Doing Just Fine

I've been pretty pumped up recently in terms of my mental health. This is one of those periods of life where things are going well, and I'm busy, productive, and happy. I'm physically healthier than I've been in a long time, work is stimulating and by and large successful, my Japanese studies are progressing, I continue to be happily married, and with the seasons changing and the weather (very slowly) cooling down, there is a tangible sense of a weight being lifted, and an ability to breath easily again. It's a good sign when the only things I can legitimately bitch about are the facts that the Red Sox suddenly suck, and that it's too hot outside. On that note, the Sox won today, and it's pleasantly cool and breezy outside, so life truly is good at the moment. I'm always a bit worried when I get into these frames of mind when I'm just completely content with my life, because I feel like something horrible must be about to happen. There's nowhere to go but down. That's no way to think, but it does creep into my mind now and then.

Today was a busy day once it finally got going. I did my usual wake up early, put on the Red Sox, then slip in and out of consciousness routine. I was pretty zonked this morning but had to eventually drag myself out of bed and to the coffee maker. I had a Japanese class at my office at noon, and like the role model I am I hadn't done my homework yet. So around 11 I bottled up my coffee and headed into school to study up before the lesson. After that it was off to the chiropractor for what has become my weekly session. This relationship has kind of popped up out of nowhere. I have no chronic back issues, at least none that really bother me, but for some reason I've taken to the idea of maintaining proper muscle/joint care. I'm not sure how long I'll be seeing this guy every week. I'm kind of waiting to see if weekly visits actually make a tangible difference, and we'll take it from there. He's a good dude though, and I think he studies English in between visits so he can communicate with me more, which I appreciate.

Some foreigners get bent out of shape when Japanese people want to speak English to them, since they'd prefer to practice Japanese. Then again, many also get pissed off when Japanese people blabber away in incomprehensible Japanese, and don't try and speak English. Personally I don't mind if Japanese people speak English to me. For someone living in Japan there are remarkably few situations I encounter in my daily life when I absolutely need Japanese. My wife and I speak English, I work in the English department at my school, so everyone there speaks English, and I use mostly English in my classes. That said, I'm the one living in Japan and there are opportunities aplenty for me to get down and dirty with the language. For Japanese people, there aren't many chances to use English, if they know it, so I can appreciate their eagerness to try and use it with me. I mean, if I meet some Japanese people in America (or any other country), I'm going to try and speak Japanese to them.

After getting worked on by the chiro-dude, I came home, gathered my camera and running shoes, and headed down to the beach. I was torn between heading out for a run and going on a photo expedition, so I decided to combine the two. There was some funky weather this afternoon with a lot of cool clouds that suggested a nice sunset, plus there's a paved pathway that runs along the beach which is good for jogging, so the solution sort of presented itself quite clearly.

I'm going to flashback to last weekend when my Japanese teacher clued me into the score of the year so far. I've certainly moaned before about how expensive and tiny Japanese steaks are. While I can't justify the price, in truth the size of the steaks here is probably more appropriate in terms of human consumption of beef. But I'm American, and as such am used to eating a quarter of my body weight in beef when I have a steak. Well, my Japanese teacher mentioned that every Saturday at 4:30, a travelling Brazilian salesman stops off at the parking lot next to the beach, and inside his refrigerated truck, one can purchase proper steaks and other meat products, for a very non-Japanese price. She said just look for the truck with the big Brazilian flag on the side. And just before 4:30 last Saturday, like some mythical creature that's too good to be true, the truck rolled off the highway and into the parking lot.


Not hard to miss. The meat products did not disappoint either. I picked up 6 not-quite-American-sized-but bigger than anything I've seen in Japan-sized steaks for about $12, along with some giant sausages for about $5. Awesome. Now I just need to get a little grill because that's the only these things are going to get cooked on my watch. I neglected to take any pictures last weekend, but I saw the truck again today when I arrived at the beach, and snapped a shot. Apparently the guy who owns this rig does a circuit around central Japan, stopping off at places with Brazilian communities. I'm not Brazilian but I do love meat, so this is a good situation.

As I was running alongside the beach, the sky was absolutely beautiful. It was a good hour from sunset and the sun was stuck behind some clouds, casting a beautiful yellow light on the sky between the water and the clouds. I nearly turned around and ran back to my car to snap some pictures, but instead continued on, hoping these conditions would still be around by the time I got back. They weren't, and the sunset was not nearly as nice as the pre-sunset. But I still enjoyed cooling down on the beach and taking in the stomach-awakening scents of numerous BBQ's going on around me.

Enjoying our second consecutive 3-day weekend here, and happily have absolutely nothing on the agenda tomorrow. Good times. Enjoy the weekend.