Hi!

I can't believe it's already October! Well, at least in Japan it is. Time's flying so fast.
In 3 months I'll be back in Germany for winter vacation.
And no, there's no update concerning my future or any life-changing decisions that I should have made.

However, I'm trying hard to change a few things step by step and just hope that by that something will come up.
At least I'm feeling better recently. I'm far less stressed since I've given up on my blog (as in I don't take it as seriously anymore).
With the new free time I've gained I try to change things in my life and I hope everything is going into a good new direction (slowly, but steadily).


Steps to a healthier lifestyle:

I'm very slim, at first sight I might look sporty and I'm also not really sick, but my body clearly tells me recently that I NEED to do something.
Furthermore, I'm not getting younger and I need to keep my body fit and tight somehow.

A few things that I want to try are:

Drink at least 2L of water every day:

I already started doing that about 2 years ago and I mainly drink water anyways, but I don't control how much I drink recently.
I want to go back and make sure that I really drink at least 2L a day - which might be a bit tricky now that winter's coming.

Drink green tea every day:

This might sound funny coming from someone who lives in Japan, but ever since I moved to Japan I stopped drinking green tea every day.
Yeah, it makes absolutely no sense, I know.
Instead, I started to drink coffee again. Not every day and never more than 1-2 cups.
I want to get back to the habit of drinking green tea every day as I believe it's healthy - and I do like green tea.

Walk 10.000 steps every day:

I'm sure most of you have heard about it and if you've been following my LJ for a few years, you know that I bought a pedometer years ago.
When I'm traveling I get well over 10.000 steps, but when I'm working it's much less (I suppose around 4000 or even less) and on a weekend I stay at home it's just a few hundred steps. NOT HEALTHY AT ALL!!
I'm not sure how I can get up to the 10.000 steps on a daily basis, still trying to work this out (also see the next point).


Thinking of buying a new pedometer (see photo above).

Exercise regularly:

You know that I did well working out regularly before I had this sudden crazy blog idea in early 2011.
After moving I've sold some of my workout equipment. I still have a jumping road, a magnetic hula-hoop with massage thingies and a fitness ball.
I don't have my steppers and my bicycle anymore, but I have a huge apartment now = more space for exercising.

I just have no idea where to start or what to do.
It needs to be something that I can keep up with on a regular basis ..... and there doesn't seem to be anything at the moment.

Cycling to work sounds great, but it's quite far (over 10km) and most of the year I'd have to take a shower and change clothes once I arrive at work (something that I can't do).
Apart from that my bicycle was stolen as you all know, so I don't even have one!

Back in Germany I did Nordic Walking, but my sticks are back home and I've never seen anybody here in Japan doing it.
I'm not sure if I want to start jogging, but I'd prefer to do it in the evening. As I work until 10 p.m, though, it would be very late and dark by the time I can start. It's too late for me and although Japan is safe, I wouldn't feel comfortable jogging in the dark all alone.
After all I want to enjoy the surroundings when I jog, but when it's dark I can't see anything.
I think I prefer walking to jogging for now.

Doing it before work, would be an option.
Not sure if I can get myself to do it BEFORE work, though. I'm usually much more motivated after work.

An alternative would be to get a treadmill, but the GOOD ones cost over 1000$US. I've seen some from 100-500$ on Amazon, but I suppose the quality is not so good and I heard they're very loud, so it would probably disturb the people living under me (especially when I do it after 10 p.m.).
I don't want to get a stepper anymore. No fun.
And besides, buying something expensive like a treadmill might be crazy if I might leave Japan soon.



I want to do various things as ONLY jogging or ONLY doing jump rope or jumping jacks or whatever wouldn't be healthy anyways.
I'm currently trying to find any courses (e.g. Pilates, Zumba and the likes) I could join that are not too far away from where I live. That would also have the positive effect that I MIGHT get to know people (though with my working schedule I suppose there are only housewives and old people).

I know everyone is different and has their own circumstances, but do you have any suggestion for me?
Most of you know my circumstances, so maybe you can figure something out. *sigh*



Passing N1:

Recently I started studying for the N1. I haven't studied Japanese in 3 years now, not since I passed N2 and won the speech contest in 2010.
I never felt the need to as I can manage my everyday life here in Japan perfectly fine.
As I don't know what I want to do jobwise, it might be stupid to study for N1, but on the other hand why stop at N2 when there's only one more step to take?

I do not exaggerate it this time. I don't take it very seriously at the moment, either.
I finally bought new N1 books and I've done something every single day, but mostly only for 10 mins or so.
I'm not in a hurry at all. This is not really a goal of mine, but I think it's good to keep doing a bit of studying every single day.



Getting rid of things:

I already started sorting things that I don't want to keep (= take back home with me) months ago. I keep finding boxes with tiny things and I wonder why I bought them in the first place. I don't wanna keep any of them.
So many tiny souvenirs, keychains, o-mamori, figures etc. .... even so many artbooks, doujinshi and manga I don't care about anymore.
Right now I just lack the motivation to upload it all and set it up for sale as I know it'll take A LOT OF TIME.
I should do another huge "sales post" after all and only sell the things that remain to Book Off and the likes.



Off Topic: Rabbit Island and Kobe:

Last weekend I went to Okunoshima in Hiroshima Prefecture which is also known as "Rabbit Island". A detailed blog post will follow in a few days on my blog, so make sure to check it out! ^__^



There was also an autumn festival in Kobe's China Town, so I went there as well:





Ok, that's all.
Hope you're all doing well and thanks for reading.

P.S.: I finally watched "Nou Otoko" (Brain Man) with Ikuta Toma yesterday. What a dark, but exciting and interesting movie! And Toma has proven once again that he's a great actor! ^__^