It’s been a long time since I’ve updated my blog much to my shame. There are many, many reasons why I haven’t had a chance to set aside some time to sit down and knock out a short post or two.
If there is any time of the year that I feel ‘meh’ then this is it. The change of the seasons means that we’re in that zone right between spring and summer where the weather is just nice enough but has started tending towards being humid and sticky during some parts of the day.
Coming from South Africa meant that I grew up sorely lacking in the field of donuts and coffee. We’ve got very few coffee chain stores on the scale of Starbucks (heck, last I heard we only had a grand total of 3 Starbucks in all of South Africa). Donuts too, eluded me with Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts and countless other donuts stores opting to evade the South African market for greener pastures.
Trying to play too many games at the same time is the main reason I hardly ever finish any game in my substantial backlog. It’s also the reason that I got severely burned out on gaming a few years ago despite the fact that the last few years have seen a surge in the release of quality games. Unfortunately, the prospect of another 60 to 200 hour game, no matter how amazing it is, became something I dreaded rather than anticipated.
With spring and summer and all the awesome warm weather it bring (excluding the typhoons, humidity and numerous creepy crawly insects everywhere) it’s finally become possible for me to put on my running shoes and hit the road on a daily basis.
April is here (or half way done already by the time I’m writing this) and with that Japan has burst out into cherry blossom mania. The blooming of cherry blossoms in Japan is taken pretty seriously with weather reports even having a special forecast focusing on when each part of Japan can expect to see their local cherry trees in bloom. Stores are filled with sakura flavoured snacks and drinks, and most towns will hang paper lanterns along the streets and at parks to herald the end of winter and the start of spring.
Driving in Japan is an exercise in patience. First you need to go through what seems like a million miles of red tape just to get your license. Afterwards comes the second hurdle, actually being able to use your car to and from work.
Recently my friend Craig posted over on his blog how he’d stopped using his Android tablet after a while and was wondering whether other people have experienced something similar. So I thought I’d reply with how I use my iPad these days and just why it’s still in my arsenal of tech gadgets.
It just struck me today that in a few months I’ll be entering my fifth year as a JET ALT this coming July.
Last week saw me finish off my last two classes for the academic year with the students getting ready to take their final tests and then have a short break before starting the new school year at the beginning of April.