell you, it is a mentally and physically arduous endurance, but the
results can do wonders for you. I have the luxury of choosing my own uniform style, my sifu prefers to wear the northern style unfiforms with the long open sleeves and 3/4 waist coat - I have not a problem with that cause it looks cool as hell. mad flavour in the martial arts world.
- With martial arts becoming a big focus for me right now, I`m trying to rid my life of some shit I don`t need anymore, Like smoking. That gotta go somewhere. But more than that, I am trying to phase alcohol out of my life as much as I can. Look, I think its safe to say that I have an , albeit fairly mild, alcohol problem. Its not really so much the frequency of which I drink, or how much I drink, its how I behave when I`m drinking, and my complete inability to say "ok, this is enough let`s call it a night" - or to "know when to say when" like that TV campaign used to say back in the 80`s.
I come from a long line of men with depression and alcohol problems, its like the fucking backbone of my lineage.
I don`t really want to have to QUIT drinking altogether, I`d like to reserve the ability to have the occaisonal schifter of port with my friends at the cigar club and know I can keep myself together. But this getting wasted and turning into mr. hyde, this shit gotta go somewhere.
A lot of people like to talk shit about being crazy drinkers and partiers and shit like that, or some crazy shit they say they did or say they`re gonna do next time they get loaded. Man lemme tell you something; you don`t know the half.
I ain`t a party person, I guess thats my thing. So if I am drinking at a place I don`t wanna be, or you bring people around me I don`t wanna see, well man you are just better off not being around me cause even I don`t know what I might do. I`m tired of being that guy, I wanna be in control so fuck this.
I`ve been doing a lot of exercise on top of martial arts training, I`m starting to get back into fighting shape again, so I`m limiting driking to only saturday nights, and even then only if there is a particular cause to do so, and only when I am with my closest friends at a place I wanna be. Up until last month I was content to drink half a bottle of shochuu even just watching a movie. That shit`s gotta go.
Drinking also has a chemical based pshycological effect on me - it makes me horribly depressed the next day, or sometimes several days, later. A crash. A come-down from hell. Alcohol is a depressent, and someone who is taking medication for a depression-related illness probably shouldn`t be knocking back a whole lot of Suntory Wiskey if you catch my drift. Shit can get very real very quick.
So yeah, I think its time to put a cap on that and just start looking into more variey in life. Just like the japanese, the alcohol has been a big aspect of my life but its time to move on.
anyway thats how it go.
back from the internet provider. In a big city like Osaka it can sometimes take over a month to
get a proper internet hookup, and all the wifi networks in my hood are security blocked.
So anyways, I`m at Naomi`s parents place tonight without much to do so I thought I should update
and let people know I`m gonna be out of touch for a while yet.
anyway, here`s what`s up with me lately in convenient point form:
- The album is more or less finished but until I get internet back I can`t upload it. Thats all I can
really tell you about that.
- I am writing the JLPT Level 1 this year, the highest attainable qualification of japanese
profeciency. The test can only be written once a year on Dec 9th. I passed level 2 last year
and feel I stand a pretty good chance of passing Level 1 this year. If I do, its going to mark the
end of my japanese study, probably for good. I feel I accomplished what I set out to do; Japanese
is really a second language to me now, and I think its time to move on to other things.
- And speaking of other things, hey here we go. Both for the benefit of my job and own personal
interests, I have been studying, at the same time no less, French and Mandarin Chinese.
After learning a language as grammatically complex as Japanese, both of these languages aren`t so
hard really. French in particular is sticking to my brain like glue, maybe because I was studying it, afterall,
from elementary to junior high - I am already able to speak in fairly stable sentences without too much tripping up.
Mandarin is maybe the most grammatically simplistic language I have ever seen, if it wasn`t for the brain
twisting tonal based pronounciation schemes it would be a ridiculously easy language to grasp. As it is, I am starting - and I mean only starting - to be able to form some basic sentences in Chinese, but I`m tripping over
pronounciation a lot.
- And on the chinese tip, I recently made the best decision I`ve made in years and enlisted myself back into
hung gar Kung Fu. I train at the Shaolin Golden Center in Osaka, which is an actual temple, with only 3 other pupils
under the same Sifu. Its the same Hung Gar 5 animal style that I trained under Sifu Garreth Warren in Halifax, but
there are some minor differences in the forms which means I have to be re-trained from the beginning.
The training is particularly more brutal than it was under Sifu Warren, even on the first day I was required
to hold the ever-torturous horse stance for 5 minute intervals between learning the Blossom form.
Also, the physical training session lasts over 2 hours rather than one, with an extra 30 to 45 minutes spent studying
theory of pressure points and chi, and also meditation on balancing the body/mind and such and such.
As anybody who has ever trained in Hung Gar will tell you, it is a mentally and physically arduous endurance, but the
results can do wonders for you. I have the luxury of choosing my own uniform style, my sifu prefers to wear the northern style unfiforms with the long open sleeves and 3/4 waist coat - I have not a problem with that cause it looks cool as hell. mad flavour in the martial arts world.
- With martial arts becoming a big focus for me right now, I`m trying to rid my life of some shit I don`t need anymore, Like smoking. That gotta go somewhere. But more than that, I am trying to phase alcohol out of my life as much as I can. Look, I think its safe to say that I have an , albeit fairly mild, alcohol problem. Its not really so much the frequency of which I drink, or how much I drink, its how I behave when I`m drinking, and my complete inability to say "ok, this is enough let`s call it a night" - or to "know when to say when" like that TV campaign used to say back in the 80`s.
I come from a long line of men with depression and alcohol problems, its like the fucking backbone of my lineage.
I don`t really want to have to QUIT drinking altogether, I`d like to reserve the ability to have the occaisonal schifter of port with my friends at the cigar club and know I can keep myself together. But this getting wasted and turning into mr. hyde, this shit gotta go somewhere.
A lot of people like to talk shit about being crazy drinkers and partiers and shit like that, or some crazy shit they say they did or say they`re gonna do next time they get loaded. Man lemme tell you something; you don`t know the half.
I ain`t a party person, I guess thats my thing. So if I am drinking at a place I don`t wanna be, or you bring people around me I don`t wanna see, well man you are just better off not being around me cause even I don`t know what I might do. I`m tired of being that guy, I wanna be in control so fuck this.
I`ve been doing a lot of exercise on top of martial arts training, I`m starting to get back into fighting shape again, so I`m limiting driking to only saturday nights, and even then only if there is a particular cause to do so, and only when I am with my closest friends at a place I wanna be. Up until last month I was content to drink half a bottle of shochuu even just watching a movie. That shit`s gotta go.
Drinking also has a chemical based pshycological effect on me - it makes me horribly depressed the next day, or sometimes several days, later. A crash. A come-down from hell. Alcohol is a depressent, and someone who is taking medication for a depression-related illness probably shouldn`t be knocking back a whole lot of Suntory Wiskey if you catch my drift. Shit can get very real very quick.
So yeah, I think its time to put a cap on that and just start looking into more variey in life. Just like the japanese, the alcohol has been a big aspect of my life but its time to move on.
anyway thats how it go.