Happy New Year 2012!! It’s been 12 hours of 2012 already here in Japan and I just wanted to wish all of your a great 2012!!!!!
Aaron

Winter 2011
2011 was an interesting year. A lot happened on the world front. Here in Japan of course we had the big earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. For me the year had its ups and down but was mostly good. I made a lot of new friends this year, and had the opportunity to perform for a lot of great people. I also became more organized this year. This for me was the great for my self motivation. I also was able to learn a lot of new things and tried to improve myself. I hope that 2012 will be a more peaceful year and I would like to wish all of you all the best in 2012.
Aaron
It’s been a long time since I have been able to go sightseeing. Last week December 11, 2011 I went to Kurashiki which is located in Okayama Prefecture. I went to visit the old town in the Bikan district. What a wonderful place! The place is filled with 19th century buildings. There are a lot of great shops and good food! Japan has such great food! What I enjoyed was the relaxing and peaceful atmosphere of this place. I could really imagine 19th century Japan. I was there for only a few hours but I could have spent a lot more time there looking through the various shops and enjoying the good food. It was such a refreshing day trip for me. I can’t wait until I can go visit another great place soon!
Aaron
It has been a while since I have last blogged! The reason is I have been preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N1. N1 is the most difficult but it has been my to pass this since I started studying Japanese. I took the test yesterday Dec 4, 2011. I may or may not have passed this time but I did improve my Japanese skill a bit during my recent study. However now that the test is done I will take a short brake from studying and get back to my normal blogging!
Aaron
Aaron

Fan
Well the summer feels as if it is almost here. It’s hot and getting more humid everyday. Today I especially felt that summer is on its way. Ever get that summer feeling in your chest? I am looking forward to the summer as it means summer clothes, summer events like B-B-Q’s! I love Japanese B-B-Q and beer gardens. I always feel like I get regenerated during the summer and I can feel that coming now. I don’t have any big plans for this summer but I hope to hit a few onsens (hot springs) and some nice parks and sight seeing places. I can’t wait! I hope that all of you will have a great summer!
Aaron

Walking
Recently I have been talking random walks around the city I live in. Now I have done a lot of walking in my life but I have never really just went for a walk with no goal of arriving somewhere, just walking around and enjoying the area. Sure I have gone for walks through parks etc. but the walks I take now I just walk around the city enjoying the city. This is something I wish I had started doing years ago. I have found it very relaxing and gives me undistracted thinking time. I have also found a new appreciation for the city I live in. One thing I enjoy doing on these walks is taking picture using instagram and posting them as I go. Can’t wait for my next walk!
Aaron
This weekend I went to an onsen. As I have mentioned before onsen is Japanese for hot spring. I just love it. On Saturday I went and sat in the onsen for more than an hour. If you ever get the chance to go to a Japanese onsen go! For me it is one of the best ways to relax, reduce my stress, and reset myself. There is a small local onsen in the small city where I live which I have never been too. However I hope to give it a try this weekend. Later this week I will have some magic related blogs postings up.
Aaron
Golden week a week of almost consecutive holidays here in Japan began on Friday. My plan is to relax and visit some local sights. So far it has been very good and I have been able to get some rest which I needed and was able to lower some stress I had. Sometimes we do need to take break and just do nothing to get recharged. I have a few more days left and I am going to to enjoy them the best I can. As you can see from the picture in this post I went out for udon today!
Aaron