The Secret

I missed the workout last night. I think it was the safety drill we did yesterday. Standing in the sun for almost an hour just wore me out.
I got home last night and played with the boys, Joey Jo Jo and Chilly Willy. There's a kid in Will's kindergarten that I've got my eye on. He's an older boy called Junsei. The other week Will came home with a scratch on each cheek. Apparently Junsei likes to pinch Will's cheeks, and like all the little fuckers here he has long nails. I'm not sure if it really bothers Will, but I told him he should punch Junsei in the nose as hard as he could the next time Junsei does this. So I get home yesterday and Will's drawing with crayons, like he always does now, and I asked him what he was drawing. "William punched Junsei-kun in the nose" he said, and I could see in the picture two boys, one with a long arm punching the other in the nose. "Did he cry?" I asked. "No," said Will. "Well, next time make him cry, okay?" I'm not really sure if he punched Junsei or not, it's hard to tell. But I want Will to know that I am on his side. Has anyone read "Ender's Game"? I would recommend that book to any young boy, because the main character is bullied, but his reaction is calculated, smart, and effective. It's a great story about being a leader. I want Will to be able to fight, so that if anyone crosses the line with him, he can break their nose.
So I missed my workout. The last week I have felt really tired sometimes. Kind of a flash back to this time last year when I would just get exhausted. It might be the weather, or the reduction in meal size, or maybe all this resistance work in Chalean is taking more of a toll that I think. Dunno. But I fell asleep with Will about 9 last night, and I don't think I could have done the workout if I was awake. I certainly have been getting enough sleep lately, so that's not the issue. Anyway, whatever it is, I don't feel sick. I'm putting it down to the workouts and the weather. It's still very warm, but not so humid. Great summer weather, actually.
I've seen a few more foreigners around town than usual lately. Schools in. These guys are assistant language teachers (ALTs). They are paid by city education departments or dispatch companies to go to Primary Schools or Junior high schools and basically be a performing monkey. I did this for a couple of months before I got this job and man did I fucking hate it. A typical day would be go the school in the morning (heads turning, people pointing, kids screaming "Hello!" as you enter), rush into the staff room for some peace and quiet, except when teachers would escort a couple of nervous kids in for an audience with the foreigner and poke the kids saying "Come on, speak English!" and the kids would ask "How are you?" and I would say "Good, how are you?" and they would say "Huh?" Then morning assembly, more heads turning, pointing, "Hello!", and then I would have a class. The young kids would go crazy, and I would have to do some stupid singing and dancing or play some game while dodging blows to the nuts and "Kanchou!" which is Japanese for "enema." They don't have dead legs or shoulder corkys here, but they do try to jam their fingers up each other's assholes for some reason. And English teachers are fair game too, apparently. I've heard of a case where a teacher had to go to hospital because his rectum was bleeding. I was aware of it and wouldn't let any kid get behind me, and if they tried, I grabbed their hand and squeezed it and told them to fuck off under my breath. After the lesson I would be mobbed so I had to run to the classroom like I'm a Beatle in A Hard Day's Night or something, and then I would scrub my hands up to my elbows to get all the germs and dead eczema cells off me. Four or five times a day this would happen. The older kids would just mess around. A lot of them slept. The poor kids have so much shit to do, like sports, cleaning up, preparing lunches, that they just get worn out. These were a little easier, and I would just speak Japanese to them and try to be cool. Then after school, I would often go and do baseball training with them. The first time I did batting practice, I let the first pitch go, then smashed the next one out of the park. That was a fantastic moment. That was pretty good, actually. The only part I miss.
You do get a lot of holidays, and you can learn Japanese very quickly, but generally, teaching in public schools is only a slight step up from teaching in the language school chains, and both are pretty much shit. I'm ashamed I did it for so long. I should have been in Australia doing something worthwhile. Oh well.
Have you guys heard about a thing called "The Secret"? I'm joking! I have a mate into that, and he made me watch the DVD. Huge laod of bullshit. But I do think saying something out loud helps makes it come true, good or bad. So here goes. I will be living back in Australia by the time I turn 40. That's in four and a half years. Doesn't mean I have to wait that long to go back, but on my 40th birthday, I will wake up in my own place in Australia, have a nice job, Junko and the kids with me, and I checked, it's a Saturday, so I will be getting ready for a round of golf. I'll have my Japanese level 1, be in the best shape of my life, and fuck it, be playing off a handicap of 5.
I can't go back without a job, though. I tried that last time, and it didn't work, so I'm going to have to apply myself so I'm a chance. Where do I want to be, and what do I have to do to get there? Simple as that. Remove the ego, the voice that says I'm wasting my time or that I can't do it (at the moment it's saying, dude, you're 35. You couldn't study when you were 16! Give it up!), make plans, schedules, buy what I have to buy, do what I have to do, like a machine. Just like I have done with my exercise. I want to get to the stage that I'm at with my exercise where if I don't study, or go to Japanese class, or whatever, then I feel like shit and am compelled to double-up the next day. Like this morning, I got up at 5 and did Yoga, because I didn't do it last night. So I've done the first step and applied for the test, and I've got exactly 3 months to get my shit together and get Level 2. Like what Paul Roos said to the Swans before the 2005 Grand Final - "If you do what I tell you to do, I guarantee you will win." All I have to do is decide what I have to do, do it, and I am guaranteed success. Easy.
Just did some research into the canned coffee that I drink. One can has about 75 mg of caffeine in it, and I'm drinking 3 or 4 of them a day. That's about the same amount of caffeine as in a Red Bull. Holy shit. I was a little shaky after my after-lunch can, so that explains it. And I've had another can since then! Armed with this knowledge, I'm sure I'll think twice next time I've put the money in the vending machine and the little buttons are flashing and I'm wondering what I feel like to drink. But they are so so sweeeet!