Returning to the Community Gym

After nearly 4 years of using Anytime Fitness, I ended my membership just last week. As much as I love using Anytime, and the convenience of usually having a branch somewhere near me whenever I'm off on extended business trips to other parts of the country, the cost per month was getting a bit too much for me. With planning for a simple wedding coming with its own costs, my fiancé and I are cutting back on things. Fortunately, there is a community center gym that is within reasonable distance from where I live - either one train stop away, or a 10 minute bicycle ride. 

I went there today for the obligatory orientation session. Of course, all in Japanese, but most of it was pretty self explanatory - basically, don't do anything stupid on the machines, keep your usage on the running machine down to 30 minutes, unless there is nobody else waiting on you. However, a minor thing that is annoying is that you can't bring water with you inside the room to drink - which is important if you're between sets. Instead, they tell you to go outside the room to drink (and place your bottle on the dedicated table just outside the training room), and if you're in the middle of using a machine/bench/etc, leave something there to indicate that is still being used. In Japan, this is fine because nobody is going to be stealing your stuff -  but compared to other gyms, this is a bit of a hassle. However, I noticed that the training room floor is mostly carpeted, so I can see why they have that rule in place - though perhaps they should not have used carpet at all. Minor gripe aside, the community gym is cheap - 170 yen for 2 hours max. 

Now, I have posted about community gyms in the past, and when comparing this one to others, it's definitely top tier of my favorite community gyms, but I wouldn't say it is the best one. While there are a lot of machines available, and a lot of space dedicated for stretching etc, the machines have certainly seen a lot of use over the years. I would say this gym would number 2, just behind the community gym I used in Ryugasaki. The only catch is that this gym closes at 10pm. For most people this wouldn't be a problem, but I have actually been going to the gym later in the evening these days (partly to get the most out of my remaining time at Anytime Fitness), so it is a tad inconvenient if I get home a little later than usual. 

I will give this gym a try this month to see how it goes. There is another franchise gym that is much closer to where I live, and is about the half the cost of Anytime Fitness. I had a quick look through their website, and there is a lot more on offer compared to the Anytime gym that is also in my area. However, I suspect that there will be a lot more people there because it's cheaper. 

Business tripping in Osaka (さらに少し遊び時間）

For the last 3 weeks, I have been called to work out in Osaka. I have been to Osaka a few times recently for work, but this is the first time in a while that I have come to Osaka and stay for a period of time, and actually have some free time here.

I'm still not used to the Kansai-dialect, but fortunately my Kanto dialect is enough to get me by, and most shops use the official "Tokyo-dialect". I know people say Kansai-folk are generally more friendly, but I don't know if it's a case of being friendly, or just simply more expressive (for better or worse). 

I had a long overdue catchup with some friends in Osaka, where we hanged out for lunch. As they knew of my current condition, they picked out a nice restaurant that served a lot of vegetables. I ordered a ginger pork dish that came with a nice serving of steamed veggies among other sides.

I also took the opportunity to take a look around Nanba and DenDenTown. I wasn't after anything in particular there, as I was just curious what has changed since I last went there about 6 or so years back. I don't know if it's because I recently decided to stop purchasing gunpla/toys or because I have already lived in Japan for more than 8 years now, but I just didn't care for it at all this time. I suspect it's a combination of both - though maybe more of the latter in that it's very easy for me to buy what I want in Japan online or physical stores, regardless of where I am in the country these days. The previous times I went to DenDen Town, it felt more like it was one of the very few chances I could shop and get many of the things I really want. When I went there with a friend on holiday back in 2013 and visited there in 2014 during my year of study in Japan, it was like a dream, and I could buy what I wanted because I knew that upon returning to Australia, those things I wanted would be very difficult to find or expensive to purchase.

Another thing that I noticed in Osaka is that there is Cinnabon cafe here. This is the first time I have seen a Cinnabon in Japan at all, as I have never seen any in Kanto - or at least Tokyo and Saitama areas. I did go to Cinnabon in the Philippines, and it was way too sweet for me (which says a lot as I like sweet things). Not sure if it's just an American thing, but it was way too rich for me to completely finish, and I know that the minibon I had at the time is the smallest cinnamon bun one can purchase. I'm not sure if the sweetness has been dialled back for Cinnabon in Japan, but I am in no rush to find out. 

Also, last week Konami released IIDX 32 Pinky Crush. Not a fan of the overly Pink colour theme (I personally like Epolis' theme better to be honest), and I tried some of the new songs, including Bling Bang Bang Born, which was a surprisingly popular song a few months ago, and I wasn't expect this song (or at least, a cover of this song to show up in a Bemani game. Though I only played on Hyper, it had few patterns that I am not quite used to yet, but was able to pass on my first try with not too much trouble.

In the meantime, my regular gym has many branches in the area, with one that I went to yesterday a few stops away from the hotel I am staying. There are several more along the way to central Osaka, but chances are that depending on the time of day I go, it can get very busy. It is a refreshing change to have easy access to my regular gym when I am on my business trips compared to my time in rural Hyogo earlier this year.

Not sure how long I will be working out here, though my employer is hoping to have me back in the office soon. In the meantime, I will just take some time to explore more of Osaka on my own on the weekend.

Looking back on 2022

First of all, あけましておめでとう. Being the first day of 2023, I thought I would take the time to post and reflect on 2022

The big two things that have happened for me this year is moving to another prefecture altogether, along with taking up a new job. Compared to working as an ALT, there are lot more tasks and responsibilities, and I had to learn them quickly. While it has been difficult to keep on top of my job, it has been fun, and also has given an insight on the other side of an ALT dispatch company, and that there are some people who are clearly not suited to being ALTs, even after they pass the hiring process. 
On the other hand, I have been occasionally asked to work out of town for various periods of time, whether it be to other nearby prefectures, or as recently as the other side of the country. Though it has been exhausting from time to time, it does give me an opportunity to see how other schools handle teaching English, including the team teaching process, with some schools doing it better than others. 

In terms of hobbies, I got back in to the gym. While not I'm not 100% - and probably never will be with my back injury, it feels good to be training again. While working my upper body is no problem, I know I need to put more focus on my lower body, especially my core, though I have to take extra care on the types of exercises I can do.
I also have been purchasing a crap ton of Gundam model kits, and my back log has grown as a result. This is also the year I got back to purchasing official Transformers toys and figures, starting with Blaster. While the quality and articulation is not what I'm used to compared to third party figures, they're still fun to transform. 
On the other hand, I have just about neglected my drawing. I have had very little opportunity and drive to draw these days. 

And despite all that has happened, I feel a sense of emptiness and sadness. It has now been 4 years since I last went back home to Australia, and after what went down in 2021, I'm trying to mentally brace myself for what will happen when I go back. Many of friends have settled down and starting their own families, and I'm left wondering what I'm doing with my life, and asking myself did I make the right decision to live and work in Japan? And even after a year on with what happened that leading up to what happened back in 2021 (which I still don't feel comfortable spelling out here at the moment), I continue to wonder whether I made the right decision to not go back home at that time, despite there being no certainty that I would have been able to enter Australia at that time, not to mention that I would have lost my job at the time, and it would have taken a long time to recover financially from that. I think it will take me a very long time to move on from that, as there have been numerous times over the past year where I have thought about that incident, and I still don't have the answer that I'm looking for - and I don't think I will ever find that answer.

Back in the game gym

 After several months, I have finally decided to go back to the gym. 

However, in a departure from the usual type of gym I go to - community gyms - which were typically cheaper and didn't require signing up for memberships, though the quality of the equipment varied from place to place - I decided to sign up to a franchise gym instead. Anyone who has been to one of the many franchise gyms in Japan will know that they are not cheap, with some costing over 10,000 yen per month alone, though the upside is that those gyms are 24 hours, have better equipment, and are convenient by being in much better locations, such as near train stations, making it ideal for those who want to go straight from finishing work. 

The reason I signed up for a gym membership this time is, well because of distance. Now that I don't have a car (fortunately, given the continuing rise in cost of petrol these days), the community gym isn't as easy to get to. I would have to take the bus for 40-50 minute trip one way, pay to use the gym for a session, and then take the bus for another 40-50 minutes to get home. Factoring all the costs associated with that, and doing a quick cost comparison with the gym I signed up with, the community gym (and round trip) was cheaper. However, this is only if I go twice a week. If I'm going more than twice a week at the franchise gym, it actually turns out to be cheaper, plus It won't take me nearly an hour to get there. Also, the gym is 24 hours, meaning I can go there on my way back from work, whereas the community gym's hours limit me to going on the weekend.

In addition, there's a campaign running at the gym I signed up for which lasts until the end of the month. Basically, I sign up and pay for my key card and the last day of this month, and the monthly fee for July is waived. Plus, after a month, I can go to any location to use the gym, which will be good for times that I will need to go out of town for work for an extended period of time (and beats just sitting in a hotel room watching youtube all evening).

It will be nice to finally get back in to it, but given my back injuries from last year, I need to be extra careful when getting back in to it. Once again, I'll be starting from nothing, though there's nothing wrong with that. Better I take my time, and perhaps focus more on control this time, as opposed to trying to quickly get back to what I could lift back at my peak and risk injuring myself again.

It's not called Omicron. It's supposed to be the Xi variant.

Well, things have started going to shit at one of my schools. Since last week, it seems that the Wuhan virus has finally made a splash at school. It started off with the majority of 6th graders from one of my classes being absent - apparently they weren't all infected, but were considered close contacts to the person that was. Come today, and find out that the entirety of that 6th grader class is now taking the week off, the entirety of one of my 5th grade classes is also taking the week off. Furthermore, the remaining 6th grade class was down to around 10 students today, so I ended up cancelling my scheduled class, as there was really no way to continue progress with the text book, with 80% of the class not at school for this week. I spoke to the home room teachers, and we agreed to do a online/hybrid style lesson for the 6th graders this Thursday, but have to make the lesson in such a way that doesn't require the text book, as the students at home didn't take their textbooks home with them - which is understandable, as I never give them homework anyway. 

As a result, the school had a meeting on how to continue forward. From what I understand, any siblings of the students from those absent 5th and 6th grade classes are also required to stay at home for the week, which is a good approach at trying to contain the problem. Furthermore, while in the past, students could take their masks off during P.E. and break time, students are now required to keep their masks on at all times at school... except when they're eating lunch, obviously.
It is a bit concerning, given I have regular contact with the students. Since finding out about this last week, I've avoided playing with the students outside during break time. On the other hand, it gives me an opportunity to prepare for future lessons during that time, but it does kind of suck. 

Speaking of things sucking, my city seems to be in a State of Emergency again - where restaurants will close at 8pm, no alcohol to be served during that time, and some places have chosen to close during that time - including my regular gym. Again. Fortunately, the other gym near my apartment seems to still be operating, so it looks I'll be going there in the mean time until my usual gym opens up again. 

Searching for a (temporary) new gym

With the number of cases of the Wuhan virus escalating around the country, the city I'm in is not immune to all this. Numerous prefectures, including Ibaraki, have implemented their own states of emergency. Again. Businesses and have shortened their hours. Again. The gym I usually go to, however, has decided against shortening their business hours and, instead opted to close up for the month - much to my annoyance.

Fortunately, there is another place I can go that isn't far from where I live. It is nearly double the cost of my usual gym, though there aren't many options around at the moment. All the other gyms around here require you to enter in to a contract, and my usual gym and this alternative one are the only I ones I know of that allow you to pay as you go. My friend mentioned he had gone there before and said that there was a smith machine available to use, so I can at least work on my bench and squats. 

Aside from that, I was able to get a little bit of extra work for the past two weeks. I won't go in to details of the work so my employer (and myself) won't get identified as usual, but I will say it was a good experience. Not to mention getting some extra money that will go a bit of a way to helping me get by until the payday after this one - which will be in  later October. 

Life in Chikusei: One Month Later

After nearly a month since I moved to Chikusei, I figured I should write on my thoughts of living in Chikusei so far, and how it compares to life in Kamisu.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my apartment is in a surprisingly convenient location for the daily necessities. From my apartment, I can walk to the supermarket, convenience store, city hall, a 100 yen store, bank, and even a train station that can take me to Tokyo (in 2 hours, but しょうがない ). Unlike my apartment in Kamisu, which was actually a shed converted in to an apartment, my Chikusei apartment is well insulated, so I'm comfortably warm in the winter. In addition, my apartment in Chikusei is furnished. The downsides I've found are that the kitchen is smaller (making storing everything troublesome), and since I'm renting this apartment through the company, rent is more expensive.

In terms of daily goods, Chikusei is straight up more expensive. While it is possible to find cheap things around when it comes to food, I find I have to look a bit harder for cheaper things. For example, I'll go to one supermarket for cheaper meat, but I will go to another supermarket (that is not too far away) for most other things since they usually sell most other goods cheaper. I am also paying more attention to specials and anything in the bargain bin. Actually, I bought two bags of cereal for a cost that is actually cheaper than buying 1 big bag of brand name cereal. Oddly enough, I can't find cheap 5 pack yakisoba like I in Kamisu. Apparently, ramen is the thing around here, as no matter what supermarket I go to, they have plenty of packs of ramen, but hardly anything for yakisoba. As a result of the increase in costs, I'm cooking more often and finding ways to make my meals last longer - though it does give me the opportunity to try and cook new things. Just recently, I tried cooking Jamaican style chicken curry. Eating it with a small amount of rice, I can make it last for three meals - a feat that is tied with the curry rice I some times cook.

For the schools I go to, there are some aspects between Kamisu and Chikusei that I like over the other. For example, I like that the elementary school I go to in Chikusei provides me with my own classroom, with plenty of materials, a computer, and a TV connected to it to use with the text books, though the students (especially the 6th graders) are a bit slow to get things done. The JTE has told me that the 6th graders are constantly being scolded by teachers for this, but it seems to have no effect. Whereas in Kamisu, I had no such problems, though I was constantly having to come up with my own material for lessons (hurting my wallet in the process). In addition, it was a much more casual atmosphere, though it was probably due to most of the teachers in my Kamisu schools being younger than me. For the Junior High School I go to in Chikusei, I have no point of reference to compare in Kamisu, as I was working at elementary schools for those 6 months, so I can't really say which is better. However, I will say that it is nice to be slipping in to the support role and helping answer students' questions, checking their work and whatnot, rather than coming up with lesson plans - though their lessons are a lot more thorough, as they not only learn vocabulary, but also grammar, reading, listening and writing.

In terms of recreation, I have not done all that much admittedly. However, I have been able to find a community center gym that I go to twice a week. I have tried out what seem to be the only two community center gyms available in Chikusei, according to the city's official website anyway. The first one I went to in Shimodate (下館) costs 300 yen per session, but I can work out for up to three hours. However, before that, I had to make a booking for a mandatory orientation session, and those only happen a handful of days in the month. The gym was good, though the lack of free weight equipment left me a little disappointed. However, that gym seems to be really popular, so there aren't many opportunities to use certain pieces of equipment for an extended period, especially if you want to do super sets. However, I went to another gym just recently in Kyowanomori (協和の杜). It's a little bit further from the one in Shimodate, but the best part of this gym is that is free of charge. Yeah, you read that right. Free. I was expecting that the gym would be run down or small, considering I'm paying nothing for it, but to my surprise, it does have a lot of equipment on offer. The equipment seems a bit older compared to the first gym and what I've used in Kamisu, though I will admit that the equipment is at least well looked after. Again, no free weights available, but given that most of the time I have the gym to myself, using equipment for extended periods for super sets has not been a problem, and there is enough variety of equipment to make up for the lack of bar bells and dumbbells. The opening hours are a bit weird though, in that it is open from 9:30am - 4:30pm, and then 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm. It makes getting to the gym after school impossible, but on the other hand, it gives me something to do on the weekend.

Finally, would be the other ALTs. I've only met the other Chikusei ALTs twice, though I have started catching up with one of the ALTs once a week, and helping him out wherever I can with logistics stuff. However, I still I try to keep in touch with some of the Kamisu ALTs. I caught up with one just before school started, and I asked him to let me know whenever he's planning basketball, as I'm always up for it (after doing a few games with him and other friends in Kamisu, and I've surprisingly improved a lot during those games, but that's a story for another time).

So the overall verdict? In terms of accommodation - Chikusei is the winner. In terms of the cost of living, and the schools - Kamisu. It is a shame I had to leave Kamisu, but sometimes these things cannot be avoided. Hopefully, I can go back to Kamisu someday, even if only for brief visit.

The Gym and School Festivals

You may remember a little while back, that I had decided to go to a community center gym. Well, not too long after I started, I ended up stopping due to the ridiculous distance just to get there. Fortunately, my friend and neighbour told me of a gym that is closer - in fact, it is about 5 minutes away from one of the schools I work at, and decided to go there and work out. I will say that compared to the one near Kamisu City Hall, this particular gym is so much better. The gym itself is bigger, and the equipment itself seems to be newer, if not well maintained at the least. The one difference I noticed is that you have to set up your own weights for the dumbbells, which is a minor inconvenience, but it's still better than the previous gym I went to. Also, my friend has been helping me with developing a workout routine - as I am only going two days a week, each of those days is dedicated to working certain parts of the body (either upper or lower parts). Since my goal has always been about toning my body, rather than building muscle, most of the workouts are centered on control, rather than blasting my way through. I must say, it is certainly effective.
I can definitely see myself coming to this gym on a regular basis for a variety of reasons:
1) It's cheap
2) It's fairly close to the school I work at
3) It's less than a 10 minute drive to get there from my apartment
4) It's close to the supermarket
5) There is a FamilyMart nearby, where I can go study for an hour or two.

Yes, I've been studying at FamilyMarts these days. While going to the library is nice, the nearest library is a bit of a drive, and there are times when the library will be closed for whatever reason. Fortunately, most of the time, very few people turn up to the convenience store at any one time, so I can usually study with low level background noise, and not be bothered. Sometimes, some of my students will see me there and want to say hi, but it's not a big deal. The other thing I like is that unlike the library, I can eat/drink while studying.

Another thing I have done yesterday was go to one my schools' festival. To be honest it was less of a festival, and more of a concert. In any case, it was for the morning, so I did not mind. In fact I was very interested in seeing each of the year groups' performances. I had noticed during my time at this school that they had been practicing regularly for their songs/dance routines, so it was good to finally see the fruits of their labour. Unfortunately, during the few times where there was talking, the parents behind me were talking also, so it was hard to get an idea of what exactly the children/teachers were talking about.
After their performances, rice cakes (mochi) were made. I went back to the teachers' room, and there was mochi ready for me to eat. There were two types - one which was covered in seaweed, and coated in soy sauce (I think); the other was covered in kinako mugi - soy bean flour, and my favourite between the two. In the past, my girlfriend and I made kinako mochi, either for Christmas, or the New Year. Turns out there was plenty left, so the teachers gave me two take away containers full of mochi to eat. I still have them in my fridge right now, but I ate all the kinako mochi from one of the containers, and I'll probably eat more with my next meal.

That is about it for this month. I am still studying for my JLPT, despite the exam being on the 4th of next month. I am struggling with the grammar, but I'm powering through the vocabulary, especially with the textbook I bought in Kyoto before starting my job.