I have MUCH to catch up on considering that my last blog was a week ago, and I’ve been to four major Japanese cities and done a lot, but I wanted to first blog about something that is more personal and means a little more to me. Okay, okay, okay. I know that New Year’s resolutions are meant to be broken. I know that people usually break their resolutions by something like January 15th. Therefore, my resolution is to NOT make a resolution. I feel like if you put that label on it, it’s not going to happen. Instead of resolutions that I know will be broken by the end of the month, I vow to better myself this year. My friend, Justine, was talking about how (not necessarily as a New Year’s resolution) she always tries to do something to better herself every year. I thought that that would be a great plan for me. Therefore, I came up with a few things that I want to do in 2012. I know that these things aren’t going to happen overnight, which is why I don’t have a forced schedule or timeline for them.
-learn Japanese: I know my life here would be about 1,000 times easier if I knew Japanese. My motivation to study has been dismal to say the least. I really haven’t given it my all. I’m being completely realistic with this one. Japanese is a REALLY difficult language to learn especially when you are your own teacher. I’m not going to worry about reading or writing because it’s far too complicated for me to tackle with my feeble mind. I’ll focus my energies more on speaking and listening.
-quit being an introvert: This is something I’ve struggled with for my whole life. It’s so much easier for me to be the quiet one and listen to everyone else in the group talk rather than speak up. If it’s a big group, I’m even less likely to talk. I know that I’m not exactly going to flip the switch and all of the sudden become the life of the party, but I’ll try to not be so passive and quiet.
-integrate into society better: This one kind of goes hand-in-hand with the above mentioned. I’ve been here for almost six months, and there’s still so much I don’t know (or sometimes pretend to not know). I want to build a better relationship with my co-workers and students at the JHS. I have a little group of 3rd grade girls who really like me and I them, but I should branch out to the 1st and 2nd graders since the 3rd graders will be leaving to go to high school in April.
-read more: This is also tied hand-in-hand to the above mentioned. I feel like I should not only read more in general but especially about Japan, its culture, and what to do when I travel. I should have researched more because while in Osaka, I had absolutely no idea what to do or see. When I was in Europe, it was so much easier. I feel like our history and literature books in school are geared more toward Europe, so I knew I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Holocaust Monument, Roman ruins, etc, but now that I’m here, I don’t really know what I want to see. Plus, I want to read more for fun. I got so burnt on read student essay after student essay after student essay when I taught at home, so I didn’t really want to read then. Now, I have PLENTY of time but usually spend it goofing off and/or watching TV.
-write more: Okay, so my high school hope of being a famous author is completely gone. At this point, I’d love to just be published in a moderately respected journal ONCE. Since completing my thesis, I haven’t written anything. Ugh! I know how bad that sounds considering I got my master’s degree in creative writing. I don’t know why, but my father-in-law asked me about writing when we skyped him on Christmas day. I told him that I hadn’t written anything. He told me to not make the same mistake as him and wait and wait and wait before starting to write again. It’s a new year, and this is a new goal of mine.
-exercise more: Here it is….the stereotypical New Year’s resolution. However, since I’m not making resolutions but rather ideas to better myself, it’s different. It’s so bad right now since all I want to do is stay under the kotatsu and be warm. As I’m writing this, I’m watching snow swirl around in a fury of wind. There is snow on the mountain tops. The five minute bike ride to school this morning as snow smacked my face wasn’t fun. The weather doesn’t exactly beckon me for an after school walk or bike ride these days, but I’ll try.
-church: I promise to go to church at least once a month. This shouldn’t be a problem. We skipped maybe two months last year. It’s very easy to NOT go since the nearest church is an hour away, and it’s all in Japanese. Everyone at the church is very nice, and they enjoy having foreigners come to Mass, but it’s not the same as at home. Regardless, once a month is nothing. We’ll definitely be able to make that!
Well, these are my promises so that I can better myself. I refuse to call them resolutions. I’m sure some of you all are curious about my trip to Osaka, and I promise to blog next about that. It should take a couple of days and multiple posts, but I do have pictures posted to facebook for your viewing pleasure. 
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