すげぇ

The yen has appreciated so much to the Canadian Dollar in the past month that my yearly salary which was equivalent to 35,000 CAD last month is 46,000 at today's exchange rate.

じっくり考えないと。。。

Yesterday, I used my day off from work to visit Mori-sensei, an old professor of mine from Kyoto University. I had written him an e-mail last week asking if he would discuss some things about graduate school with me. He graciously invited me over to his house for dinner with his wife. We discussed many things over the course of the night, and Mori-sensei gave me a lot of good questions to think about over the next little while.

If I want to get into graduate school it seems like I have a good shot. However, before that, I really have to think about what it is specifically I want to study. I would like to do something economically related, but I am a little worried because I only did a minor in economics. I do know however that I would like to steer clean of analytic economics and take a more pragmatic approach, focusing on real world events and things like the why and how government policy.

Of course, I also really need to think about what I want to do with my life after that. Like, I told Mori-sensei yesterday, the most important thing for me is simply to find something I enjoy doing, and do that. Simply working is easy. Anyone can go out and get a job if they want to, but that doesn't mean a damn. Like my dad told me, "First you gotta find what you love. Then, you gotta find someone to pay you to do it." So, I've gotta think about whether grad school really is for me. I think it would be, but I have to be doing it for the right reasons.

So now, I think.

足痛い

Yesterday, a friend of mine invited me to the Taekwondo dojo he trains at in Kyoto for a trial lesson. The master of the school was (maybe still is?) the Japanese Olympic coach and seems like a really nice guy. He extended an open invitation for me to come back anytime I have some free time. One of the other instructors there took first prize at the All Japan Taekwondo Tournament for sparring. Lucky me, I had the chance to go toe to toe with the guy my first time back in real action in a year. Obviously, I got whooped, but I did manage to get him with a couple of the moves I picked up in Toronto with the Martial Art One team. He teaches at a place in Shiga on the weekends and also extended an invitation for me to come by anytime I had the chance. The other students as well were a really good bunch. Mostly university students, and the others were all adults, so it was all business and everyone was working hard. I tore up my feet pretty bad though since they've gone soft after a year of light training. I ripped up both of my big toes so bad they were bleeding. My legs are useless today as well. I've been hobbling around like an old man all day, but it was a fantastic night, and I'm looking forward to training more often with other people for a change.