This is 35

A friend of mine recently moved to Germany to teach at an international school in Frankfurt. He told me, “So today I was introducing the unit on economic development to a class of 12th graders and I was talking about increases in life expectancy, income and life expectancy blah blah when a student mentions that she doesn't think increasing life expectancy in the developed world is such a great thing. She's worried about end of life issues, being a burden on society, etc. Suggesting she would rather end her life a little before she loses the joy of life... GREAT, I can get my geek on...let's talk about living wills, power of attorney docs, "kids you have to make adult decisions soon, blah blah" she mentions the cost of end-of-life decisions..."yeah class, you have to think about this stuff" then she closes with "I just don't see the point of living past 40." FORTY! I mentioned that I am well into my forties and maybe we could choose a different age...she allowed that 50, maybe ... maybe 60 (if you are in good shape) would be okay. Thanks.”

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I guess since I am only 35 I don’t have to worry about  young people euthanizing me, yet! It amazes me more and more how fast time is going. Sometimes I find myself thinking about ten years in the future as if I am just going to skip right there. Sometimes I find myself looking at the past in awe that something was 20 or 30 years ago and I was alive!

Overall I am feeling pretty fit. At all my doctor’s visits I always get the thumbs up and most of them commend me on a good diet (though they often tell me to drink a little less). Mentally I am at the top of my game and I don’t see that changing. Of course, I feel some of the aches of getting older. Things don’t heal as fast and I find I need more rest, especially after a long periods of physically demanding work or play. Thankfully Aya helps me with that, with nice weekends away, cakes, and beer. With her, I can get older, and moldier, together. 

Welcome 2017

This January 1^st I’m in Japan once again, but this time just for a short stop on my way back to Beijing. I’m watching about 100 naked guys around me, walking to and fro from one onsen to the next, and I thought it would be a perfect time to reflect on life and the past year.

2016 was a good year for me. I had a good job, my wife was happy and healthy, there were no major deaths in the family, pretty much everyone retained their health and jobs as well. I travelled to Japan last winter, then to 10 countries in Europe this summer. My visited country total has reached 39 now! Yes, I count! I got to travel with my mom and also see friends in Europe.

I have continued at a great job, continued teaching online at another job I love, and this year I became the online learning director at my main job. Kind of cool as I have been pushing to get more involved with online learning since I got my master’s degree in it 5 years ago. Now I teach it, direct it, and a recent chat with my school’s principal leads me to believe I will be overseeing the expansion of the program from about a dozen kids this year to 50 next year.

Physically I am in great health, no major problems and my running game is still on, though slipping a bit. I wouldn’t call it a NY resolution, but I plan to run a marathon this coming fall. I’m in a good shape now, but certainly that will mean getting ultra fit by September. If that race goes well I may have another shot at the Tokyo marathon in 2018 as well.

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Who knows. Both of my parents retire this year too, so that will be cool as it will probably mean that I will get to see them more and may entice them to travel to see me a bit too. So the year was good and the outlook for 2017 is good too. Happy 2017!

7 years on

Two weeks ago Aya and I were sitting on the couch talking about how our eighth anniversary was special because eight is a lucky number and how maybe on our tenth we would return to Hawaii with our parents to celebrate. It wasn’t until we had been chatting for some time that we realized it hasn’t been eight years, but seven. Lucky for me, Aya got my wedding band inscribed with the date so I could double check.

Seven years have gone by in the blink of an eye.  It is an annual tradition for us to recount the past year’s anniversaries, a way to keep alive the memories of those days. There was our first when we went to the “small” town of Hangzhou (2.4 million people) to enjoy the lake view (packed with people and smoggy). On our fourth I surprised her with a flight to Singapore (we lived in Penang, so it was like 50 dollars a ticket!). There we rode the giant Ferris wheel on the waterfront. Aya told me she got upset with me and I can remember that, but I don’t remember why. On our second we went to the Pearl Tower in Shanghai and ate at the rotating restaurant, but our third isn’t clear. We think we had a nice dinner at the Shangri-La in Penang. That is the story we will stick to, it seems.

I guess that happens as time goes on. You tend to forget the details, but it is the big picture that matters. As we talked about the past our conversation also moved to the future. Where would we be next year? What do you want to do for our eighth? It is a lucky number, you know. We should tell our parents now about our plans for the tenth anniversary. What about your parents retirement plans?

Time goes so fast, just the blink of an eye.