Well hello!
This is the second post in a row where I feel I should introduce myself before diving into the main topic... A couple of days ago I introduced myself to the Hive Collectors community, and now I have chanced upon this Weekend Experiences community that I'd like to contribute to.
I'm a British geezer who's lived in Japan for a few decades. I'm self-employed as a freelance teacher to earn my yen, and I run an online affiliate marketing biz to earn myself some dollars and bitcoin. 😉.
I came across this community when I noticed a post by @livinguktaiwan about the Graz Hive meetup, which I was aware of thanks to a post by @ph1102 on the @liotes blog, so there was a double incentive to check out the post... and that is that brought me here.
How I'm Spending My Golden Week Long Weekend
We are right bang smack in the middle of "Golden Week" here in Japan - a series of national holidays plus the weekend which gives millions of Japanese people a chance to have a 5-7 day late spring holiday.
In my case, I have a six day break that began last Thursday. That day my daughter moved to Nagoya to take up a new job. Early Saturday morning the Mrs left home to hot foot it up to Nagoya to check out the daughter's situation and visit Elder Sister in Gifu, so I have had the whole weekend completely to myself, as well as most of Thursday and Friday, also today (Monday) and tomorrow.
For me, this has been a nice opportunity to play the merry hermit and avoid the madding crowds.
This weekend in Hiroshima, as well as the thousands of foreign tourists (almost every one of whom seems to think it is necessary to bring three or four wardrobe-sized suitcases or backbacks with them. What on earth do they cram into those vast and barely portable caverns? Guys and girls, there are SHOPS in Japan and the yen is LOW. Get a grip and travel light), there will be tens of thousands of domestic tourists pouring into the city centre for...
- the Flower Festival that stretches the length of Peace Boulevard for about three days
- Baseball - Hiroshima Carp is playing at home for three days running
- Football - San Frecce football team is also playing at home right in the city centre
So I am staying at home and alone for the whole of Golden Week, and only going out to visit the local convenience stores to get vital necessities such as bread, beer and wine.
I have plenty to keep me occupied, and to keep the inner negative-thought-demons at bay (for most of the time at least). My projects include:
(1) Working on my online business.
(2) Playing Splinterlands and blogging here on Hive (which I managed to do on Friday and Saturday, but not on Sunday).
(3) Working out (which I managed to do on all three days of the weekend). I don't spend hours of my time on this. My two main workouts can be done in ten minutes flat. Yesterday, I went through my third workout, which is a bit more challenging and takes about 20 minutes to get done.
(4) Chess: working my way through 357 chess problems in "Zauberwelt der Komination" by the Soviet chess master, Jakow Neistadt as I explained in this blog post in the New Year: @hirohurl/my-east-german-chess-challenge-for-2025-together-with-bittersweet-memories-of-times-past
I aim to finish this project before the end of May...
(5) Reading: "The Game of Saturn: Decoding the Sola-Busca tarocci" by Peter Mark Adams
I am interested in the Renaissance and in the origins of the tarot in Italy. The Sola-Busca is the earliest surviving complete tarot deck that has a similar structure to the 78 card Marseilles tarot deck, but with many completely different images, many of them somewhat disturbing. Peter Mark Adams has made a detailed and compelling study of the deck and its association with the d'Este despots of Ferrara. Who needs to go out for entertainment when material such as this and a bottle of wine are close at hand?!
Just to show that I do go out sometimes...
I took this "outdoor" photo on my way to the convenience store to get some bread and beer this morning, Monday morning in Japan, but still within the time limit to publish this post for the "weekend" - and indeed, Monday (today) is still part of my nice l-o-n-g and cheerfully solitary weekend.
This rather unprepossessing river is at the end of my street (behind me). To get to the convenience store, or bakers when it is open, I head up the road and over the bridge and it's just a minute's stoll down the main road.
Okay, that's enough about my hermetic weekend. Let's address the questions:
- Could you cut out sugar permanently? Explain why or why not.
At first, I thought my answer would be, "Yes" but on reflection, it is more likely to be "No." I don't add sugar to tea or coffee, I hardly ever drink coca-cola or other sugar-laden drinks. I don't crave cakes, but I do have a reputation among my college students for sharing Meiji Chocolate Almonds, which I really wouldn't want to eschew, and just this morning I happened to buy THIS alluring box of "premium butter and caramel" choco macadamias from the convenience store:
So, my "final answer" is NO!
- If you didn't have to work for your financial security (didn't need a job) what would you be doing instead?
I would be in Italy studying Italian, Latin, ancient Rome and the Renaissance.
- What financial plan (other than crypto currency) have you put in place to secure your future? Explain.
(1) A UK index fund that has done surprisingly well, but which I stopped contributing to when the yen dropped in value...
(2) Build my online business
That's about it, apart from crypto currency...
- Give three reasons why people should like you and explain each.
(1) I'm good company - especially if you like a party. I enjoy foolish chatter and banter.
(2) I'm a good listener and like to hear other people's perspectives on life. Several decades of language teaching has helped me develop this skill.
(3) I don't feel the need to try and persuade you why you are wrong or I am right. Oh, that being said, I might just play the Devil's Advocate, especially so if your viewpoint is expressed with too much moral rectitude, he he.
What makes you angry, annoyed or upset and why?
It takes a lot to make me angry these days. The last time was two years ago when a colleague tried to browbeat me into going into a classroom to clean a board that he accused me of leaving too many ink marks on after insufficiently erasing it (whether it was actually me who had left it in such a state or not is another matter). I told him straight I was not going to do that. He'd walked down six storeys to confront me in the staffroom - and got a prompt flea in his ear! Nobody has ever complained to another teacher about such trifling matters. I have often had to erase complete boards where a teacher has forgotten to do it himself, and thought nothing of it. In that moment I saw in what low estimate he held our "friendship" and am grateful for that insight!The wife and daughter annoy me when they are pointedly not listening to me, having their eyes glued to their phones; but am I innocent of such rudeness when the Mrs regales me with yet another long and boring story, the end of which I can already guess though I am expected to wait several minutes while she goes round and round the main point several times without pausing for breath?
Enough!
Now I must get back to the rest of my long weekend of cheerful solitude...
Cheers!
David Hurley
#InspiredFocus