We are going away for a couple of days and I won`t be back online til Tuesday night and you might not even see an update from me until next Wednesday or Thursday. SHOCK HORROR!
I am still sick though which sucks. Yesterday at the doctor`s I fainted while holding Noah waiting for my turn. It took 90 minutes to see the doctor and the waiting room was so hot and quite packed. I have a cold and a throat infection (again!) and the doctor gave me a ton of medicines so hopefully I will be better soon. It sucks to get sick just before we are due to go away. Shun has been great though- he was off work on Thursday and he came home early yesterday (and bought bread, chocolate and lemon c drinks- three things I totally would of bought myself at the conbini if I had stopped on the way home!)…
On the 25th of April I celebrated my blogiversary. That`s right I have been blogging, here, at Cherry Blossom Adventures for 4 years now. My first post was just a couple of sentences long and was first posted on typepad where I kept my blog for the first 2 years.
“Oh Fork! I think i just started a blog…. …
After looking at other blogs for weeks, and trying to decide if i actually started one whether i would actually update it, here i am awake, after midnight, trying to decide on what should go in my “about” page…and what colours will best suit my new blog…
Luckily it is all editable…”
I have no idea how many visitors I have had in total (in the 4 years) but since switching to my own domain and to wordpress my stats (had to log in to check!) show that I have had 495,134 total views. That does not include any time I have logged onto the site myself. I have NO IDEA how it got to be that many and it seems that a huge chunk of those views were in Nov, Dec (2009) and January (2010)- I guess people were checking to see if “Goma-chan” had arrived or not! I received my first comment on post seven (written May 2006- which was about Tsumabuki Satoshi, an actor here in Japan)…
I love blogging. I have gone through some stages where I haven`t blogged for a couple weeks (even a month at one point) but I always come back to it. I originally started to keep in touch with family and friends back in Australia but I think my mum is the only person that still reads it on a regular basis (and my bridesmaid Mandy and her family perhaps?!)- I have made so many wonderful real life friends and online friends through blogging. People I may never have met otherwise.
It is funny to look back on those first few posts- Shun and I had just started living together and I had only been back in Japan for a couple of months. I don`t think the way I write has changed at all- I had hoped it would of improved but sadly that doesn`t seem like the case. But I still do it and I am pretty sure I will still continue blogging here for at least a couple more years to come.
So I want to know-
1. How long have you been blogging?
2. Why did you start?
3. And why do you continue to blog (or if you no longer blog, why did you stop?)
4. How many posts in did you get your first comment?
I look forward to reading all the comments when I get back from Shizuoka.
Popularity: 5% [?]
I am just a twenty something Aussie girl living in Chiba, Japan with my Japanese husband trying to make sense of the crazy Japanese world we live in! We welcomed our first son in December 2009 (Noah) and a second son in January 2011, 2 months premature (Shion). I am working hard at raising them to be confident, bilingual, happy kids!
Of course i still read your blogs Laura. I love to see what’s happening in your life with Shun and that beautiful little boy of yours. Can’t wait to meet him. I enjoy reading all about life in Japan and when I get Japanese customers I always regale them with stories of you!!! I hope you start to feel better soon. Shun sounds as if he is a great help. I check out your pics and vids and Noah makes me smile. He is growing so much. I have a contract for the house and Paul has been a great help with selling as he sold the place with out those horrible agents fees. Saved me about $20k so will have to give him a bit, so will be looking for a place of my own not sure where though. Heading to Cairns in June with my sister and hopefully to see Mandy in Sydney as well. Hope your mum is doing well. I tried to ring a couple of times but never heard back so hope all is well with her. She must miss you so much. Anyways this is nearly a blog so take care and much love to all. ps loved the pics with your Mum and Paul and Gemxxx
happy blogiversary!
i’ve probably been blogging since i was about 12 or 13 years old. i was one of those kids who bought a domain name and created fandom websites (which at the time were mostly anime or harry potter… lol!!) and so i also hosted my own blog as well. then later i joined livejournal, which i used with my friends in high school… we blogged about our lives to stay caught up with each other when we weren’t in school. at that time i probably blogged almost every day (believe it or not… i know i’m not as into it as I used to be.) it’s super cool to have all those memories, since i still have my livejournal and use it everyday (usually to read and comment on other people’s journals… and ONTD of course, hahaha.) And now I have my wordpress blog because I wanted to start something fresh along with starting my japan journey. plus, my lj is locked from public reading, and i wanted to keep it that way. so now the one i’m using now is something even my parents and family members who are less internet savvy can keep up with.
first comment? LOL! i have no idea what my first ever comment on my first every blog was, but if i look it up on my livejournal, my first comment was on my third entry (dated October 31st, 2003! woah!) and was from my friend’s younger brother (who was still in 7th grade at the time… now he’s a freshman in college). I just have to copy and paste it here, because it’s adorable:
BUM BUM BUM! It seems I hold the title of the first person to comment on your lj…
I WIN THE COOKIES!
Your icon seems anime and anime seems cool and cool seems …um… cool? It is nice getting to meet you even though I haven’t really met you but will probably meet you if the time comes for the chance to meet youwhich might happen when I meet you.
*5 minute solo on the shift key*
YYYYYEAH!
So theres my two cents…or six pence.
hahaha, we were all dorks back then.
anyway, thanks for the prompt into memory lane! i hope you have a fun golden week! we’re just about to leave to catch a train to fukui ourselves…
I just had my 4th blogiversary about six weeks ago, so our blogs are practically the same age!
I started blogging because a friend of mine from high school, who I had just gotten back in contact with, started a blog to keep everyone updated on her pregnancy. I enjoyed reading her blog, and about her son’s birth, and looked into starting my own blog. At first it was more of a diary, and I didn’t tell anyone about it, so I was surprised when I got my first comment. It was on post #6, and I didn’t publish it because I didn’t like the tone, though there is one published comment on there as well. Post #7 was a response to the comment I didn’t publish.
I continue to blog because it’s really the one hobby and outlet that I have, but I do have to say that I sort of wish that I didn’t tell people I know in real life about it (mostly my husband). There was a certain freedom in being able to spill all without having to worry about how it would affect real-life relationships. I also keep a LiveJournal on lockdown, so I use that to vent, but since it’s viewable by a select few, I don’t have the benefit of an anonymous stranger popping in to give me a new perspective on things.
Enjoy your trip, and I hope you feel better soon!
Happy blogiversary!
You’re doing a really great job with your blog. I enjoy reading it. Please don’t stop anytime soon!
As to your questions. I am a newbie, only been blogging since November last year. I am not 100% sure why I started. I think I started to read a lot of blogs myself back then and wanted to try my own. I also love the idea of having a record about all those unimportant things I do that I can come back to when I am older.
Once I started blogging I really enjoyed it. So I guess I won’t stop. At least not for awhile. My bf still freaks out that I ‘publish’ part of my live, but I try to stay as anonymous as possible without being too boring.
I got my first comment on my third post from a friend of mine. Was very happy about that! Otherwise it feels a little lonely. I have no idea how many people view my blog. But it’s good to know that I am not speaking to a wall!!!
Enough of me. Enjoy your trip to Shizuoka! Looking forward to pictures and stories!
Wow. I just republished my first blog post. it was on a forum blog. I got 4 comments, I think, but none of them carried over to Blogger when I swapped. I’ve been blogging about 5 months now and I just adore it. It gives me an outlet. I wanted a hobby that was easy and clean, without a million fiddly bits and pieces, that stretched my mind and made me think. It fulfills that purpose perfectly.
Oh my!!! 4 years!! I feel like such a baby in comparison… Well, I started my blog last year in January. So I have been blogging for about a year and a few months. I started writing as a way to vent, let steam off; but ended up writing about anything that I wanted to. It so happened that once I started blogging, everything seemed to be something I could blog about.
If I didn’t blog, I probably would have incomplete diaries because for me, typing is much more fun
Or I would spend the entire day reading books.
I guess I got my first comment on my fifth post, but that’s only because all my close friends were reading and they commented. I didn’t have that many readers until my blog was about ten months old.
I hope you have a wonderful time when you are away! And tell us all about it! Enjoy!!!
Happy blogging anniversary!
1. How long have you been blogging?
Since 2008! I originally had a website called ‘Miss Corrine’ but shut it down because, well, I kinda never really liked the name, but used it as a starting point..
2. Why did you start?
Because I love writing! And reading! And interacting! And thinking!
3. And why do you continue to blog (or if you no longer blog, why did you stop?)
Firstly, because I love being able to have an instantaneous platform in which I can share my thoughts with others, and receive feedback, too. Secondly, I love the amazing people that visit my website. I’ve met some excellent people through it, landed an internship through it, and actually secured my current job because of it.. so, needless to say, I love it!
4. How many posts in did you get your first comment?
Gosh, I can’t remember! Maybe 11? I’m not sure!
I hope you had a wonderful trip!
Happy Blogiversary!
I think my blog is about 4 years old as well. I started it around the time that Wang Yao and I got married officially on paper, which was in 2006, almost 4 years ago. I can’t remember which post got comments first, I linked my blog a lot on forums that I visit and some people found me randomly so I don’t think it was too far in. My most popular post hands down has been my write up about being Rh negative in China, which is quite a hassle and I guess foreigners/other rh negative people google this a lot when they’re going to have babies here.
I am not as active a blogger as you are, mostly because I’m quite lazy. However, I do still like blogging because it gives me an outlet for my thoughts and it is a good way to keep my writing skills from completely atrophying. I also like reaching out to people and finding common ground based on blogging. I was once recognized at the store shortly after I moved to Beijing by a woman who had read my blog (the post about being Rh negative, in fact), and it was such a cool feeling knowing that she’d not only read my blog but she found my post helpful and remembered me well enough to recognize me on the street. So I guess you could say I do it for the attention! Haha, no, just kidding, but I really do like the people you “meet” through blogging, even if you only ever meet the vast majority of them in cyberspace.
I justcame herevia your comment on my blog
Great blog you have here and a lovely baby too!! Isn’t it amazing how love works out. I met my husband in Brussels while we were both living in Portugal and now look at us… back where we began!
Anyway, to answer the questions on this post, I began bloggingwhen I got pregnant in 2008 and was looking for info on where to find stuff, how to pick a hospital, etc and couldn’t really find anything, so decided to write myself for others in the same boat. I haven’t been blogging consistently for lack of time though. I am getting a bit better and the blog now documents the sprout growing up and some crafty stuff. I should expand though!
I hope you feel better soon and goodluck with the languages
Wow congrats, four years is a very big milestone!!
I’ve been blogging for almost two and a half years now. It seems like forever though, I feel like I have always been a blogger!
I started blogging simply because my sister started one and I didn’t want to be left out. Competitive much!?
At first I just loved having somewhere that I could write down how I was feeling, what I was up to and update people on our wedding plans. After the wedding I kind of went through a bit of a slump, but since I fell pregnant with Max I’m definitely back to blogging in a big way. I really love that I will be able to be look back in the years to come and remember what was happening with Max
I got my first comment on my first post, but it was my sister so it doesn’t really count! My first ‘real’ comment was on my fourth post. The commenter (Jeanie) still reads my blog and I still read hers. We’re even in the same online mothers group now for December 2009 babies!
Congrats again, I hope you have a great holiday and look forward to reading many more posts!
I’ve been blogging since Dec 2006. A friend was visiting me in Japan and she suggested that it would be a goood way to keep the folks and friends back home updated with news from Japan – my son was 6 months old at the time. She also commented that I probably didn’t write very much in English beyond a shopping list whilst living in Japan and that it would be good to do some writing in English. It has become quite a theraputic activity and I try to update it regularly. Interesting to see how blog entries have got longer and longer over the years.
First comment was from said friend – on my “about” page. First comment on a blog entry was on #6 about Mizube jidokan from the friend I had met there on my first visit. She still reads my blog I think! Other friends have commented that more photos would be nice, but this is something I am very bad at what with having to chase two toddlers all the time! I love other blogs that have lots of photos so I should make more of an effort…
Hope you are feeling better soon!
Boo, hope you feel better soon and are able to enjoy the lovely Golden Week weather – looks like it’s going to be great right up till it’s time for everyone to go back to work – perfect!
1. I started using livejournal around the time I left uni I think – was really into it from around 2002-2005 but a year or so into Japan life I lost interest and deleted it sometime last year as I was barely using it. Current blog was from October last year.
2. I really can’t remember…I’d been doing pretentious teenage webpages since I was in highschool but never kept a journal. This blog was because I was reading a bunch of Japan-based blogs and felt a bit voyeuristic reading and commenting without sharing anything.
3. It’s weird, although I love reading about day to day stuff of other people I never feel like mine is interesting enough to talk about so I think about giving it up all the time. I guess I’ll keep going to hopefully get sempai mum advice if/when we have a baby! Plus you know, I just love rambling on about myself
4. On this blog, my very first post! Probably because I’d been posting on other blogs for a while before.
Here’s to hoping you’re feeling better and enjoying your trip!
Your questions prompted me to go back and look at the beginnings of my blog… I started in late September of 2007, after having resisted for quite a while. Throughout two years in the US at grad school, a year volunteering in India, and a year and a half working/studying in Japan I had been sending out regular mass emails to friends and family (many of which I later uploaded to my blog and back-dated to when they had originally been sent out). I finally decided that a blog would make writing easier and I’d have the benefit of including more pictures! From the start I uploaded posts to Facebook, and got most of my comments either through FB or in emails from friends and family. It wasn’t until about 20 posts in, in January of 2008, that I actually got a comment posted on Blogger. I kept on because I liked having a journal, liked being able to go back and look at what I had written, and also because if I didn’t post in a while I tended to get emails from family and friends asking what was up! Its really only the past year or so that I’ve begun reading other blogs in earnest (can you say procrastination from writing my thesis?!), and even more recently that I’ve actually begun commenting (hi!) But now that I have I love the feeling of connecting with others virtually, especially other foreigner women in Japan!
1. How long have you been blogging? I started OhDarling in August 2005! but I’ve been keeping some kind of online journal since early 2001 I think.
2. Why did you start? Originally it was for my wedding, a place to post details about the day, write up after the fact, and to post photos for people who attended to look at.
3. And why do you continue to blog? I love writing, and I love having a place to put at least some of the hundreds of photos I take. When Craig and I moved to London it was a good way to letting people know what we were up to without resorting to huge group emails. And this way I could intersperse photos with my tales.
4. How many posts in did you get your first comment? I really don’t know! I’ve been going for so long and get so few comments anyway I’ve never really kept track.
Hi Laura! I just found your blog through Australian Mummy Bloggers (actually from the Brisbane page!) I am a former brisbane-ite currently living in Darwin – urk – but starting blogging in January 2007, a couple of months after I loved to Kiev, in Ukraine. We were there for 2.5 years, and I muddled through the first months of parenthood there. We’ve been back in Australia for a year last month, and it feels like I was away forever, but also never away!
I clicked over because I love Japan – I studied Japanese at school – and we’re going there for another visit in July this year. I’m now off to trowel through your archives and see what kind of adventures you’ve had.
(I don’t do much blogging anymore – Australia is too familiar and I’m not good or unique enough to be an engaging mummy blogger. So I post the occasional photo and commentary of working life of the craziness of people in the Northern Territory. I think it was around my fifth post when I got a comment or two!)
1. How long have you been blogging?
Well I used to have the Korea blog in 2007 when I was there but closed it down after leaving as I was having a bit of a hard time and felt like I wasn’t happy to keep it going. Since then I started the music blog, which has been going almost 2 years! and is doing pretty well, its only personal in certain posts and only about music, its more music news and discussion. I now also have 2 other blogs! one about breaking my leg and one as a kind of online CV for journalism.
2. Why did you start?
To keep in touch with people back home, but after I came home, to write about things I really loved and because to work in the media you need to know media!
3. And why do you continue to blog (or if you no longer blog, why did you stop?)
For the music blog, I love it, I even love reading back over it and also it got me a job writing for another music website which is nice! For the Korean one, it was a big change in my life and I didn’t feel good about the situation around the blog anymore and wanted to finish up that part of my life and move on. The broken leg one will end as I finish updates soon but exist for anyone else who breaks a leg to read and get information. The CV style one will become an official website one day. If I ever move abroad again I think I will start a personal one for family and friends but I will do the same as you and keep some posts password protected!!
4. How many posts in did you get your first comment?
I have no idea! a few anyway, on my music site I’ve had very few but lots of feedback through other things like facebook, why people don’t write on the site I don’t know, they seem to prefer to send messages directly to me instead.
A bit late in commenting, but here it is anyway!
1. How long have you been blogging?
Been blogging for… almost 7 years! Wow, had to go back and check Deadjournal (haha, me and my friends were ‘rebels’, using Deadjournal and all..), first post was on December 20, 2003.
2. Why did you start?
Because all of my high school friends were doing it.
3. And why do you continue to blog (or if you no longer blog, why did you stop?)
To help keep in touch with people, and so i can look back on things and remember them.
4. How many posts in did you get your first comment?
Got 2 comments on my first post! One from one of my high school friends, and one from someone i didn’t know.