Another year bites the dust.

In accordance with many of my friends and a desire of my own, I decided I am going to celebrate my one year in Japan with an update of major events in my time here and a list of things I still have yet to do.

Since August 2010 I have:

• Moved to a foreign country, 
• Lived on my own, 
• Bought and paid for a cell phone, 
• Paid every bill, 
• Saw more stars than I could count,
• Decorated an apartment from the ground up, 
• Become comfortable in my own company, 
• Walked home drunk by myself, 
• Danced a traditional dance to taiko drums, 
• Seen half/mostly naked men drunkenly carry a golden shrine, 
• Prayed to a god I did not know the name of, 
• Got slapped by a teacher for messing up, 
• Learned a measure of patience, 
• Developed the ability to sit on my heels (seiza)for up to 30mins without a break, 
• Bought a car, 
• Got a Japanese driver's license, 
• Applied to medical school, 
• Seen snow and cherry blossoms,
• Taken the MCAT entrance exam, 
• Taken the JLPT exam, 
• Gotten served beer by my boss to the point of being completely trashed (he was too), 
• Watched a sumo tournament (I know this entry is a year late in coming, haha), 
• Learned to appreciate and participate in sado, tea ceremony, 
• Worn a kimono, 
• Watched noh theatre, 
• Eaten wild boar at a backyard BBQ, 
• Eaten raw horse meat and blowfish, 
• Planted rice, 
• Biked the Shimanami kaido (entry coming soon), 
• Trained for and completed a MARATHON and TRIATHLON, 
• Tried judo and learned badminton, 
• Joined my first adult sports team (then switched to different adult team ;-P), 
• Ran my first, and more, races in taikai events throughout Kyushu, 
• Visited Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Miyazaki, Saga, Sasebo, Sendai, Nagoya, Shikoku and a few more prefectures and cities, 
• Gone to a lot of drinking parties, 
• AND enjoyed numerous festivals, sightseeing spots, and local treats. 

Goals for this year:

• Get into medical school, 
• Pass JLPT N2, 
• Visit Korea, China, and a third world country, 
• Visit my Dad in the Philippines, 
• Do the Tokyo Marathon (in under 4.5 hours), 
• Be a bride's maid in my friend's wedding, 
• Do another Triathlon (maybe more than Olympic distance?), 
• Go camping, 
• See more of Kyushu (Mt. Aso, Takachiho gorge, Yakushima, etc.), 
• Climb a mountain, 
• Try kyudo, 
• Eat whale (I just want to try it), 
• Play soccer with my kids, 
• Go to the snow festival in Hokkaido, 
• Go skiing (did not get to go last year), 
• Stay in a love hotel (by myself?), 
• Keep up with my blog more, 
• Be a better girlfriend, 
• Move back to America. 

 That's all for now, back to planning out songs for the students to sing for the year!!!
 Love.