Congrats on finishing the challenge. Yours was pretty musical, I see.
My recent post Immigration Fun

Sometimes, I get this kind of person. My coworker taught a guy who was certain that "bye-bye" was Japanese. He studied at Cambridge University where his English professor said "Good-bye" was the proper way to say good-bye. He was absolutely sure of himself that "bye-bye" wasn't English, but was Japanese in origin. My coworker was ready to argue, and he did argue a bit. Then he pulled up some information with his phone that stated that the origin of "bye-bye" was 18th century England, and that it was a child's way of saying it. The teacher is British.
My recent post Wagyu Beef Sukiyaki

I've considered going to a gym before, but never did. I think that you can get the same exercise on your own and for free. The park near my home has a 250 metre track, which is frequented by joggers, as well as kids who are training for their soccer or baseball club.

No idea what I'm doing during Golden Week. My friend wants to visit Kamakura, so maybe I will.
My recent post Exploring Hiroshima

I look at myself in the mirror directly into my eyes everyday. There was a time when I would have tried everything I could to hide something about myself that is extremely obvious. I was embarrassed. I'm not anymore. It's something that I worried about only 2 weeks ago while having an interview for a part time teaching job. But during the interview, I didn't worry about it, and showed them just what I can do. I may have this dry, itchy looking psoriasis on my forehead, but it never affected their decision. They were impressed with my thoroughness in a 5 minute demonstration of a lesson I could teach that I made up entirely in less than 2 minutes. I know I can show them my abilities and show them that I am that good. I'm just telling it like it is right now. They wanted me right then, immediately after finishing the interview. They usually contact interviewees within a few days. They offered me the job immediately.

I used to be shy. I used to hide what I thought. Now I don't.

Although unrelated to this, I know that you're an animal lover. Sad to say that my dog just died last night. He was about 18 years old and his health was deteriorating quickly. It wasn't a surprise, but it is one of the most damn hardest things to deal with. Even though I only lived with him for 2 years, I knew that he loved me unconditionally, and it wasn't until after I found him stiff and not breathing that I realized how important he was to me. His death has affected me in so many ways that it's showed me what's important and how I must be true to myself and those that I love.
My recent post Exploring Fukui

Near where I live, there's an Isuzu truck factory, and I always see いすゞ. I was wondering about it, too.

400,000, huh? Nearly the population of the city I live in.

You know, I haven't had any trolls. I'm not exactly controversial, either.

5'11" and 185 lbs. Sounds like me 2 years ago before I started eating home-cooked meals. You've got muscle, I'm not exactly muscular.

I also celebrated a kind of birthday, my daughter's 1st. I'm way too busy with her these days.

I feel quite random for some reason.

When will you hit 1 million?
My recent post Exploring Aomori

Ah, the so-called legendary Japanese work ethic. I still get students saying that Japanese people work hard, long hours, and efficiently. Liars.

I hate going to the bank in Japan. It's so outdated and inefficient, what takes 5 minutes in Canada takes 30 minutes in Japan. And city offices are a joke. All of my coworkers and I understand how Japanese business runs. We talk about it often, and we also notice how the Japanese staff are all working like they're busy, when in fact, they probably aren't doing much other than reading and re-reading emails and documents, rewriting documents, examining unnecessarily complex spreadsheets, etc. Most Japanese staff won't admit that they really don't have much to do, but there are some who have said that they are quite bored. They end up doing very basic tasks that are usually unnecessary.

And remember, Japan is a country where sleep is a hobby.
My recent post Still icy 3 days later

Looks great. Must have been a lot of fun :) And that's a huge display! Don't need any streetlights.
My recent post My holiday plans

That is just a strange thing to hear suddenly like that. I know I've heard strange things from kids, but that takes the cake. I teach a 6 year old that is very wild, though seems to settle down with me, and he is constantly saying "mom bad!" whenever his mom tries to discipline him.

On a more humourous note, I was teaching a class of 7-9 year olds about family members and showing my family tree. One girl came up to me, drew a heart between my sister and I and said "Jay Dee loves sister?" Uh, I had no idea how to respond to that. From the way she said it, she wasn't meaning the love of siblings. She said "love love" after that.
My recent post How about some wind to go with the cold?

Cancer is something I know quite a bit about. Both grandmothers died from it. My dad had a cancer scare. It was benign. My aunt had lung cancer and died of it. That scared my mom to quit smoking. One of my grandmothers lived for more than 20 years with leukemia.

Honestly, you need to get it checked out.
My recent post Another big one? Well, no.