It’s a brand new year and if you haven’t noticed yet the site has also been revamped with the Casperion theme so that it no longer has the basic default theme that ships with Ghost. Truth be told the redesign came about due to a failed upgrade attempt which meant I had to redo a lot of the back-end of my site so it was the perfect chance to do some much needed tinkering behind the scenes and get things looking a bit brighter for 2015.

This is the time of year that most people take time to be with their families and spend time with people they love or haven’t seen in a long time. As for me though, I’m spending time in the office working hard (or hardly working) which is the first time in my life that I’ve actually not spent time with my family or friends on Christmas day itself.

For me December has always been a time of warm sunny days that are spent relaxing at home with family or hanging out with friends at the beach. Japanese winters though are a beast of a different nature.

One of my main gripes with the winters here in Japan is that I lose the chance to get out for regular jogs. It’s exacerbated by the longer commute I do at my new school which sees me arrive back home when it’s pitch dark and freezing cold, not exactly the most wonderful environment to go jogging in.

One of the main drawbacks with working in schools here in Japan is that you’ll be exposed to a multitude of germs and viruses that almost every kid seems intent on spreading on to you.

With the end of August in sight, it means that in the next few weeks classes will start up, and the summer holidays will be a thing of the past.

I’m just about all set up in my new ALT position after a few busy weeks of paperwork, moving and what feels like a thousand other things that are all part and parcel of moving work & home in Japan.

Well hello there! It’s been almost an age since I’ve last had a chance to grace this site with any sort of update. You can’t say I didn’t warn you though!

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to sit down and knock out a few hundred words for this here blog. With good reason though as I’ve been rushing to and fro in my quest to obtain a visa extension for give me another few years in Japan as my original visa is about to reach the end of its usefulness.

A few years back if you’d asked me if there was any chance of me becoming a regular jogger I’d have probably died from laughter. Fast forward to now though and most days after I get home from school I strap on pair of trainers and take to the roads winding through the rice fields near my apartment.