The colorful wolf

Veni Skidi Vici!

Last weekend we went on a ski trip. We being 8 colleagues and me. It's been a while since I last ski'd, and I'd forgotten most of the basics already. After a while I started to remember again, and I'm happy to say that I've improved a bit again ^^. Stopping and changing direction I can do without problem now. Parallel skiing and zigzagging down a slope is still a bit hard though. Anyway, I'm able to go down a 1700 meter high mountain without falling, so I'm quite happy about that ^^. I also made some cool movies with my camera on the second day. The first day I didn't have much chance to take pictures or movies because it was snowing way too hard..

Ok, besides that I need to plan several trips. The trip to Beijing in March, and the bicycle trip in golden week. I said before we were planning to go to Malaysia and Hong Kong, but we changed it to a bicycle trip in Kyushu and Okinawa. The details are still a bit vague but as soon as I know more it will appear here :)

Shall I stay or shall I go? I'm still wondering about whether or not I should renew my contract. I'm not thinking too hard about it though, since whenever I think too hard about stuff I seem to make the wrong decision. I've weighed the pro's and cons, and this is how I think:

Staying in Japan - Pro's:
- Money :D
- I'll probably never get a chance to work in Japan again for such a long time, and experience the life like this
- I like my job, I can use the skills I possess quite well
- Craziness! I just love doing crazy things in Japan
- Food. How can I possibly miss Sushi, Curry, Ramen and so many other nice things?
- The people. I'm not socializing that much with Japanese people, but I"m meeting a lot of interesting foreigners here

Staying in Japan - Cons:
- No future. I'll always stay a foreigner in Japan, and I don't expect to ever integrate. I'll always be less important than a Japanese employee
- I have to settle down somewhere eventually, and that place will probably not be in Japan, so I shouldn't linger around here too much
- I'm not learning a lot at work. I'm using the skills I have but not learning many new things.
- Every year in Japan is less interesting and new than the year before. Eventually it will become boring.

I don't know yet what I want, and every time I think I know I change my mind again in a couple of weeks. I think the best way for me to handle this problem is the way I handle most problems. Leave it alone for a while, and the next time I think about this the answer will be clear in my mind.

Last December, when I went back to Holland, I decided something. I did not decide to go back to Holland as soon as possible. I rather decided that I was a 'man of the world' and Holland is like a home base, a place I can always call home, but not necessarily have to return to anytime soon. I still feel this way, but a lot has happened since then. Some things went as expected, some things went much better than expected. Time goes too fast, and I find myself in a situation I could never have expected 6 months ago. I overshot my mark, and I need to readjust my goals.