it's February...already?

Well, the month of January whizzed by with crazy weather (for Japanese standards) and not much to report other than I've gotten quite granola on the world.
Three weeks ago I read a spiritually uplifting book called The Monk who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma and as much as I never thought I'd be into it, I've traded in my smoking habit for meditation and my pancakes-sausage-n-egg breakfasts for miso soup and rice. I'm exercising everyday, and there are hints of my abs and pecks which I haven't seen since George Bush Sr. was president.
Without too many distractions here (except for my new acoustic guitar and DVD player and awaiting Tomoko's monthly visit from Tokyo), I've pretty much focused on a self heeling.
But no worries, it's not all good stuff. Ranie and I went into Fujieda -- the town next to mine -- last weekend and tore it up at a cozy little bar called POT. Suffice to say, by the end of the night (and the Tequila), the bartender had some major concerns about me and my condition!
I've decided to attempt taking a level 2 Japanese proficiency test at the end of the year, which means learning not only speaking the language, but learning around 900 kanji (Chinese characters). This, of course will take some intense studying and lots of headaches!
That's all I gots, for now. I hope you are safe and sound wherever you may be! Please let me know how all of you are doing.

Nemaste,
Jess