Cherry Blossom Adventures

Before (Jan 2006)

Now (Mar 2008)

I am overweight…I never used to be but it has crept up on me since I have been back in Japan the last 2.5 years. I am not going to state my weight but my BMI is 28.8 (Some of you smarties might be able to figure out my weight from that if you also know my height) and apparently anything over 26 is considered overweight….

I stated on my 101 things in 1001 days that I wanted to lose five kilos then another five but the reality is to go back to the weight I was when I left Australia in January 2006 I would have to lose about 18 kilos. Yep…you heard (read?) right 18 kilos in less than 2.5 years. You can`t really see much in the first photo (Europe Jan 2006…One of the few photos where I am not wearing a big bulky coat) but even in my face and arms you can see that I weighed a fair bit less.

I put on 10 kilos when I was 19 and in Japan on exchange and when I went back to Australia I lost 8 of them in the first 2 months from not really doing anything. I am hoping the same thing will happen when I go back to Australia this time but I don`t like my chances….but I am determined to lose weight.

So in preperation for returning to Australia and starting a weight loss program ( I will be joining weight watchers with my mum) I have decided to give up COFFEE and ALCOHOL for the month of May (There is one exception, I wasn`t going to have an exception but upon mentioning my decision to my closest friends here in Tokyo they all said I was crazy because my going away party in on May 10th and will be the last time for more than a year that I can go out with my Tokyo friends and let loose….so the 10th is the exception on the alcohol ban…but I am going to make an effort to drink water between each drink and stick to wine and stop before midnight even if we end up at karaoke!).

I would like to do a mini detox at some time during May also but might have to wait til I am back in Australia because for the next two weeks Shumpei`s mum will be cooking for us and I don`t want to say no meat to her because I would hate to be an inconvenience (and while I am in her house she won`t let me prepare my own food)

The other thing I am going to try (From May 1st if not before) will be crossing off EFT  every day for two weeks off my 101 list. I think it will be a good opportunity to get my mind ready and intune with my body for the weight loss I want to achieve!

While be in Chiba from Sunday and also hope to try and get a little exercise everyday….even just 20 minutes! I spend way to much time on the computer watching TV when even while doing that I could be doing some stretches or some kind of exercise! I think I will have to have a mini checklist of all my goals for each day. No coffee, no Alcohol, 20 mins exersise, EFT! hehe!

I feel that by putting this on my blog that maybe it will keep me more motivated and more honest. A lot of blogger friends are starting there own weight loss plans recently and I think reading their progress will also help to keep me motivated. Wish me luck (or give me hints!)

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Yes it has begun. Since I have now finished up work it means that I need to spend the next two weeks cleaning up our apartment and packing everything into boxes. Packing is by far the worst part of moving….but when you are moving overseas but know you are coming back it is even more difficult. I quite like unpacking too but I won`t technically be able to do it for more than a year! So where is the joy in packing?

I have to pack according to three (sometimes four) categories. One, stuff we want to take to Australia (Then this has two sections too- take on board and sending), chucking out/dumping and leaving in Japan. Oh not to mention the fact I am packing up a couple of boxes for cat of stuff we don`t need that she can have (So far most of this has come out of the drugs drawer under our bed….. I have numerous over the counter medicine from Australia and here….Oh and clothes and handbags etc that I can`t take with me that she can have!). All of the stuff we are leaving in Japan is going to one of two place. Most of it is going to Shumpei`s parents place somewhere on their second floor and some of it is going to Cat (Mainly big stuff like our fridge, coffee maker, washing machine, oven etc- She will keep it for the year cos she has just moved and doesn`t have any of those things)

It would be different if we were moving to Australia for good. I could just do a good clean out, sell off our big stuff and then send everything else. But nope, we have to make it difficult by only going for a year. Plus, we will live with dad and he has a fully furnished house.

Well moving date is set to the 27th of April….then I will be out in Chiba for two weeks until I leave on the 13th of May. Shumpei will be here until sometime mid July (Which means I have to pack the stuff he will need between now and then into separate boxes….)….So I now have less than two weeks to get everything in order. At the moment I am trying to tackle one big task a day (although I can`t really pack much into actual boxes yet cos we still need it) and yesterday that was the closet……two full garbage bags later or stuff to dump and two bags for charity later, three coffees and two and a half hours later I was done. It felt good to clean it all out…..I realized, yet again, that I have way to many clothes. Even what is left in there now can`t all be taken to Australia. I packed up our winter coats because we won`t be needing them in Brisbane and even packed away some clothes that are too small now but that I hope to fit into again one day.

Now, I don`t know what to do with the clothes that I want to give to charity. Any ideas from those living in Japan? Giving stuff away in Japan is actually a hard task….All of the clothes are clean and in fairly good condition and I am sure that somebody could get good use out of them. If I can`t give them to a charity of some sort I will have to dump them which seems like such a waste.

Oh and another question. I have an old laptop (4 yrs old) which still works except if you wanted to use it you`d have to plug in a keyboard because the keyboard doesn`t work anymore…..how do you dispose of these in Japan? Can you get like a 100 dollar cash back for the parts somewhere or something like that?

OK, I better go do today`s task. Which is clean out the drawers under the bed…..These drawers are used for everything we don`t know what to do with like manuals, bits of paper, shumpei`s numerous soccer clothes (WHICH HE NEVER USES…..He only uses the same two uniforms every time yet he has like a million others under the bed)……..Wish me luck!

Ps: Shun and I also packed up all the books and manga we didn`t need over the weekend because the book off people came yesterday. 260 books and manga later…..I think we read too much.

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I finished up work yesterday and I have mixed feelings…On one hand the job of late had been exhausting me and I had been quite sick on and off for awhile and until recently the school was understaffed (I thought anyway)…I have had enough of been a teacher for awhile (I do know that when I return to Japan that I will probably return to being a kindergarten teacher as job opportunities for foreigners without level 1 of the proficiency exam are few and far between)….I think teaching kids so young is a very physically demanding job (I don`t know how mothers do it full-time…I guess they are super glad there are kindergartens to send them to!) and I have mentioned here before that it was starting to make me feel a little bit like I would make a very bad mother!On the other hand, I love my kids at school, some of them have been there since I started 18 months ago and I have watched them grow, develop and change!

I only cried once, when I was saying goodbye to Shion (Who drew the picture below)….I met him when he had just turned 4 and now is already 5 and a half….He is actually one of the kids that cause the most trouble for me but he is also one of my favourites! He hugged me and said ` I will miss you, please come to my house for dinner when you come back to Japan`…..

I received many gifts and letters from my students, one of my favourites was this… I love the bow in my hair! And the random strawberry!

It was sad to say goodbye but I am happy also. I am ready to move on…..

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Dear Cherry Blossom Advenures readers…

It is hard to believe that a week has passed between posts…..so much has happened, stuff I will eventually blog about I am sure! Apparently this is the month of letters (If you are participating in NABLOPOMO) so I thought it was time I wrote a quick letter to you all!

Lets see. This Friday I finish up work at my current job….after 18 months.

I have already knocked a couple of things off my 101 things in 1001 days list but info on that will also come in another post. I am supposed to do a update at the end of the month and I hope to have at least another couple of things crossed off! Including actually adding a page to my blog with the list!

I am up to N in my encylopedia of me and I am still not sure what I will write about. N is for Names perhaps? Or maybe N for Nancy Drew……

I am spending way to much time on the internet reading blogs, playing around on entrecard and writing emails but not nearly enough time writing on my blog…..It is hard to beleive that after posting for 3 days in a row last week I thought I might be able to do NABLOPOMO this month…..and then a week went by between posts so I guess I am not ready for that yet!

We need to be out of our apartment by April 27th….I have not yet done any packing but I will eventually get to it…I have done some cleaning though and have a man coming to pick up all our books and manga on Monday to take to book off. I have also begun to clean out my closet but it is a bigger job that I first thought! I will also be leaving Japan in just over a month….This is even harder to believe and I know it really hasn`t sunk in.

You know what also hasn`t really sunk in yet? The fact that I am getting married next May (The 9th actually!)….so far I have booked a venue and that is it. I have just kind of given up on doing anything until I get back to Australia! Although Shun and I did go look at engagement rings on the weekend……

I sprained my ankle last week although it is healing ok but still a bit bruised and swollen. Get this I did it by WALKING in my apartment…..yep to the bathroom. I am such a klutz.

I am the heaviest I have ever been and that is depressing…..I know I could start doing something about it now but have decided to start afresh the day I arrive back in Australia! Will be dieting with my mum and exercising with my dad I think! He walks everyday and wants to get a puppy so that will be our motivation. Also want to get a hoop!

I am going to Kobe in a couple of weeks to meet up with Sara which is super exciting and I can not wait! I will also get to go to Nara while I am down that way and that is also awesome since I have always wanted to go!

Oh last week on my week off I went to Disney Sea…another post perhaps?! Photos also? I also did Hanami on Saturday with Shun, Sumi, Junni and James and it was a random day but so much fun! We had no plans when we woke up that morning but the day turned out brilliantly!

I revised my resume for the first time in almost 2 years……I wasn`t even sure if resumes were still done the same way.

I signed up for entrecard….am already slightly addicted although don`t think it does anything for the traffic of my site but have already discovered some other great blogs! Although this isn`t helping my internet addiction at all because it just means I spend more time on the net reading blogs and stuff than I do doing stuff on my own blog or stuff like packing! Or even reading……I feel like I haven`t done nearly enough reading of actual books lately!

Now over to you readers, do you have any questions for me? You can ask me anything and I will try my best to answer! I have seen a couple of bloggers open up comments to their readers asking the same question `Do you have any questions` and it seems like fun. So fire away….

Hope you are all having a good week,

Love Lulu xoxoxoxo

ps: I just read the above…..talk about random. I do believe a letter is incomplete with a post script.

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Last weekend on Saturday it was a beautiful beautiful day. I would say it was probably over 20 degrees also which was nice for a change…I went to Shinjuku Gyoen, took off my shoes and hooped for a couple of hours with Deanne and Leila in the perfect Tokyo sunshine!!!

It was my first time hooping (well since I was like 5) and I had so much fun. I was terrible at it, but it didn`t matter because I enjoyed it so much!!! My stomach muscles ached for days after…..but I can not wait to do it again. Thinking of buying myself a hoop once I am back in Australia!!! Both Deanne and Leila are super good at it and it was great to watch them do their moves….I hope one day to just be able to keep the hoop up and spinning for more than a minute! I think when we do hanami in a couple of weeks that I will have another chance to give hooping ago if Deanne can bring some extra hoops! Yay, I can`t wait….and here are some photos from the day! Please don`t laugh at me!

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I think it has been about six months since I felt an earthquake….and then on this past weekend I felt two. One on Saturday (I think) and the other early Sunday morning about 6am…It actually woke me up because the window shook and some of my books fell from their shelves to the floor! Apparently where we were it wasn`t actually very big, only about a 2…

I do wonder if this is a sign the big one is coming….

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In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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H is for Happy times…

On Friday Shumpei and I got engaged….I know I have been slack with blogging in the last week or so and part of the reason is that I haven`t had time to sit down and write a post and part of it is I didn`t know how to put it all into words.

We had talked a lot about weddings and getting married etc and recently and we had decided that we would have the ceremony in Australia. I said to Shun on Friday that if we were going to get married in May (2009) then we would need to start planning otherwise then we should come back to Japan next June and then go back to Australia to get married later in the year 2009 or in 2010…and I asked him what he thought, and what he wanted to do and he said (Im translating and paraphrasing a little bit also) `Lets get married in May, lets get engaged` and I said Ok!

Hehe, there is nothing terribly romantic about it but I am over the moon ecstatic! There was no ring, or formal proposal and Shun still wishes to ask my dad for permisson in Australia but we have started to tell friends we got engaged and are planning on getting married in May next year….We have told my parents and his parents also (On Sunday because we were out in Chiba for dinner…..I was releived that they didn`t seem to mind it was going to be in Australia…and said they would come)

So yeah, I am engaged! To the love of my life, who I couldn`t imagine not being with….so it is indeed happy times!

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• After reading Gala`s site yesterday and seeing that she had made a list of resolutions for her week I thought it would be a good idea for me to start doing the same, especially with only another 2 1/2 to 3 months left in Tokyo…My resolutions for this week are. Study for a minimum of ten hours, no eating after 9:30pm, Go for 2 big walks for exercise, Take more photos outside, Make a walking play list on my ipod , Start working on at least one more thing from my life list, Blog at least three times this week (This is my 2nd post already), Do two loads of washing before Friday, No coffee after 8pm and eat at least two pieces of fresh fruit each day (including weekends!). So I started yesterday and so far so good….Haven`t decided what I will work on from my life list though yet…any suggestions?
• My friend Jen from Somewhere, Something (formally Delightful Jen) has started her own business…It launched today! If you like buttons or things made from vintage fabric then go check out her store maxifunbutton now!
• I joined another book challenge, although this one is pretty simple in its rules….Read 100 books in the year. I can do that… Especially if I count some of the special kids books I read at work (I read about 20 kids books a week to the kids for story times plus when they ask me to read to them during free-time, not to mention the books I read with my private students so I might start recording some of those special ones I read with them, my favourites at least that I will one day want to read with my kids)….I keep a list of books I read in my journal already (Although I should one day add it to my blog) and am up to about 25 for the year so far I think!!
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• Yes you heard me right in the first point. Study…Am on a bit of a Japanese study kick at the moment…I want to do 1kyuu at the end of this year or the following year and kanji and reading are my biggest problem areas and it will take me at least six months to learn all the kanji I need! Probably longer! I am usually pretty good at studying when I am on a bit of a study kick…mind you I didn`t do any yesterday!!!
• It was my birthday yesterday, a post will follow about the adventures! Maybe in G is for…
• Where do you start when planning a wedding? How long does it take? I should get started on that!
• Last week I left my pencil case at a post office and an elderly lady ran after me yelling `moshi moshi, moshi moshi` and the reason I didn`t turn around straight away is because I thought she was on the phone…It has been on my mind since. I want to know if she yelled moshi moshi because I was foreign or if she was just a strange lady who would of yelled moshi moshi at anyone!
• I am already filling in dates with stuff to do, and people to catch up with before I leave…It will be sad to leave Japan again, but exciting all the same. I will miss my friends here though, so much…..There is always something exciting happening! And they are such great people to be around..
• Could of sworn I had more to blab on about, but I guess my giant sneezing fit 10 minutes ago knocked the thoughts right out of my head! Have a good week everyone!

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In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post (and the posts before that in the `Encyclopedia of me`)

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F is for future…If you had asked me ten years ago or even five years ago if I thought the life I am living now is what I would of being living I probably would of laughed and said no way! But life takes you in strange directions, some stranger than others (like half way around the world)…

I handed in my notice at work today…I will finish up on April 11th. By then I will have worked at my current preschool for almost 18 months….I love the kids, I really do, but several months ago I mentioned how lately my job had been making me feel like I would be a terrible mother. And with all the stuff going on back home I didn`t need the added stress of that, and under-staffing issues that my job has being causing me lately. After speaking with the owner, and after having finalized my decision with Shumpei and my family I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders..

I am ready for the next step of my life. Which will be me returning to Australia in May spending time with my family, helping Shumpei learn English when he arrives in July (and also teaching him more about my `Australian life`)and taking a year to do some temp work, see if I find a job or industry I like….Also,  planning a wedding and saving money to move back to Tokyo as a married couple….

I am hoping that somewhere in all this I will be able to cross a few things off my life list…..Something I plan to focus on a lot more over the next year.

Sometimes future is a scary word….mainly because people rarely have any idea what is going to happen….I have a little bit of and idea what the next six months will entail at least, and for after that we will have to see!!! While future is a scary work, it is also a word that brings to mind new experiences, closure and excitement…all things I am ready for!

Here is to my future(our future!)…and to yours!

ps: I love ps`s…sorry this is not a very long post for the enc of me, but I am lacking blogging inspiration today!

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In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...) Today`s post is a little delayed…I have published D is for.. and E is for… before C is for Cancer…

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I think almost  everyone has had someone close to them affected by cancer…This disease sometimes seems as if it is taking over the world. In my life, several family members, friends, parents of friends have had cancer…It is a horrible disease.

When I was fifteen my father was diagnosed with  lymphoma, stage four. It was one of the biggest shocks of my life. We grow up thinking our parents are invincible and when something threatens that our lives feel like they are falling apart.

I remember that I didn`t know how to tell my friends at school that it was happening. I had told one or two of my friends but didn`t know how to tell them all….It is such a hard thing to stand up and announce without breaking down, or crying…especially when you are fifteen and an emotional mess. I wrote them a letter…and when I gave it to them I apoligised for not been able to say what was inside.

It took a year for  him to have chemo, a stem-cell transplant and go into remission. Since 2001 he has been in remission until now. Then a month ago they found cancer cells, in a routine check-up. My father has had other health problems over the last couple of years and we were waiting for test results on another check when these results came in. It was the last thing we expected…after a stem-cell transplant, for the same cancer to come back is a rarity….one we thought we had bypassed…

I am so far away from my family…I can`t zip home for the weekend or for dinner once a week…I can`t be there to help my dad. or my family. This is not the only thing I haven`t been around for, in the last couple of years a lot of stuff has happened, stuff that I can`t go into on a blog that is as open as this one, stuff that I can`t control. But that still makes me upset that I am not there for my mum or my dad or little brother….

Shumpei and I had decided to go back to Australia in July, part of this was so that he could learn English and get to know my family and part of it was because I wanted to, needed to, be around my family…and then this happened. So I know we have made the right choice. I have decided I will be returning to Australia a little earlier than planned…in mid-May…I will be finishing up work in April….As I mentioned on here a week or so ago, I have a stomach ulcer which they say is caused by stress….I have had a lot of stress recently with all this going  on back in Australia and also with work….So I am going home a little earlier, even though it means Shun and I will be apart for about 6 weeks to two months. We have done long-distance before and we both think it would be a good idea for me to spend time with my family alone before he follows me over.

Nothing has been decided with my fathers Cancer at this stage…It is stage one and the lumps are not even big enough to be felt…We are waiting for other test results, and at this stage it is definitely not as serious or as advanced as it was seven years ago…A decision will be made about treatment in the next month or so. You may wonder why no treatment has been decided as of yet but there are other test results and tests that needed to be conducted before anything can be decided….

Cancer is a horrible disease and it is affecting so many people…people we love and care about, people we admire….I can not believe it is affecting my family yet again….

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