Well, well, well.. I did it again and left my blog unattended for almost a complete month.. I'm sure I don't have a lot of people who read it anyways so hopefully nobody's pissed.
Let's see... I had a decent enough Christmas although being home in Canada with my family would have been a lot better (not to mention the Tim Horton's coffee!) Most of my friends went out to clubs in Tokyo for New Year's but I decided to stay home with a nice bottle of wine and reflect on 2008.
I think, in general, 2008 was a decent year. The highlight of my year would have to be meeting/making my new best friend Daryle whom I love to bits.. He's like my brother now and it feels great to have someone as close to me as family while I'm in Japan. Other happy highlights include my August trip to Thailand where I was able to meet many of my Thai friends again and study some more Thai massage techniques, the JET leavers party in late June and all of the parties Daryle had throughout the year. I stayed pretty healthy in 2008 with only my annual spell of chronic bronchitis in January to slow me down a bit. In 2009, my main goal is to become debt free. This is something I have aspired to for a long time which is why I won't be returning to Thailand this coming August or doing any extravagant trips. I am also ready to jump back into the dating scene and see what comes of that. I have taken about 18 months off from dating since Aki and I broke up and am now ready to get back on the horse (or something else if you have a dirty mind like me! *LOL*)
My winter vacation ended on January 5th and it was back to work for me. My classes are continuing to go well and despite the current down-spiral in the English industry in Japan and the economic recession the number of students in my English classes has remained average. I must just rock out as an English teacher!
On January 25th, we had our first snow in my area which was short lived as it didn't even stick to the ground. We had a huge party at Daryle's apartment to celebrate the Chinese New Year on Saturday as well. There were more than 40 people crammed into his apartment and of course the Jello Wench (ME!) was there with a healthy supply of jello shots! I met a cute guy at the party but it turns out that he is currently trying to patch things up with a nasty ex.. seems to be an emerging trend in 2009 for me.. liking guys who aren't completely available..anyways, I'll stay positive and see what happens.
Looking forward in 2009, I'm excited about my 25th birthday (on March 14th), my 5-year anniversary of living/working in Japan (May 5, 2009) and heading home for Christmas in December 2009. I miss my family terribly as I haven't seen my parents or brothers since December 2007.
If there is anyone who reads my blog, I will leave you with a personal quote for 2009 (something I do every year):
"Just because it may be taking you a long time to become the person you want to be doesn't mean that the goal is unattainable..it just means the end results will be more worth it in the long run"
Living my life,
StEvE
