Tzippi on Shikoku, an Island adventure

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Okay, here goes again! 

 

I have been on and off exercising, stretching, studying, etc. But this six weeks is going to be my time to consolidate that into real habits that will last.

 

My big goal is to "do better" at my next Tough mudder. I would define "better" as: 

 

* To be able to get over the 12-foot walls at my next Tough Mudder (the only obstacle I had to walk around)

* To be able to jog/slow run a 5K. speed immaterial - ability to not stop and walk is the point. so not a whole Tough Mudder, but sizable chunks of it.

 

 

I have no goal weight.

 

I am a wild elf adventurer, looking to move into a ranger-y druid combo at some point.

 

Goals for the six week challenge: 

* Playground/beginner's bodyweight workout 3/week at local park - 3 circuits. (working especially toward proper pull-ups)

* Run/walk 2/ week around the other park's 5K course, cutting down on allowable walk breaks each time.

* 1 big serving of leafy greens 1/day.

 

Bonus INT quest: Keep up with Japanese study via Anki and at least 10 new kanji/week,

 

I believe I can do this. i have already tried working the park strength workouts into my life, and the amount I walk and bike here in Japan (I have neither access to a car nor a valid International liscense, so I can't drive every/anywhere) is helping. I'd like to bump my cardio/endurance, however. So 2x/week runs. One on the weekend, one on a weekday evening.

 

I love greens, I just need to remember to buy and prepare them. And I am very excited for my Japanese study, but I need to make it a priority as I ramp up other goals.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Awesome looking challenge there!!!  Have you tried any of the couch to 5K apps to help you decrease the amount you walk, gradually?

[Alexandrite]

Yes!! Another person studying Japanese and working out! What took you to Japan?

 

Looking forward to reading more! 

 

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[Tzippi Longstockings]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

 

Yes!! Another person studying Japanese and working out! What took you to Japan?

 

Looking forward to reading more! 

 

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I am an ALT, with the JET Program! I got about half of what you wrote - all the Hajimemashite stuff, but I fall apart at the kanji. I am very much a beginner at Japanse as a whole, and even more so with kanji!

 

 

Awesome looking challenge there!!!  Have you tried any of the couch to 5K apps to help you decrease the amount you walk, gradually?

 

I did Couch to 5K once, and was on week two for something like 2 months, until a friend visited (on leave from the military), and made me jog for 20 minutes straight. I hope to do something similar, just for distance (and eventually, speed) instead of time.

 

 

Don't know if any of you are interested in Japanese cooking, but do you figure hijiki would count as a "leafy green", or a "stemmy black"? 

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Incidentally, Chris Tien-Jinn, I read your current story arc - so amazing! I need to get back to creative writing. I used to write for my RPG group (when I was GMing), but since being transplanted, I have no active game. Skype is unrealistic, due to the time difference, and I don:t know many/any geeks here. I need to write this epic journey I`m on.

 

I noticed you run with the rangers - I`m just trying to do a first challenge, but I`m looking to the future and trying to determine whether I fit more with the Rangers or the Druids. I`m Valkyrie-shaped (tallish, big shoulders and arms, busty), but less inclined to some of the high-iï½pact stuff the rangers seem to favor　(Crossfit, etc.). But I like getting out and about, and need to include more running/hiking into my life to complement the long periods f reading and knitting quietly at home (left to my own devices, I`m apparently a hobbit). I like Yoga, but don:t do it regularly (maybe the next challenge?) And I am a kosher pescetarian, with no interest whatsoever in strict Paleo, so I seems to fit better with Druids there. 

[Blaidd]

Not all Rangers do high impact sport. Some of them just have more than one passion.  I think you'd fit in well there. Why not pop into their Tent and introduce yourself and get to know the others.

[Alexandrite]

I thought it might be JET! I used to live in Tacoma, WA and was accepted into the JET program right after I graduated from college, but was waitlisted. I ended up having to give up the position because I had to get a job and start paying bills. They told me it would have been up to three months before they could place me. =(

 

I still volunteered with exchange programs throughout the years, and even went to Japan to visit some of my guests in 2010 for a week. I love Japan so much!

 

Any time you want to practice, let's do it! I frequently use an app called Obenkyou on my Android phone for kanji practice. Also, labeling everything in the house and practicing writing it before you can use the item helps too. =)

 

Good luck on your goals/quests!

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Things that are amazing - climbing up a mountainside on winding stone steps, through dense forest including stands of bamboo. Reaching the top and enjoying a delicious meal of shojin ryori prepared by smiling Buddhist nuns. Doing yoga by candlelight in a room which overlooks city and sea, the lighthouses tiny pinpricks of light against the (literal) sea of darkness. Enjoying a relaxing onsen after.

 

Things that are less amazing - getting to bed much later than usual, waking up late to try to let your body recover, missing breakfast, drinking too much coffee to attempt to be able to do this "teaching" thing you're supposed to do, getting swimmyheaded. At least lunch is soon, but there's one more class before that.

 

I'll post pics of the ascent to the temple as soon as I figure out how the "my content" tab works. my head is too stupid right now. 

[Tzippi Longstockings]

In the meantime, here's the image search for "Senyuji temple".

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=senyuji+temple&rlz=1C1GKLB_enJP600JP602&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=667&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=sKAfVKOYPNTg8AXBiICIAw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=senyuji+temple&nfpr=1

 

* not Sennyuji, which is the big Imperial one near Kyoto. 

[Alexandrite]

Oh my! That sounds awesome!

 

I don't know about you, but when I had shojin ryori, it was SO much food I wasn't able to finish it all! My Japanese host actually helped me because we didn't want to insult the monks. Bet you definitely fit in your leafy greens, right?

 

Ganbatte! Fighto!

 

Hope the start of week 2 picks up for you!

[Amren]

I love that you're learning a new language Japanese is very interesting, would want to learn that someday, too. But now I'm going for Chinese 

[Tzippi Longstockings]

I love that you're learning a new language Japanese is very interesting, would want to learn that someday, too. But now I'm going for Chinese

I'd suggest we study ideograms together, but we'd just confuse each other even more!

Managed one of my runs yesterday, including the steps both ways. I have been stretching after, but maybe not enough. I may go hit up the scouts for recommendations.

[Amren]

I'd suggest we study ideograms together, but we'd just confuse each other even more!

Managed one of my runs yesterday, including the steps both ways. I have been stretching after, but maybe not enough. I may go hit up the scouts for recommendations.

 

Haha yes, that would be confusing Though I've heard that a lot of Japanese ideograms originate from the Chinese writing system. I'm curious to what degree the 'meaning' has stayed the same.

 

Good for you that you managed to run I'm terrible at running, so I need to find another easily accessible sport. Pffff can't think of any but walking!

 

Did you manage to eat your greens? (if so, how? Salad? Smoothie?)

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Haha yes, that would be confusing Though I've heard that a lot of Japanese ideograms originate from the Chinese writing system. I'm curious to what degree the 'meaning' has stayed the same.

 

Good for you that you managed to run I'm terrible at running, so I need to find another easily accessible sport. Pffff can't think of any but walking!

 

Did you manage to eat your greens? (if so, how? Salad? Smoothie?)

my running is the same speed as walking. "jogging" may be more honest, or "shuffling". 

 

I like to eat salad most days with my lunch (I bring a separate bento just full of lettuce, when I have it in the fridge). I also like my hijiki seaweed salad, which I count even though it's black stems, not green leaves. High fiber and nutrients! I also just today tried to do a version of this blanched spinach with frozen stuff. I just thawed it in the microwave, squeezed it together really good, and topped with sesame salt. I'll have lunch soon, and see if it's any good. If I like it, it may become a regular bento staple!

 

The lack of fruit is making me hesitate on smoothies. My husband likes the ones just made of sweet protein powder, but I can't stand them, especially first thing in the morning. Ugh.

 

Heh. Kanji. yeah, it's kind of goofy. Here's my favorite description of how kanji came to be, from the website Kanjidamage: (NSFW language)

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the beginning, Chinese dudes wrote pictographs - pictures that looked like the things they represented. The drawback was that writing a paragraph took as much time as drawing a comic book, because IT WAS drawing a comic book! So they (Who? Sages, motherfucker, sages! Who else?) simplified the pictographs into what we now call Kanji. How?

So, the bad news is that the kanji for 'country' (国) has nothing to do with the meaning of balls (玉 ), nor the meaning of box (å£).

 

Step one: They chose 200 or so RADICALS as their building blocks.

Step 2:

Any pictograph that was too hard, they said, "OK, what radical does the top part most closely resemble? Swap 'em! What radical does the left part most closely resemble? Swap 'em!" and so on.

For example, the old, complicated kanji for country is åœ‹. And the current kanji for country is å›½.

Now, from the foreigner's point of view, this change is retarded in two ways.

1) the radical that was swapped into the center of the new version means " jewel." (a jewel in a box? What does that have to do with a country?)

2 ) the simplified å›½ looks almost the same as the kanji for treasure; å® (more confusion!).

But try looking at it from the point of view of the sages: they didn't have computers, they got bad arthritis, and they had to draw these crazy hard pictographs all damn day. So one of the sages, in his wisdom, said, "OK, fuck this! Can't we swap the center bit for a simpler radical?" And the other sage replied, "Dood, if you drink enough sake, the center bit looks kind of like 玉."

And the first sage was like, "Man you are just high as hell, but it's late and I got mad poems to write about seasons and shit, so yeah, let's just say åœ‹ is now officially å›½ and call it a day."

So that is how that went down.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Also, Chinese writing came to Japan, which has no tones, so there are many, MANY Kanji all pronounced "Jo" or "Jou" (long O). Also, they can be pronounced as the indigenous Japanese word. Example: 

æ°´ means water. The Japanese word for water in mizu. Therefore, this symbol on its own is usually "mizu". But once it's put into a compound word with other kanji or with added syllables from TWO syllabaries, the Chinese pronunciation comes in, and it becomes "sui". But kanji came to Japan in several waves, from many different parts of China, where regional dialects (and tone differentiation) made the new words very different. And even more different from anything like modern Chinese. So sometimes, a kanji will have one Japanese reading, and multiple "Chinese" readings that may be completely unrelated, because one is from Hong Kong in 478 CE, and one from Beijing in 650. Which are all going to sound a bit different. 

 

Fun times. ;D

[Amren]

Also, Chinese writing came to Japan, which has no tones, so there are many, MANY Kanji all pronounced "Jo" or "Jou" (long O). Also, they can be pronounced as the indigenous Japanese word. Example: 

æ°´ means water. The Japanese word for water in mizu. Therefore, this symbol on its own is usually "mizu". But once it's put into a compound word with other kanji or with added syllables from TWO syllabaries, the Chinese pronunciation comes in, and it becomes "sui". But kanji came to Japan in several waves, from many different parts of China, where regional dialects (and tone differentiation) made the new words very different. And even more different from anything like modern Chinese. So sometimes, a kanji will have one Japanese reading, and multiple "Chinese" readings that may be completely unrelated, because one is from Hong Kong in 478 CE, and one from Beijing in 650. Which are all going to sound a bit different. 

 

Fun times. ;D

 

 

my running is the same speed as walking. "jogging" may be more honest, or "shuffling". 

 

I like to eat salad most days with my lunch (I bring a separate bento just full of lettuce, when I have it in the fridge). I also like my hijiki seaweed salad, which I count even though it's black stems, not green leaves. High fiber and nutrients! I also just today tried to do a version of this blanched spinach with frozen stuff. I just thawed it in the microwave, squeezed it together really good, and topped with sesame salt. I'll have lunch soon, and see if it's any good. If I like it, it may become a regular bento staple!

 

The lack of fruit is making me hesitate on smoothies. My husband likes the ones just made of sweet protein powder, but I can't stand them, especially first thing in the morning. Ugh.

 

Heh. Kanji. yeah, it's kind of goofy. Here's my favorite description of how kanji came to be, from the website Kanjidamage: (NSFW language)

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the beginning, Chinese dudes wrote pictographs - pictures that looked like the things they represented. The drawback was that writing a paragraph took as much time as drawing a comic book, because IT WAS drawing a comic book! So they (Who? Sages, motherfucker, sages! Who else?) simplified the pictographs into what we now call Kanji. How?

So, the bad news is that the kanji for 'country' (国) has nothing to do with the meaning of balls (玉 ), nor the meaning of box (å£).

 

Step one: They chose 200 or so RADICALS as their building blocks.

Step 2:

Any pictograph that was too hard, they said, "OK, what radical does the top part most closely resemble? Swap 'em! What radical does the left part most closely resemble? Swap 'em!" and so on.

For example, the old, complicated kanji for country is åœ‹. And the current kanji for country is å›½.

Now, from the foreigner's point of view, this change is retarded in two ways.

1) the radical that was swapped into the center of the new version means " jewel." (a jewel in a box? What does that have to do with a country?)

2 ) the simplified å›½ looks almost the same as the kanji for treasure; å® (more confusion!).

But try looking at it from the point of view of the sages: they didn't have computers, they got bad arthritis, and they had to draw these crazy hard pictographs all damn day. So one of the sages, in his wisdom, said, "OK, fuck this! Can't we swap the center bit for a simpler radical?" And the other sage replied, "Dood, if you drink enough sake, the center bit looks kind of like 玉."

And the first sage was like, "Man you are just high as hell, but it's late and I got mad poems to write about seasons and shit, so yeah, let's just say åœ‹ is now officially å›½ and call it a day."

So that is how that went down.

 

 

Euhh Yeah that all sounds very confusing with the different writing systems and context-dependent changes, wow. I'm glad Chinese is simpler in that way. I do recognize those Kanji, for they mean exactly the same in simplified Chinese (which is the writing system that I'm learning):

国 = Guó ('Gwoh''; Country)

水 = Shùí ('shway'; Water)

 

Chinese characters also do look a lot like each other, which can be confusing. But often it helps reminding oneself what they stand for. For example, you have the word for horse, 'ma' (third tone, can't write Pinyin on my laptop sadly) and a phonetically similar word for mother 'ma' (first tone). The latter is written as 'woman' and 'horse' together in one character. The 'woman' part shows that the word is about a woman, the 'horse' part gives a hint about the pronunciation. Funny huh?

[Alexandrite]

I love that you do bento! I'm wanting to conquer that for my next challenge. How did it turn out?

And don't even get me started on Jou stuff. There are way too many kanji with that pronunciation! >_<

How's your week been going workout wise?

- Mobile communication granted.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Sorry to be so long! Here's my update, of sorts:

Well, the running and greens-eating have gone very well, but the bodyweight plans have fallen through every week so far.

Last week, I ate well, no doubt. And I ran twice – once on Tuesday and once on Saturday. Admitedly, I did far less well on Saturday (some alignment of the stars/my lefe choices led to me being tired and underfed, running in the hottest part of the day, just as my lunar complaint is beginning to sap me. So I walked quite a bit more than usual. Did the whole thing, though, and stretched a lot, so I call it a win. Only managed one of the three bodyweight sessions. I need to either get up even earlier on days I’ll be travelling (maybe 5:30/5:45? Not sure how realistic that is, considering I live with my husband in a studio apartment and he does not go to bed before ten, under almost any circumstances), or make a point to do it as soon as I get back. Get home, change, go straight to the park before anything else.

My INT quest is having mixed success. I am keeping up on my studies, but the text I’m using doesn’t necessarily give me ten kanji a week. I guess I got spoiled, back when I had 8 hours a day to study. I may have to supplement my kanji learning with Kanji Damage or the basic first 1000 list.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

I love that you do bento! I'm wanting to conquer that for my next challenge. How did it turn out?

And don't even get me started on Jou stuff. There are way too many kanji with that pronunciation! >_<

How's your week been going workout wise?

- Mobile communication granted.

 

Bento is a ton of fun! And using bento boxes really helps me see what I'm eating, and how much of each. It also helps with portion control and trying to eat a variety of things every day. I'll post some of my bento pics once I get them online, but in the meantime, this is where I go for 90% of my bento inspiration and instruction: http://justbento.com/recipes

 

Kick around the "recipes" and "basics" tabs for a bit, and see if you don't get inspired! I have been much better about eating a filling, balanced meal every midday since I came to Japan. (knowing the school lunch doesn't work with my dietary restrictions and that there isn't a burrito joint three blocks from school makes packing a lunch every day a necessity).

 

My bentos are usually:

a small onigiri

a hard-boiled egg (or tamagoyaki)

beans with Kombu

Hijiki salad

Some kind of stir-fry, usually with cabbage, sweet potato, and other stuff. mirin and shoyu to taste

At least one other veggie side dish or pickle, often bought at the konbeni or suupaa.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Sorry to be so long! Here's my update, of sorts:

 

 

My INT quest is having mixed success. I am keeping up on my studies, but the text I’m using doesn’t necessarily give me ten kanji a week. I guess I got spoiled, back when I had 8 hours a day to study. I may have to supplement my kanji learning with Kanji Damage or the basic first 1000 list.

 

Hilarious. As soon as I finished writing this, I went back to my studying, and Lo and behold: "There’s something a little different about the kanji you’re supposed to learn for this chapter. Instead of there being five . . . there are ten."

Et voila.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Grr. Argh. I get just enough traction during the work day to perk up a bit and get stuff done, but this time 'round the cycle is just beating on me.I'll try again tonight, but at the rate I'm going . . .

 

I walked rather than rode to school today, to at least stem the tide of sucking.

[Alexandrite]

I loved the recent NF blog post about doing what you can, when you can, wherever you have a chance. And the whole "not two in a row" thing really motivates me.

Are you using WaniKani by any chance? =)

- Mobile communication granted.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

I actually just found WaniKani! I need to figure out how to transfer funds from my Japanese bank to my American one to pay for note than the first two chapters. It's pretty much all review at the moment, but at least I get the slight egoboost of getting 100% on my first radicals test!

Thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes I need to remember that even if I'm not meeting my 6week challenges at the moment, I'm still running laps around the me that drove everywhere, and never worked out or ate many vegetables. It's a process, I know. I just get the lunacy sometimes, makes me tired and then guilty about being lazy.

[Tzippi Longstockings]

Okay, managed to get home and go out to the park and do 3 circuits!

I had been tired and grouchy all day (and feeling it all the more because I really was trying to fake*it-til-U-make-it Pollyanna the hell out of today, and be genki and happy at everyone.

I decided to get dressed in my workout clothes, put on my "Badassery" playlist, and do as much as I could. I felt good after two flights down the stairs, and jogged the slightly longer way (4 minute walk) to the park. I then managed all three circuits, and even did the bench jumps, instead of step-ups!

I am now very sleepy, but yay and bravo. Here's to just doing *something*.

[Alexandrite]

YES!! Don't you just love playlists that push you through it all!! Way to keep at it! Make sure to drink extra water to help you recover!

I actually haven't done the paid part of WaniKani and stopped after the two first lessons. I really had a hard time getting over the way I had learned Japanese previously (took seven years in high school and college). It became too tough at times for me to re-remember something I had learned differently already.

But then again, I started learning multiple readings at once, which was a totally awesome thing for me, so I'm considering starting it up again. I used the Android app for it and liked the interface. I also use Obenkyou for overview and study. Simplistic interface with great quizzing features. And you can separate out vocabulary/kanji according to the JLPT levels or make your own focus lists.

Maybe its time for me to label my house in kanji again... Got an email from our Japanese friend in Nagoya last night saying she's waiting for us to come visit again! You've motivated me to keep at it too, thank you!

- Mobile communication granted.