Fat in Japan

The longer I'm in Japan the fatter I feel.... and not just fat, I feel overwhelmingly large. Nothing fits. I feel like Gulliver in Brobingag (if that's the place he went where he was huge, if not, I feel like something else!). My hotel room is the size of a cardboard box. My feet hang over the edge of my bed. The slippers they left out for me appear to be size 7 (One size fits all? Nope!). The guard rail at the train station is just above my knees. After I duck to get into the train, I take up twice as much room as anyone else on the bench. You can just feel people thinking, "great, I've got to sit next to the fat foreign guy!". The good news is that I think they're catching up to me. I see more and more fat Japanese all the time. I can't go for a walk without passing a McDonald's or KFC. Maybe next time I come back, I'll feel more at home. Dan

Trains or Pachinko in Mushashi?

A better alternative than making a long story short would be to eliminate the story entirely and but to the end. I'm stuck in Mushashi, Japan.

I think "mushashi" must mean "boring" in Japanese.

I'm sometimes accused of having an interesting life. In truth, I'm just good at playing up the one or two interesting things that, by random chance, occur.  Mushashi is a case in point. 

Mushashi is near Kawasaki, stuck between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is buried in the greater Tokyo/ Yokohama metroplex, and has apparantly been forgotten by everyone except those so unfortunate as to live here.

There are two key features of Mushashi; trains and pachinko.  There are 1960's era commuter trains all over the city, largely because if one is so moved as to go from Tokyo to Yokohama one must pass through Mushashi, and a train is a good way of minimizing any real interaction with the area. There are so many commuter trains on my walk last night I had to cross 5 different sets of tracks.

The other feature is pachinko. Pachinko is a ridiculously popular gambling activity, a little like slot machines.  There are pachinko parlors all over Mushashi. As one would expect, they're a bit seedy, and inevitably have a massage place next door, and (for some reason) a convenience store.  It used to be that when playing pachinko one had to twist a knob with a flick of the wrist.  Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because of this non-ergo friendly motion became a national crisis. In truly practical Japanese fashion it was corrected by replacing the knob with a push button.

I'm stuck here for three weeks.  I don't know whether to try to ride all the trains, or take up pachinko....

Dan

Being single really sucks

Being single really sucks.

Well, for the record, I'm not single. I'm happily married with four beautiful children. But right now, I'm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania while my family is in the wilds of Indiana until they join me in the Summer. In the big picture view, it isn't so bad-- it won't last forever and I can go home most weekends, but in the near term it's always a little depressing.

Have you ever hoped for a some time alone, so you can do all the stuff you want to do?  I did. Now, each night I have lots of time. I thought I'd be using this time to do my bible study, get extra work done, and transform my pony keg into washboard abs...    Nope.

Instead, most nights involve too much TV, too much espn.com, and going to bed early.

Kind of dissapointing, isn't it?

It'll be nice when this come to an end in June.

Dan

Learning to hate food

I love eating, but I'm learning to change.

I was happily getting along just fine perfectly content with my chubbiness, then a few trips to the Doctor later I find that I have to give up the whole food thing.

He literally told me that I couldn't eat; potatoes, noodles, bread, sweets, oranges, bananas, chocolate, coffee, any type of alcohol, too much red meat, eggs, or anything greasy.  Pretty much, that leaves me with beans, peas, and water.  Great.  To top it off, I can't eat 3 hours before bedtime.  Well, there goes my much treasured midnight snack.

Actually, it wasn't a big shock. I've avoided donuts, cake, cookies, noodles, and such for years because they gave me a headache- but the rest of the restrictions have required a lot of adaptation.  Basically, it requires a complete change in my eating mentality.

Eating is quickly becoming something I have to do, not something I want to do.  I still like the taste of all the good, greasy stuff, but I don't like what it does to me.  Because I've gained a better understand of the effect it has on me, I'm learning to hate food.

It isn't all bad.  I think my doctor even accepts I'll cheat a little-- I drink about half a cup of coffee each morning for a mini-caffeine rush, and a cold beer on the weekend is still a habit.  But the best part is that I feel about 20 years younger.  I think I'll make it.

Dan

Losing weight

Ok, I'm officially disgusted at myself.  About 5 years ago, I actually lost about 30# when we livede in China. I know it was a diet of low fat food with lots of vegetables, and the fact that I walked alot everyday.
Soooo, why can't I do this here? I've been steadily gaining weight back since then. Yesterday, I reached that breaking point, it was a little chilly, so I went to put on jeans instead of shorts. It was ugly, people. I could barely get them up over my lovely lady humps then my muffin top was spilling over and I could barely button them.
 Then as if to dispel my hopes that somehow these jeans had shrunk over the summer, I weighed myself. I don't want to post it, but it was ugly too.
 Ok so now to force myself to eat sensibly and try to exercise more and get rid of all the beer here. sigh... how depressing. I also love to have wine in the evening, while I watch TV. But I know that also needs to change. I wish they make diet wine, with nutra sweet or something. Lite beer is also gross.
 I guess I will go out and join Curves today, since Lagrange has no gym. Good Lord, we have to go to the next state just to see a damn movie, why would I think they'd have a gym.
I read somewhere lately that Indiana is one the countries fattest states. I am not proud to say I'm really fitting in well here!

jesco, our new hound dog puppy,has been chewing up everything. so far he has destroyed 2 pairs of flip flops,and at least 4 pairs of underpants.we have also been trying to potty train jesco, witch is basically not working. instead of going outside, he has been peeing on the patio, witch is right next to the door leading outside.we had also recently went on a trip to the rocky's.our campground area was by longs peak,but we didn't spend much time there. most of the time we were on trails or mountains,the highest mountain we hiked was the twin sisters, it is about the same height as flat top, witch is about 12,000 ft. it was really cold on top of the summit because we were way above the tree linewhile we were at the rockys there was tons of wild life we saw about 6 elk up close, and we saw at least three herds of them, and they had the biggest antlers youve ever seen we also saw big horned sheep and pikas, they are cute,hamster like creatures with huge eyes and whiskers. i need to go and get ready.
                                         bye,
                                          kurt
                         

Carpe Diem

It's been very shocking to us to hear about my nephew Matthew.  Matthew is a gifted tennis player, and a very intelligent young many who is preparing to enter Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.  For a person of this promise to fall ill so quickly is, to say the least, a surprise.

Matthew remains constantly in our thoughts and prayers, but our thoughts also turn quickly inward.  It is a reminder to live each day on it's on, and enjoy the good times-- you never know when somethings going to come along a slow you down.

To me, the lesson isn't so much that you need to live to excess every day, going on expensive vacations, and indulging yourself.  Rather, to me, the lesson is to be nice to people.  I think it's way too easy to take the people around you for granted. Life is better if you take a moment to appreciate the people in your life. It's the best way to seize the day.

I know I don't do that enough.

Dan