Contentment

Hello everyone, apologies for my sporadic updates. i am more inclined to email these days.. So if you want to correspond - send me an email!!! but anyway, now that I'm here, I'll write a few tidbits.
I'm still noticing many unusual things about life in Japan. People have asked me if I experienced 'culture shock' which is an often used phrase with JETs here. Well, actually, I don't think I have. I think I would if I could not see above the differences of culture. I see that we are all human beings on a common ground and therefore I am stable in different settings. Even though the language is completely different, we still talk about the same things, even the the processes of living are completely different, we still live very similar lives. People are basically people no matter what country they are from or what language they speak. I feel quite independent and self-reliant here. I am happy because I understand that I am a part of an entire universal system that is infinite and eternal. I know that I do not know the extent of my ignorance and am happy for every little simple blessing. I am fully aware that life is transient and temporary and one day I will give up this body. Therefore, I am happy to be alive in the moment because every moment is precious. I am also truly thankful for all my wonderful friends in New Zealand who are so beautiful and practicing love of God.
I am not greedy for more but am happy with what I have, therefore I am happy because I am content. If I get more then it is extra because I am already happy. I am happy contemplating God - the infinite eternal living entity and my eternal relationship with God. It is a natural process and one that has been followed by countless people for thousands of years. The art of happiness is subjective and personal and I am happy to say that I am content. Life is good and I am happy, If I was to die tomorrow I will feel that I have lived a good life because I appreciate every moment as a precious thing to be cherised. I strive to better myself in terms of my spiritual relationship with God and to see the truth in all things. I respect and honour other people and respect the differences between us. 'simultaneous oneness and difference' ' achintya bheda abheda tattva' We are all one, but different. God bless you all and Merry Christmas!!!

The weather is certainly colder now we're in December. I've ordered a bunch of extra bedding (with Chika's help) from a mail order catalogue that has everything I could ever need. It should arrive in a week or so. The mornings are a little frosty and I'm glad I have a warm jacket and gloves when I drive my scooter to school in the mornings. I think I'll buy a balaclava too because my chin gets a little cold even though I have a full face helmet. Many of the schools use these strange kerosene heaters. They're realy popular here. I don't understand it because i don't like the smell. At home, I use my air conditioning as a heater though apparently that is a little expensive so I want to buy a heater soon too. My turtle (kame-chan) is happy because he has a nice underwater heater to keep him warm all the time. Harry the hamster appears immune to the cold and is as genki as ever.
I've set up a database to store and present my monthly lesson schedules that works like a charm. Because I teach every grade (1->6) at 6 different elementary schools rotating each day, the schedule of which lesson to teach, to what grade, and when, can become quite complex. Fortunately, I have managed to create a system that stores and calculates the next lesson for each grade and consequently, the schedule - automatically! it even produces a nice monthly schedule report ... yay! at first it was a real nightmare trying to figure it out the complex schedule but now I understand the system the job is much easier. It's great having skills with Access, you can do so much with it. I think my teachers at Massey university would be proud if they saw my new database system :-)
ciao for now.