Yesterday was the first day of observation and orientation like activities at my new job. Sat in on several classes and started to get a feel for how things work. To be honest I am not looking forward to this job. I hope it changes as things go on, but it feels like a step backwards or at least just sideways from what I have been doing and what I want to be doing. A place holder I guess until I can finish my psych studies. But I did really enjoy teaching before in China, so I hope that is still there. One thing that I really like about teaching was being able to see the progression in the students and know that I was in part responsible for that. The new school only has 8 weeks with the students before changing around, which is good but not a long time and maybe not enough to see any real improvement before changing to a new cohort. Better for the students to have exposure to a different teacher, but maybe not as good for me...
On the plus side I finally found a good listing of upcoming distance running and triathlon events in Hawaii. I signed up for the Hapalua half-marathon next month, March 10. And then there are a string of triathlons about once a month. But the tri's can get expensive to register, its a costly t-shirt. But it should keep me in pretty good shape. Next goal is a sub 100 minute half-marathon, so far a 102 and a 106, if I take the pace and slow it down from the Aloha run, 95 minutes seems pretty easy, but it never quite works like that.
I also found what seems to be a pretty good Muay Thai gym last night, M-1 Martial Arts. The only thing that sucks is the limited hours, M-W-F-Sat nights. Which is limited, but maybe also a good thing if I can work my schedule to be there every class and run/distance train on the off days I should be able to take advantage of all there classes. After talking with the coach it seems that there are a series of small events about once a month. So I am hoping that I can train on the regular and maybe get into an event in April. Between the distance events and boxing I think my cardio should be pretty strong.
Now if I can find a spot at UH and save some real money to get some toys, motorcycle, archery set, surf/snorkel/dive gear, I think the weekends here could also start to be some real fun.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
GAR, 2/18/2013
Today was the Great Aloha Run (GAR), a 8.1 mile race from downtown to the Aloha Stadium. Not to long, but partly because of that a very heavily attended event. After some test runs in Australia, I was pretty sure that I would be able to break one hour, but was not expecting to be able to put down 51m16s. I am very happy with that. A slight strain on my hamstring, but I think it should be ok in a couple of days. Other than that I feel pretty good. Up early, a little tired, but good.
My roommates got mimosa makings for my return so on getting back to the house drinks were waiting, another nice touch. When I got the final results I came in 58th overall out of 18,000+, 54 of men and 12th in my division (25-29). The top three finishers were also the same division, with a winning time of 39m46s, so I dont think im going to be shaving 12 minutes if I go again. But I am happy with the time, I have wanted to put down a sub 40 minute 10k for a while and this pace beats that. Now I have to see if I can roll this cardio into a kickboxing match or something else.
Not sure if I am going to be able to maintain my training schedule, next week it will be back to work for the first time in about 7 months. Not really that demanding, 17+ hours a week teaching ESL from a pretty clearly developed course material, so most of the work is already done. But I am going to keep looking at the University of Hawaii and see what I can find and maybe get something more serious.
On top of work, my next semester of school is also starting next week, 3 classes in employee management and HRM. As long as the part-time schedule holds i should be good, but moving to a new full time job and going to class full time is going to make training seriously a challenge to say the least.... but then i do like money. work and get money and have no time to spend it, dont work and have all the time and no fucking money. that just seems like a cruel joke.
My roommates got mimosa makings for my return so on getting back to the house drinks were waiting, another nice touch. When I got the final results I came in 58th overall out of 18,000+, 54 of men and 12th in my division (25-29). The top three finishers were also the same division, with a winning time of 39m46s, so I dont think im going to be shaving 12 minutes if I go again. But I am happy with the time, I have wanted to put down a sub 40 minute 10k for a while and this pace beats that. Now I have to see if I can roll this cardio into a kickboxing match or something else.
Not sure if I am going to be able to maintain my training schedule, next week it will be back to work for the first time in about 7 months. Not really that demanding, 17+ hours a week teaching ESL from a pretty clearly developed course material, so most of the work is already done. But I am going to keep looking at the University of Hawaii and see what I can find and maybe get something more serious.
On top of work, my next semester of school is also starting next week, 3 classes in employee management and HRM. As long as the part-time schedule holds i should be good, but moving to a new full time job and going to class full time is going to make training seriously a challenge to say the least.... but then i do like money. work and get money and have no time to spend it, dont work and have all the time and no fucking money. that just seems like a cruel joke.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
brisbane, 2/15/2013
last day in brisbane, well au, for some time. bags a re mostly packed, something like 35kg (75+ lbs) to bring back and a few things still to consider. i am impressed again by maryann's memory of the kitchen items that i passed on to her for safe keeping until they could be reclaimed. outside of one kitchen knife i had pretty much forgotten the rest. and i am not sure what i will be able to safely take with without risking breakage in flight. but still, wouldnt even have noticed the other things if she hadnt mentioned them.
yesterday, i went with jo, wes, zara, and amity to lonely pines, which sounds like a retirement home to me, koala park. i guess there are some old koalas enjoying their twilight, but overall it was a fun park to return to and play with the animals. the sheepdog demostration was fun and made me think that a border collie mix would just be great for frisbee, but need to be able to run the shit out of it to burn off the energy. beyond the intended animals there were also the common wildlife, lizards and turkeys, that are every where around here. to attract a lizard and get it to hold still amity had the brilliant idea of peeing on the ground. little did we all know, but it was like crack for a bearded dragon nearby who proceeding to lie and frollick in the urine like a pig in shit. seemed like the happiest lizard i have seen in a while. and because it was so content it was ignoring all the people around, we were sitting at the snack stand, and the other park guests were quickly snapping pics of the becalmed lizard. little did they know the secret to getting it to stay still.
now with bank accounts closed, postcards sent, and bags mostly packed, i guess its time to head back to the states and begin the next part of this journey that i have been on. it keeps changing direction and now has brought me somewhere i never had planned to be. but looking back now, i cant think of a place that i would rather be.
yesterday, i went with jo, wes, zara, and amity to lonely pines, which sounds like a retirement home to me, koala park. i guess there are some old koalas enjoying their twilight, but overall it was a fun park to return to and play with the animals. the sheepdog demostration was fun and made me think that a border collie mix would just be great for frisbee, but need to be able to run the shit out of it to burn off the energy. beyond the intended animals there were also the common wildlife, lizards and turkeys, that are every where around here. to attract a lizard and get it to hold still amity had the brilliant idea of peeing on the ground. little did we all know, but it was like crack for a bearded dragon nearby who proceeding to lie and frollick in the urine like a pig in shit. seemed like the happiest lizard i have seen in a while. and because it was so content it was ignoring all the people around, we were sitting at the snack stand, and the other park guests were quickly snapping pics of the becalmed lizard. little did they know the secret to getting it to stay still.
now with bank accounts closed, postcards sent, and bags mostly packed, i guess its time to head back to the states and begin the next part of this journey that i have been on. it keeps changing direction and now has brought me somewhere i never had planned to be. but looking back now, i cant think of a place that i would rather be.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Byron Bay, 2/12/2013
The whole group has made it down to Byron Bay for four days in a house swap. The place is nice and quite close to the downtown area, which for Australia seems pretty big. The last time I was here was only a day trip so it is nice to be here for an extended period of time.
The main attractions so far have been hiking and surfing. Everyone went out on a quick hike toward the light house. However, since Zara was scheduled for a private surf lesson later in the day she did most of the hike on my shoulders to save her energy for later. Later that evening when I went running my quads were much more tired than usual, I am not sure if there was a connection... The next day after being inspired by Zara's success on the water, Wes and I did a group surf lesson. It was really fun.
We were with a small group, maybe 5 or 6 people and after an overly long hour on the beach we got in the water to try our luck. It was surprisingly easy at first. And then I started to think about all the other variables that we didnt have to worry about. The instructors were choosing the waves for us, telling us when to paddle and in the beginning when to stand and what not. I was able to stand up for a decent amount of time on pretty much all of my rides except for one or two immediate failures. Looking back it would have been nice to been able to try some individual attempts while the instructors were still there to watch or ask questions to get feedback, but then I guess I will just have to go out myself and see if I can translate what I learned into real surfing and not the hand-holding surfing we did.
Still it was fun and I can see how people could get into it. It reminded me a lot of snow boarding, a steep initial learning curve and then the ability to progress fairly quickly and then at the extreme ends becoming ridiculously hard again. All the instructions seemed like they could easily have been translated from water to powder without any loss of meaning or different vocabulary. It would be pretty fun to get to New Zealand and surf the morning while snowboarding the afternoon. But that is a trip that will be a long way off in the planning.
Today we are headed back to Brisbane for a couple days and the for me it will be back to Hawaii. Next week I start working, or at least orientation and then real classes the following week. I havent worked in almost 7 months, even going back to 16-17 hours a week seems a little daunting. That along with taking the heaviest course load (3 classes) and trying to really getting training again to get into the ring in Hawaii, seems like a lot to be trying for without a lot of funds to support it all. And on top of all that trying to find as much time as I can to spend with Jayci around her somewhat odd and shifting schedule. Just a lot of change to get through before I can settle into some kind of routine...be nice to be able to plan beyond the week or month again.
The main attractions so far have been hiking and surfing. Everyone went out on a quick hike toward the light house. However, since Zara was scheduled for a private surf lesson later in the day she did most of the hike on my shoulders to save her energy for later. Later that evening when I went running my quads were much more tired than usual, I am not sure if there was a connection... The next day after being inspired by Zara's success on the water, Wes and I did a group surf lesson. It was really fun.
We were with a small group, maybe 5 or 6 people and after an overly long hour on the beach we got in the water to try our luck. It was surprisingly easy at first. And then I started to think about all the other variables that we didnt have to worry about. The instructors were choosing the waves for us, telling us when to paddle and in the beginning when to stand and what not. I was able to stand up for a decent amount of time on pretty much all of my rides except for one or two immediate failures. Looking back it would have been nice to been able to try some individual attempts while the instructors were still there to watch or ask questions to get feedback, but then I guess I will just have to go out myself and see if I can translate what I learned into real surfing and not the hand-holding surfing we did.
Still it was fun and I can see how people could get into it. It reminded me a lot of snow boarding, a steep initial learning curve and then the ability to progress fairly quickly and then at the extreme ends becoming ridiculously hard again. All the instructions seemed like they could easily have been translated from water to powder without any loss of meaning or different vocabulary. It would be pretty fun to get to New Zealand and surf the morning while snowboarding the afternoon. But that is a trip that will be a long way off in the planning.
Today we are headed back to Brisbane for a couple days and the for me it will be back to Hawaii. Next week I start working, or at least orientation and then real classes the following week. I havent worked in almost 7 months, even going back to 16-17 hours a week seems a little daunting. That along with taking the heaviest course load (3 classes) and trying to really getting training again to get into the ring in Hawaii, seems like a lot to be trying for without a lot of funds to support it all. And on top of all that trying to find as much time as I can to spend with Jayci around her somewhat odd and shifting schedule. Just a lot of change to get through before I can settle into some kind of routine...be nice to be able to plan beyond the week or month again.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Brisbane, 2/8/2013
Arrived in Brisbane last night. Flight from HI was pretty uneventful. Although I didnt know that airlines could not serve water on international flights. Jetstar, cheap as shit airlines, charges $3.50 for water on the flight and with not being able to bring drinks through security, you are pretty much at their mercy. Its getting to the point that you have to plan to bring an empty bottle through security to fill it before getting on the flight. Now I know I am a cheap-ass, not wanting to buy water at the airport, but seriously Im broke or almost, I need to save money. And the airline should be giving out a cup of water on the flight.
But enough bitching about that. The weather here is nice although I can feel that I am battling a slight cold coming on. I really want to be running to get ready for the race on the 18th when I get back and to be in shape to have a chance to compete in March, but dont want to run myself down in the process. What to do?
Also its nice seeing all my stuff that has been waiting for me since I moved from China. It was kind of like Christmas to see everything that I had forgotten about. I am still trying to track a few things down. It will be really nice to have the projector up and running in my new room in HI, very fortuitous to have a projector screen already mounted in the bedroom. The only thing left now is to find the 2T hard drive that has all my movies on it.
I already went for a run today and still feel pretty good, so I am hoping this cold feeling is more the result of travel and dehydration than anything else. Just have to keep it easy, which i am not the best at till it passes.
But enough bitching about that. The weather here is nice although I can feel that I am battling a slight cold coming on. I really want to be running to get ready for the race on the 18th when I get back and to be in shape to have a chance to compete in March, but dont want to run myself down in the process. What to do?
Also its nice seeing all my stuff that has been waiting for me since I moved from China. It was kind of like Christmas to see everything that I had forgotten about. I am still trying to track a few things down. It will be really nice to have the projector up and running in my new room in HI, very fortuitous to have a projector screen already mounted in the bedroom. The only thing left now is to find the 2T hard drive that has all my movies on it.
I already went for a run today and still feel pretty good, so I am hoping this cold feeling is more the result of travel and dehydration than anything else. Just have to keep it easy, which i am not the best at till it passes.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Happy Birthday Jayci, 2/3/2013
A couple of things have happened over the last week to keep me busy and get things rolling here. First, I found out that I was denied the job at UH, mainly because I did not have experience in handling the visa process for students coming into the US education system, which was supposed to be a main component of the job. So that kinda sucked, but it gives me the option to study full-time this semester, I think I am going to take 3 classes and grab a part-time job for now. I had interviewed with a couple of private ESL schools and was offered a job by one called IEE, forget what the letters stand for at the moment. Anyway they seem to have an easy enough schedule (Tuesday to Friday, 8:50-1:00). And they keep the hours nice and limited to avoid having to pay health insurance. I am going to sign some contract things with them next week and then be able to start the week after I get back from AU, so that also worked out nicely. The only downside is that they are really looking for someone who is going to stay with them through the summer and most likely I am going to try and get back to China to teach the summer camp in Zhengzhou or try to go to a language program in CA, either way, not be working the summer here. So at the end of the 90 day probation period I am probably going to give notice that they should find someone new. But I need a job now so oh well.
Next, I found a place to live. Its a normal, for the most part, housing situation which I was beginning to doubt existed here. But it turns out they have fairly normal apartments and houses, I guess the people living in them dont turnover that fast and already know people here so they are not on craigslist that often. But I moved in with 2, I think soon to become 3 roommates. One is out of town at the moment. Its nice 3 bedroom apartment that seemed to fit me in some unexpected ways. For one, there is a projector screen on the wall in the bedroom and I own a projector. Also there is a kind of balcony, veranda out my door with an overhead beam to hang a hammock, and I own a hammock. Has parking and I have a car, so thats nice. Its only 2 or 3 blocks to the grocery store, and close to the highway. I went for a really nice run yesterday, but need to find some trails because I dont like running on asphalt the whole time, doing hours on that makes my legs sore. Trails are much more pleasant. Having very little stuff the move in process was very easy and fast, need to pick up a few more things but waiting till I get back from AU to see what all I have there before getting anything new.
As mentioned above, because of the way the work situation has worked out, I will be going to Australia for 10 days or so to see family and collect my belongings. When I get back it will be a day before the Great Aloha Run, a 8+ mile race. Since I did about 6-7 miles yesterday, I feel good about stepping into that. Then in March I have heard about a Muay Thai tournament that I might try to get into. It seems that my current gym has cut about 50% of the monthly classes that they were running. I was already not liking it that much, but with the cut I am going to be looking for new training gyms for sure as soon as my month membership runs out and I get back from AU. Monday or Wednesday I want to check out M-1 martial arts, supposed to be good for their Muay Thai. And am going to try the drive back out to Powerhouse to see if the new location is better for getting their as far as traffic goes. Overall, I am really disappointed at the UFC gym, but also not that surprised. It looks nice, its brand new, and has everything you could want to train with. But the regular classes are so full of people who are not that good and not really willing to work through the pain that comes with real fight training that the classes are kinda soft. Then the small group classes and the "elite" classes cost a shit ton extra, so if you want they are there, but there is no way that I or normal people can afford them with handing over their entire paycheck. I am going to hunt for a smaller gym, like back in CO, a nice core group, shit little gym and solid instructors. Just have to see if the places I can find are accessible from my new place.
If the title didnt give it away, today is Jayci's birthday, so happy birthday Jayci.
I think thats about it. Hammocks, hung, car is insured, job should be confirmed early this week, one more class to register for while waiting for my courses to be fully evaluated by OUA. May add some extra hours depending on how my schedule fills in. New gyms identified but need to checked out. And some races/competitions in the works and coming up soon. Just need to find a triathlon to tryout and see if I can get lucky working part-time as a Chinese translator for a SCUBA diving company (that would be a cool side gig) and things should start being really cool.
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