No video games

One of my major thoughts of late has been that video games are really a poison of time. I haven’t played anything in about two weeks, and it feels like I have tons of time. I don’t resent daily tasks for taking so long and cheerfully do them. I feel more social, and I’m more motivated overall (even though I’ve still been having trouble motivating myself to read Steins;Gate or Harry Potter in Japanese lately). Also, I’m happy to work, and indeed I would like to work longer. In fact, on Friday I even stayed later than I had to in order to finish my decoration of the English board at school.

Also Friday I went to the gym and worked really hard on a horizontal problem. I didn’t progress very far, and I was really sore afterwards. However, two friendly guys who speak a bit of English showed up, and I ended up exchanging LINE information with them. So that was productive. Also, this allowed me to get their names. They introduced themselves to me (I think), but that was at least 6 months ago and I didn’t remember and felt bad about asking again.

I woke up early on Saturday, and even though I didn’t want to I made myself get out of bed to go to tennis class. I had to pay for the whole year, which isn’t so cheap in a lump sum, so hopefully that will motivate me to get my money’s worth and go every week. At the end of class I felt strong and motivated. In addition to a good violin practice session, I also worked out what I want to do over Golden Week, the ten days of holiday starting this Saturday. If I can get everything together, I want to experience farming in a nearby prefecture.

That afternoon I agreed to meet Davide at the library, and my motivation even managed to sustain my reading of Alice in Wonderland in Japanese for almost 20 minutes. It was surprisingly easy and fun to read. Davide and I went to the dango place because he wanted to introduce me to dango, but apparently they had sold out and closed by the time we got there. Instead we went to Sukiya, which is like Japanese fast food (not burgers but rice bowls). After that we went back to my apartment and I gave Davide my guitar.

On Easter I went to church, but the pastor was sick with a cold and so he wasn’t there. An older man (70+ years), a former pastor, gave the message, but it was really difficult to understand him. He only read two verses, and I think he was mostly telling stories about his life. We did sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” (in Japanese of course), so it did feel like Easter in that way, but otherwise there was little to distinguish it from a normal Sunday. I wasn’t hungry and my allergies were still quite bad, so I didn’t stay for lunch.

After church I went to Uniqlo because I wanted to buy something, and when I want to buy something there’s really only food and clothes. I wanted a new set of workout clothes because I only have two sets right now and they’re all gray and black. The pants weren’t on sale, but I did get a nice long sleeve t-shirt. I think it’s actually too thick to be good for working out, but it looks quite nice for a t-shirt. I really wanted to buy something else, like a sweater, so I ended up buying a navy cardigan. When I first came to Japan, I thought cardigans were rather goofy, so it’s funny that I bought one myself. But it’s an extra layer, and this one is supposed to be very cool, temperature-wise. Trying it on, I decided that it did look better than a shirt alone.

In the evening I went to the gym again even though I was still rather sore. I finally completed a blue problem (A-3) that I had been working on for a long time. As far as what was different, I would just say that I had more motivation and a bit more confidence that I could do it. I also completed the second half of another blue problem that had been baffling me for about the same amount of time (A-2). Putting the first half and the second half together took a little more strength than I could manage, but I feel confident that I can do it soon. I almost completed the horizontal problem from Friday, H-red-19, but it’s really rough on my skin and though I got to the second-to-last hold, my fingers felt fiery so I just dropped. Once again, I think I can do it soon.

I had hoped to talk to my parents at the same time as usual in the evening, but it seems that they are still in Europe and probably too busy to talk to me. Instead I chatted with Jared about his job, dating, and religion. It was a good talk and inspired me to finally do what I’ve been planning to do—read the Bible and pray in the morning. So this morning I did that. Usually I feel a bit rushed in the morning if I do it, or maybe that’s just a fear in the back of my mind, but this morning I had plenty of time. Another good habit that I think I should pick up is taking a shower in the evening. I think doing so will keep evening activities tame and reduce my morning prep time.