10 Goals to Shoot For

Although this is not the beginning of a new year I thought I would map out a few of my goals for the rest of this year. I suppose like so many out there, I have goals, large and small that I often think about, but am also guilty of “only” thinking about as opposed to seeing them through.

1. Get back in the habit of posting on this blog more often. I really like writing here and earlier this year, when I was writing consistently, the number of readers here was constantly growing. Time to jump back in a keep developing this great readership!

2. Continue my charity work. As of writing this blog, my Running to Help Japan project is at 52% of my goal. I have raised more than $2500 for Save the Children Japan. Although this charity project I started has been time consuming (spreading the word through social networking) and the training itself, it has been beyond satisfying! I plan to keep it going throughout the year.

3. Learn more about being a good father and husband. I’m just an average guy who can always make room for improvement! I think I am already a good family man, but I know I can focus more on spending quality and meaningful time with the two greatest people in my life; my wife and son!

4. Kick butt in this years’ Osaka Marathon. I was lucky to land a slot in the first Osaka Marathon on October 30, 2011. I am excited to run in another major event. My best marathon time is 3hrs 59mins. I plan to run this one n 3hrs 40mins!

5. To write honest and interesting pieces on this blog (excluding this one of course…hehe).

6. I plan to write my first children’s novel/storybook. I have been a teacher for almost 10 years now. For the past 3 years I have been teaching young learners. I have read hundreds of children’s storybooks. I have my own personal collection of children’s literature here at home. I love storybooks and fun novels for young readers. I’ve been thinking about writing my own for several years now. I realize I have the ability and think I know a fair amount about children’s tastes. This year, I’m going to stop thinking about and get around to doing it! I plan to use my class as a great resource. They’ll be perfect for running my ideas buy and testing material on.

7. Begin re-growing my hair. Never mind…that one isn’t achievable!

8. Refocus my creative energies away from You Tube (I’ve lost the joy for video blogging and it’s no longer rewarding or me) to writing, blogging and possibly podcasting.

9. Focus on life after Japan. Time to seriously begin my teaching career in Canada. Research (where to live) and job hunting will begin this year. I will not limit myself by geography. There is a teacher surplus in many parts of Canada so we will go to an area that has a need.

10. Spend an amazing Christmas holiday in Canada. I’m looking forward to introducing my son to his grandparents and family in Canada, in person. Also, Canadian pizza, Tim Hortons breakfast sandwiches and Sleeman’s Honey Brown Ale are high on my list of priorities!

50 Things That Make Me Happy

Lists are fun to make. Lists are fun to write. Lists are fun to write about. I decided to make another “List” blog.

What makes me happy? That is always a good question. Many things of course make me happy and they make me happy to different degrees. I thought it would be fun to just sit down and make a list (sometimes humorous) about the various things that make me happy! These are not all Japan-related and are in random order (the first 2 are my top priorities though).


HERE WE GO:

1. My wife and son (of course that’s #1)

2. My family back in Canada (I am tight with my family)

3. Pizza (here in Japan I make it from scratch at home)

4. Polo Burger (at a pub called Polo Dog in Kobe)

5. Running early in the morning.

6. Running late in the evening.

7. Milk chocolate

8. Kettle chips (love crispy potato chips…just salted)

9. Harvey’s hamburgers (only in Canada)

10. BBQing on the back deck (can’t do that in Japan)

11. Castles (all over the place here)

12. The cool and crazy things I see everyday in Japan

13. Cold beer on a hot summer day.

14. Cold beer on a crisp Fall day.

15. Yakisoba

16. My wife’s cooking

17. My son’s excitement when I walk in the door every evening from work.

18. Dreaming of having an adventure

19. Finishing a marathon

20. Blogging

21. Video blogging

22. How happy my students are to see me every morning

23. Hiking in the woods

24. Watching my son make new discoveries

25. Tim Horton’s breakfast sandwiched (yep…I am a proud Canadian)

26. Weekends

27. Cold beer on a cold Winter’s day

28. A nice red wine

29. Cooking

30. Starbucks

31. Coffee (anytime…anywhere)

32. Popcorn

33. The really genki (energetic) clerk at my local Lawsons (convenience store)

34. Apple products

35. The friends I’ve made through new media

36. The fact that my hobby is turning into a part-time job (sort of)

37. Writing

38. Teaching

39. Living in the beautiful city of Kobe

40. Being from Cape Breton

41. East Coast music (Canada)

42. Soon I will only have a 5 day work week

43. Q (the CBC radio show)

44. Cold beer on a wet Spring day

45. My iPhone

46. TWiT (This Week in Tech…the podcast)

47. Daydreams of buying a new camera and laptop (DSLR and a MacBook Pro)

48. The smell of a fresh pot of coffee in the morning!

49. Sleep

50. Vacation time to hang out with my family!


By the way, you have probably already heard that I was a panelist last week in the Seoul Podcast. It was cool to hear today that the episode I was featured in and my You Tube channel were mentioned on the Japan Talk podcast!

A really great information video for anyone interested in traveling to or moving to Korea:


You awesome folks can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev