Week off

Obviously I've failed to be as consistent in my blogging as I had hoped. Lately I get to the end of the day and decide I'm too tired to get out the computer. I've had trouble sleeping because of allergies, so I usually go to sleep early (before 10) and wake up between 2 and 5. This morning my allergies gave me a little break though, and I managed to sleep in until 9.

Anyway, as of today I've decided to alter my plan once again. As there is very little value in counting the hours spent in mundane tasks, I will instead use a physical checklist to keep myself accountable. It will apply to all my tasks, but I'm hoping that I will also record my time spent on Japanese, music, programming, and physical activity. In the future I might add Bible reading and prayer, but for now I just want to make the practice routine regardless of the time spent.

I'm not sure what I did last Saturday. My two most important goals were to finish my Sunday lesson planning and to finish packing and start cleaning my apartment. Though I made progress, I failed both of these goals. On Sunday I gave my lesson and it went very well except for the game, as expected. Even though the game didn't go well, the kids enjoyed peeling the sticky notes off of the map, so I think it was sufficiently successful taking the reading and song into account. Immediately after the lesson finished I ran to the train station, because I didn't feel like I had any time to waste as far as cleaning goes, especially because I wanted to go climbing. I did go climbing and completed the blue problem that I mentioned earlier, but it took a toll on one of my fingers. And I still didn't finish packing before going to sleep.

On Monday I packed until about 10:00, then spent the rest of the day cleaning my apartment, with breaks for lunch and moving to the new apartment. Tuesday was spent unpacking and shopping, though I didn't buy much, and what I did buy I kind of regret (a standalone clothes hanging rack). I though it would fit in the closet but it was too tall, and I couldn't tell until I put it together. This is why you always measure before buying.

Wednesday I went to Hirata and bought a suit just after lunch. Shortly thereafter I got a haircut, which turned out exactly as I had hoped. Thursday I went to Nagano in the morning. After getting the visa processed, I ran for the train and managed to get back to my apartment before 1 PM. I didn't have much else to do so I went to the climbing gym at 3:30. I successfully completed two difficult problems, one of which was mostly horizontal, so that felt good.

Today I actually wished that work would start back, as I've been fairly bored. I was quite productive though. I practiced violin, which I've done every day since buying it except Monday. Playing with no shoulder rest feels a lot better, but I've realized that I'm straining my thumb, so I need to work that out. Also, I will probably have to relearn vibrato. Aside from the violin, I also worked on making the tasklist mentioned at the top, wrote an important email, read Steins;Gate, and even did some programming. I've continued playing Factorio seablock, but it feels like a lot of work so I generally can only take two hours a day. The second and third time I loaded it up today, I took a look at what I had to do and just quit. It feels really tedious, but that's also good because I don't waste too much time there.

From tomorrow I have work, so I hope to be more regular, and I also plan to keep better track of my timed activities.

First blue attempt

I played some Factorio today, but not as much as in previous days. Although I enjoy seablock because it's easy to see progress, it becomes really tedious to refactor the factory every time I get a bit of land. I did more reading fanfiction and little more cleaning up. I practiced violin, trying to learn how to hold it properly and without a shoulder rest. I tried it with the shoulder rest too, but I feel that there isn't as much freedom with the shoulder rest. My arm still got numb, even though I've adjusted the shoulder rest and tried to adjust the way I hold the violin.

The weather was great, and tomorrow it might rain, so I decided to go to the climbing gym even though my hands were still a bit torn up. It was actually a good session. I tried a blue level problem for the first time, and felt like I might be able to do it in another session or two. More exciting was a long problem that I tried. Most problems are about 12 holds, but this one is triple that length. The last time I tried it I got stuck on step eight. Today I managed to get to step 24. It's really tiring, but not really tricky so it's very satisfying.

I was really tired so I fell asleep at 8 PM. I woke up at 10:30 because of allergies and didn't really get back to sleep. Right now I'm trying three different allergy medicines, and I've decided that the one I used today is pretty much worthless.

Japanese

Steins;Gate: 25 minutes

Programming

None

Health

Cycling: 20 minutes
Climbing: 2 hours

Spiritual

Psalms reading: 20 minutes

Writing

None

Music

Violin: 45 minutes

Career

None

Housework

Cleaning: 45 minutes

Reading

None

Social

None

Violin!

In the morning I waited around until my violin bow arrived, playing Factorio. Once it arrived and I examined it, I went to the secondhand shop to buy the actual electric violin. Knowing that it didn't have a violin case with it, I first checked around to see if I could find a used one. There was one violin case, but it was quite battered, with the latches just barely holding on, and the bow holders broken, and it smelled funny. It was only $5, but it was such junk that I wasn't sure I would even take it for free. So instead, I bought a cheap tennis racket case (which I needed anyway) for $8 and put the violin in it. It was a bit of a tight fit (probably would have been almost perfect if I had thought to take off the shoulder rest), but I felt that it was better than just carrying the violin in a bag, as I could keep it close to me and carry it easily.

I got home without incident, although I was really nervous, and tried it out. It turned out that there were no batteries, but I was surprised at how decent it sounded even without them. After buying some batteries, I practiced a little longer. Overall I was impressed and excited. However, my left arm started going numb within 5 minutes of playing, so I had to take a break. It happened again, so I decided that I needed to relearn the basics of how to hold a violin.

I did some more cleaning up, but otherwise I didn't do much besides read fanfiction and play Factorio. Unlike Wednesday, it seemed like a short day.

Spring day!

Today was beautiful weather. I did laundry and kept the window open, but didn't really go outside except when I had to go to work to teach classes. Today was the first day to feel like vacation--i.e. that feeling of "I want to do something to make the time pass faster but I don't want to be productive". I get this feeling almost every long vacation. I did waste a lot of time today, but I was productive too. I cooked two meals, did laundry, did more cleaning, and taught classes in the evening. I also received my violin rosin and talked to a Jehovah's witness for a couple of minutes. My less productive activities included playing Factorio seablock, reading a Worm fanfiction that I've read before, and tentatively deciding on a violin case if I end up having to buy a new one.

Also, Takashi talked to me between classes today. He said that the city specially requested me to do their elementary school position (all elementary schools) because I was energetic and spoke good Japanese. While I was flattered, I've remembered thinking several times through this last year, "I'm glad I don't have that position." There are several aspects of the new position that I'm looking forward to, like being able to bike there, and being at the same school for three days a week, and only having two tiring days of elementary school instead of three.

Day off?

The only event I had scheduled for today was a class from 5:30-6 PM. However, I managed to stay pretty busy. I woke up at 3 AM because of allergies and went back to sleep at 5, so I ended up sleeping in until 8:30. I searched for violin cases for a while and decided that I was either going to have to resolve to spend a lot of money (probably at least $200) or look for a used one. Either way, I've decided that I probably won't have the case when I buy the instrument (unless the same shop has one), so I'm not really in a hurry.

After deciding this I played Factorio until 11:30 AM. As of Sunday I've started a new modpack in Factorio called Seablock, where you start on a tiny piece of land and have to build all the factories and landfills basically from water. One of the things that stresses me about Factorio is that usually you have to find ore patches and mine them to get the necessary ingredients for construction. Eventually they run out and you have to tear down your mining setup, find a new patch further away, and set it up again. It's really not so big a deal, but it feels a bit like a Sisyphean labor. I'm hoping that since this modpack doesn't even use ore patches, that particular stress will be alleviated.

I went shopping, played a bit more Factorio, then did the most fun part of moving--reorganizing stuff. After working on it for about 2.5 hours, I ate dinner and went to teach my class. After that I went climbing. I completed B-Red-10, a problem I've been working on for a few weeks and one that has ripped up my pinky skin for two climbing sessions in a row. I didn't manage any other reds, but I did get close on H-Red-19, which is a mostly horizontal problem.

Japanese

None

Programming

None

Health

Cycling: 20 minutes
Climbing: 2 hours

Spiritual

None

Writing

Journal: 25 minutes

Career

None

Housework

Organizing: 2.5 hours

Reading

None

Social

None

(Almost) pointless Nagano trip

Today was fairly productive but also frustrating. I went to Nagano to get my visa renewed. Before I left I got some documents from the city hall, and told the clerk that helped me that I was born in the Meiji era (1868-1912), to my embarrassment . I've decided that I need to laugh more at my mistakes, and proclaim them boldly when they're honest. Anyway, next I took the train to Matsumoto, and asked about  the used electric violin that I had found. It turns out that it comes with neither case nor bow, which is expected but inconvenient.

In Nagano I got my documents submitted in about 10 minutes--really fast. Since I was there, a two hour train ride from Shiojiri, I decided to look around for electric violins and accessories. The first place only had violin kits and no electrics. The second place had nothing anywhere near my price range. Next I went to three second-hand stores. The first was promising as it had several acoustic violins. Unfortunately there were no electrics. I saw no bows being sold independently, and the cases didn't have price tags on them either, if they were even violin cases at all. From there I walked about a mile and a half from the station. My feet were hurting and my allergies were blazing. The second shop turned out to only sell used clothes. It was close to the third shop, which had very little hobby items at all, and no musical instruments. I sneezed all the way back to the train station, where I bought some snacks and ravenously devoured them as I boarded the train. There was another music shop in the train station, but I was hungry and sneezing and figured that with its location, it would probably be small and expensive.

I read fanfiction and fell asleep on the way home. When I got home around 5:45 I ate dinner, played some Factorio, ordered a violin bow and rosin, then fell asleep before 10. I really didn't do anything productive related to my goals.

Schedule change

I went to catch my train to church today at the same time as usual. I scanned my train card, then checked the platform of my train. But there was no train leaving at the right time. I checked google maps, and it also showed no train leaving for Shimosuwa for almost an hour. At that point I went to the help desk and asked for a reset of my train card. I walked home confused, thinking that I had remembered my train time incorrectly, maybe off by a couple minutes. When I got home and checked the schedule, it turned out that the train time was 18 minutes earlier than the time I remembered. Obviously the train schedule had changed. Although this was not a good thing today, the new time is much more convenient. Right now I can either get to church 50 minutes early or five minutes late (reduced to two or three if I jog from the station, which I usually do). The new time puts me at church 5 minutes before the service with a leisurely walk.

Also I chatted with Josh Jackson before church. It was good to hear his news.

Japanese

I really did not want to study today...

Programming

So I didn't do programming or Japanese.

Health

None

Spiritual

None

Writing

Journal: 30 minutes

Career

None

Housework

Cleaning: 30 min
Cooking: 10 min
Laundry: 5 min
Cleaned out almost all the empty bottles.

Reading

None

Social

20 min
Messaged with Josh Jackson.

Elementary School Graduation

At the junior high school, almost all of the students cried on their last day at some point. At the elementary school I only saw a few third and fifth graders crying. For me it was more emotional though, maybe because elementary students are cuter and I'm slightly more attached to them. There is an actual ceremony (relatively short though, at about 30 minutes) to say goodbye to the teachers leaving. Because the elementary school isn't my base school, it's not official that I won't return next year, though it's a pretty sure thing because it's so close to the junior high school. Because it isn't official though, I wasn't able to actually say goodbye, which made me sad.

Every teacher leaving gives a speech at this ceremony. The third-grade teacher had only worked at the school for a year, but during her speech she started crying (she was the only one of all the teachers at either school to do this). At this point I started crying too.

I have a lot of things I need and want to buy. In the evening I went out to look at what second-hand shops had for instruments that I am interested in. The first shop had a Yamaha electric violin, basically the cheapest brand name electric violin which is unfortunately not so cheap--about $800 retail, and more in America. At the secondhand shop it was half-price, and looked brand new. If I had had the money, I might have bought it right then and there.

Japanese

Reading: 10 minutes
Notes from students and school missives.

Programming

None

Health

Walked a lot today, but I'm not counting that.

Spiritual

None

Writing

Journal: 5 minutes

Career

None

Housework

Cleaning: 5 min

Reading

Every Good Endeavor: 60 min
Almost finished. 

Social

None

Junior High Graduation

Junior high school graduation was today. There were many tears. I was given a bunch of very nice notes from the students. I also met with Takashi about doing orientation for the new teachers. He asked me to work on Sunday and for some reason I was unable to say no. I gave two speeches today--one a farewell speech to the whole school, and one of them just to the faculty and the drinking party. Both speeches were well received, and at least two of the students also told their younger siblings about my speech.

I'm investigating buying an electric violin.

Japanese

Reading: 15 minutes
Notes from students and school missives.

Programming

None

Health

None

Spiritual

None

Writing

Journal: 5 minutes

Career

None

Housework

Cleaning: 5 min
Laundry: 5 min

Reading

60 min
Continued Every Good Endeavor. There was an interesting point made, but for the most part I had a difficult time concentrating.

Social

5.5 hours
Farewell party with the junior high teachers and karaoke afterwards.

Last day at Kikyo

Today I was banzai'd as I left the school. I also gave a brief speech as the entire teacher's room stood up and listened to me. I didn't do a good job. Also, I planned to write thank-you cards to the homeroom teachers, but I couldn't figure out what to write on, so I never ended up doing it. I hope I will still have the chance, because the notes are mostly written anyway (albeit in English, so I have to translate them).

Japanese

Reading: 45 minutes
Alternated between reading notes that my students wrote to me and reading essays by the junior high school students. I had surprisingly little difficulty with the latter.

Programming

None

Health

Bicycle: 20 minutes
Climbing: 110 minutes
Did a cool red level problem today (B Red 7). Also finished all the parts to another cool-looking red problem (B Red 10), but there are several parts that I can't do consistently. I discovered that it is a terrible thing to have nails that are too long when climbing. Surprisingly, today was the first time that I noticed.

Spiritual

None

Writing

Journal: 25 minutes

Career

None

Housework

Cleaning: 10 min

Reading

None

Social

None

Last day of junior high classes

My last day of junior high classes was surprisingly normal. My assistant English teacher is moving to a new school, so he made some farewell remarks. The eighth graders gave us both a bunch of thank you notes. Aside from that, nothing at all happened or was said.

I've been thinking about buying a digital piano. Apparently my new place has neighbors that are quite noise-sensitive, so if I want to play music the only real solution is a digital piano. Though now that I think about it, maybe I could look into an electric violin... but anyway, I discovered that the one I want, which I think is the same one I had in Russia, only costs about $360 (without accessories, which I expect I can easily get from a second-hand shop). I was tempted to go ahead and order it, but I decided to make sure the second-hand shop had what I needed so that I could order it too if necessary. And now I think I'll research electric violins as well. The second-hand shop might even have one of those.

My long evening class was cancelled, but I spent the time reading fanfiction instead of working on something productive.

Japanese

None

Programming

Hackerrank: 10 minutes
I solved a recursion problem in a couple of minutes, then spent the rest of the time beating my head against a binary conversion problem. I don't think I had the right mindset at the time.

Health

None, not even tennis

Spiritual

None

Writing

Blog entry and previous day's entry: 60 minutes
(Most of an) email to Shane: 30 minutes

Career

None

Housework

Cleaning: 10 min

Reading

Every Good Endeavor: 60 min
I realized that (this part of) the book focuses more on how to be a Christian in a work environment and less on actually finding work. It answered a lot of questions that I wouldn't think to ask because I've never really questioned how to do my work in a Christian way. So it was somewhat interesting but not very relevant to me.

Social

None

Recovery

Four weeks later and after too many hours in Factorio, I have returned to my previously intended pursuits. I don't know how long it will last because this is my final week at school. The following three weeks will be very irregular, and my new schools may put me off-guard, but in the meantime I'll do my best to aim for my goals, at the very least by keeping the blog.

Japanese

Reading: 25 minutes
Steins;Gate. I need to get back into the habit, as I found myself frustrated by my inability to read fluidly several times, and the time I spent felt closer to double that.

Programming

None

Health

None

Spiritual

I looked for ways to read the Bible, but was unable to find anything satisfactory.

Writing

None (next day entry)

Career

None

Housework

Cleaning: 10 min
Cooking: 10 min

Reading

Every Good Endeavor: 60 min
Tim Keller's book about vocation. I listened in the car on the way to and from work. It got really philosophical. It may be because I took a long break since the last time I listened, but I feel like this book has been the most disjointed and least helpful related to the topic.

Social

None