As expected, things happened and blogging took a backseat for a while. but i figure that i should update, so that future posts don't become overly long. let's do the 10 sentences per point thing for conciseness.

the business trip was a good experience. got to meet up with other JETs and JTEs. i am so grateful that i don't face most of the problems mentioned, like not getting along with other staff, and various forms of abuse. it was also a nice reminder of what city life is like. i think that i could tolerate living in kochi city, maybe with a little less traffic and more shops open. somewhat embarrassing confession: i was kind of...jealous? when a japanese teacher that we didn't know praised an american (caucasian-looking) JET for speaking japanese while taking for granted that i could speak it. but yes, i get it - the asian-looking person is more likely to be able to speak japanese than the obviously foreign one. i also met up with the other singaporean JETs and a previous english teacher at one of my schools, who took us for great tsukemen. and i finally bought my first mcdonalds since coming to japan. 390 yen for 15-piece nuggets!

i haven't been progressing through final fantasy as fast as i'd like. ideally, i'd be finished with the story now and be working of getting raid-ready gear. but like i mentioned before, it's not a race, and that's something i have to deal with internally. externally, i was also hampered by my internet speed getting killed. you see, i didn't know that my ISP has a practice of limiting upload speeds when a user uploads more than 150gb over 3 consecutive days. between long hours of streaming the story, plus uploading the stream recordings to youtube, i accidentally crossed that limit on...monday? thankfully, the limitation period is only 3 days, and things are back to normal now. have to spread out my uploads, i guess. the story itself is great, and while i have guesses on what happens next, i don't know anything for sure beyond where i'm currently at. excited to see how it develops!

finally, aeon accepted my credit card application. the biggest positive sign was that someone actually called me to confirm some of my personal details this time, as opposed to just sending a rejection postcard via mail. the biggest difference was that i applied with the added backing of a japanese driver's license, i think. and i may have filled out a question wrongly in my previous applications. i'm facing one more issue now, which is the linking of my bank account to automatically pay my bill. something about the name on my card account not exactly matching the name on my bank account. so i couldn't do it online, and had to send in a form. japan is really a paradox of modern and old-fashioned. it's nice for things like architecture, less so for administrative procedures. hopefully that goes through soon, though the customer service lady i spoke to said it may take up to a month.

now that end-of-term tests are over and the holidays are approaching, school will probably wind down for a bit. i have 2 more weeks of school, followed by 2 weeks of term break, then term 3 starts. decided to clear a chunk of my leave, because i can't carry over more than 20 days, and i have 36 now. i think i took about 5 days' leave in the 2 weeks that i don't have to be in school. add on the standard year-end break that civil servants get, and the result is that i'm only working for 2 days in that period. mental note: year-end would be a great time to travel back to singapore in a typical COVID-less year. as things stand now, the cost and time requirements for quarantine, plus the possibility of being denied re-entry to japan, make it totally not worthwhile. hopefully japan soon eases the travel restrictions it imposed in reaction to omicron. i'm personally not super affected by it, but i know couples who are being physically separated because of it.

i really should go and get some exercise. gaming for hours at a go is fun, but not healthy. also, i may have eaten something wrong, because my stomach has been hurting for the past few days. apparently it's not just me; some other teachers are experiencing it too. i wonder if it's a reaction to cold weather? semi-related thought - i know winter's here when i become reluctant to step out of the shower. that, and when my gas bill rises. good news is that i'm more prepared this year - fleece sleepwear, thick socks, huge heavy blanket. i haven't seen the need to activate the kotatsu yet, so perhaps i'm becoming more acclimatized?

-random thought of the day: Find time for year-end and new year posts!-