Atypicallife.com is up and running!

Atypicallife.com, the new home of this blog, is is up and running! All future updates will be posted there so please take a moment to update your bookmarks or click on the image below to be redirected:

If you subscribe to this feed, please switch to the updated feed by clicking the RSS icon to the right.

Some of my readers were interested to hear about the process of moving the blog went. The quick answer was relatively smoothly considering I am not very tech savvy.

Here are some of the details:

• The new blog is based on the Cutline Theme but Chris Pearson. I modified the header portion and the colors in the CSS. Many of the widgets that you see in the sidebar of Atypicallife.com were pre-installed with the theme and it was very easy to move them around. I had a couple of minor issues that I needed help with and found the answers by searching the Cutline website.
• My new host is bluehost which I picked based on recommendations from friends. Bluehost offers a one button install of the WordPress platform and it worked as advertised.
• Exporting and importing the data was a snap and once I had the theme set up and the data imported I took some time to update all of my links to myself on both sites. I believe that you can do this from the database but that intimidated me so I just did it manually.

This was my first time setting up a website and dealing with servers and code in any amount of detail. I was very intimidated by the process but it really wasn’t that bad. A little hand holding from my friend Nick got me through the stuff that really scared me and he gave me some really great advice, not to mention helping me to find the code for a dotted line that was driving me nuts

Over the next few days and weeks you will probably see some minor changes on the site but as of today I will no longer be updating this site. So come visit the new and improved Atypicallife.com – I’ll be there….

10,000 Hits and an Announcement

As many of you know I have been blogging since November of last year and in the past 6 months 10,000 people have taken the time to read what I write about. I think that’s pretty cool and to be honest with you I am blown away! The WordPress.com platform is amazing and it has allowed me to learn the blogging ropes without too much pain and suffering but it’s time for me to spread my wings even further and move this blog to a self hosted platform. I’m excited about the move and I have purchased two new domains:

Shanesakata.com will be a placeholder right now. Sort of my online resume with links to my other sites and writings. This is a static web page and I’m not sure how I will use it in the future but it’s now mine!

Atypicallife.com is where all of the content on this blog will be moving and I really hope that you will follow me there. The transfer will be made tomorrow and to be honest with you I’m not sure how long it will take me to get everything up and running given that I am definitely a novice in that regard! I have some exciting plans for Atypicallife.com and I can’t wait to share them with you!

I have to thank a few people who have encouraged me to make this move. Those people are Nick, Neil and Billy. They all write great sites about living working and playing in Japan and have been very generous with their suggestions and encouragement. They are great guys and you should definitely check out their sites!

So thanks to everyone for reading all my ramblings to date and please take a moment to update your bookmarks to reflect my new home on the web:

Atypicallife.com

Photo Credit: Wikimedia, Julien Demenagement 1876

Other Stuff I Write

As most of you know, I have started to write for other blogs.  While I want to share everything here it just doesn’t make sense to create posts that just force you to click onto another site.  I hate those kind of posts and I don’t want to subject you to them any more that I want to be subjected to them!

So what I have done is create a new page on this blog titled Links to Other Stuff by Me! which is where I will included highlights from The Tokyo Traveler (I write almost everyday over there) and 7:10 to Tokyo where I will be contributing a couple of articles a month.  It’s on the sidebar right below “About me”.  I will make sure to update it periodically so you can see what I’m up to elsewhere on the net!

So check out the Links to Other Stuff by Me! and you’ll see a link to where I wrote about Jabusame (Japanese Archery on Horseback) and see some of the shots that I took at this event.   It was a great day and will probably be on of the highlights of my stay in Japan!

7:10 to Tokyo

I have been asked to be a contributor to a new Japan Blogzine called 7:10 to Tokyo.   Billy West, the founder of 7:10 to Tokyo describes the publication like this:

“7:10 to Tokyo is an online magazine or blogazine, if you will. It’s contributors are bloggers who either live in Japan or have a strong interest in the place, its culture, and its people. It was designed to be entertaining as well as informative, and everyone involved in this publication sincerely hopes that it will be a pleasure to read for all who drop by.”

My first article titled “Do you want Mashrooms on your Pizza?” is now up and I encourage  you to check it out along with the rest of the site.  Marshrooms you say – what are mashrooms?  The article is about the passion the Japanese have for the English language but how they don’t always get it quite right.

I’ve committed to contribute two articles a month to the site and I’ve added 7:10 to Tokyo to my blogroll so you can check back often to see what going on over there.

Japan – Awe and Wonder

A little while ago Brad asked Did Japan Change YOU?  This got me to thinking.  My initial reaction on Japansoc was to say that “I think that I’ve become more patient and more understanding of the fact that there is not one right way to do things”. I elaborated a bit further but that response was overly simplistic – it’s more complicated than that.

I got to pondering this over a chicken sando set at my local McDonald’s.  I wish that I could say this insight came to me while meditating at the Senso-ji in Asakusa or some other spiritual place but it didn’t – inspiration comes where it comes and I’m just happy that it did.

As I’ve said before I am on my second time living in Japan and even though I have only been here a short time so far on this go-round my feelings haven’t changed much since the last time and I’ve also had some good reminders.  The bottom line is that I’m not really sure if Japan has changed me or not but I know that Japan has given me the gift of awe and wonder back. 

If the truth be told, living in Japan is not that different from living anywhere else.  We have to get around, shop, eat and entertain ourselves.  We love and miss our families, we worry about things.  Will I fit in?  Will anyone understand me?  Will I make friends?  What will people think of me?  How will I get around? Where is the grocery store, the pharmacy, the gym, etc? These questions would come up if you moved from Seattle to New York, Vancouver to Toronto or Honolulu to Japan.

The challenges that arise when moving to Japan are due to the fact that we have been taken out of our robot-like comfort zone.  When I was at home in the United States or Canada I didn’t think about a lot of things.  If I needed something I drove to the store and picked it up.  I didn’t have to think about where the store was or how it was organized because this information was imbedded in my consciousness.  Drive three blocks to the store, take a left here and a right there.  Milk is here, meat is there and dairy is against the back wall.  When you are in Japan you have to become more conscious about everything and pay attention to your surroundings just to get all of the thing done that you take for granted at home. 

In a lot of ways Japan is a healthier existence.  Instead of driving my car I hop on my bike or walk to the train station to catch a train, bus or taxi.  I’m getting exercise that I probably wouldn’t get at home and I’m not getting frustrated by other drivers and traffic jams.  I’m calmer in Japan.

Instead of watching mindless television in my living room I am taking time to think and write.  I am taking time to explore this sometimes strange to me, yet amazing place, that  the universe has chosen to place me.  In Japan I take the time to quietly be with myself – I am not as distracted by mindless activities.

In Japan things are not as easily accomplished and require a lot more thought and effort than you would need to put in of you were living in your home country.  Of course, a lot of this has to do with the language barrier and cultural differences but while the inability to speak Japanese doesn’t make things impossible in Japan often requires a lot of energy and planning to get them done.  On the whole, I find that in Japan I am more engaged and aware of what is going on around me.

In a lot of ways I feel like living in Japan has caused a reversion of sorts.  I feel like a child must feel when everything is new and exciting.  Children are not jaded by the mundane as nothing is mundane to them,  everything in new and wonderful.  A child has an innate sense of wonder and awe and if you take time to watch children you can see it in their faces.  Japan has given me back the wonder and awe that, unless we  take the time to nurture, adult-hood can take away from us all.

Living in Japan has helped me to lead a more conscious life.

I can collect engaging and entertaining stories about life in Japan, pictures of shrines, temples and geisha, post cards and other knick-knacks but if I could only take one thing home with me at the end of my Japan journey  that would stay with me for the rest of my life it would be my sense of wonder and awe.

The Tokyo Traveler

Today I have a very special announcement to make that is the culmination of some work that has been going on behind the scenes for a couple of months now.  It is with great pride that I am announcing my debut as a paid blogger!  I have joined b5media and will be writing The Tokyo Traveler which has now been added to their Travel and Culture Chanel.  b5 Media has network of over 330 blogs covering a variety of topics and I am looking forward to being a part of the b5 team.   My b5medi bio and the launch announcement are out there as our my first few blog entries.   Here’s a look at the logo that I created to head the new blog .

As most of you who read this blog know I jumped into the blogging world with both feet in November of last year and it’s been a really interesting learning experience. 

I have met some new online friends like Nick from Longcountdown, and founder of Japansoc,  who was kind enough to review my blog in the early days and Neil Duckett who put me on his featured feeds page (you really should check out his series on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo as it’s turning out to be something special). 

I even had a few exciting moments like when my post on how to Map an Address in Japan got picked up by Japan Probe and News on Japan and got a whopping 176 hits in one day (it’s up to 329 hits now).  I shouldn’t admit it but I was kind of glued to my stats page as I couldn’t believe my eyes. I know it’s a small number to most but to me it is awesome.

I’ve also had some disappointments too, like when I realized that the folks over at Japansoc don’t love baseball as much as I do and continue to let my posts on the subject languish on the upcoming page.  I still like them though and look forward to my daily visit to see what’s new in the Japan blogoshpere.

With the launch of  The Tokyo Traveler the focus of this blog will be changing slightly.  If you want to see what I’ve been up to in terms of sightseeing in Tokyo you should head on over to The Tokyo Traveler (I have added a link to the blogroll on the left to make it easy for you). However, I’ll still be here with my personal ramblings about life in general and specifically my life in Japan so stay tuned!

Finally in Japan

Konichiwa!  Well I have finally made it to the start of my adventure in Japan which is awesome but there have been a few glitches.  I finally have a temporary internet connection but it’s not on my computer so you won’t be hearing from me regularily until next week.

So let me recap things so far:

1. The flight was long (9 hours 10 minutes) but uneventful.  I watched two movies and an episode of Shark before we touched down at Narita.
2. After landing we were ushered to immigration where the sign claimed a thirty minute wait which did not make me happy.  However a few minutes later some of us were directed to walk quite a ways over to a different station where there was not wait.  The actual immigration process was quick and relatively painless.
3. Got a luggage cart, collected my bags and met the representative for my hubby’s company who got us in a taxi for the thrity minute ride to my new home.
4. Arrived to a very cold and empty apartment and did a little unpacking while waiting for my hubby to get back from Kagoshima.
5. Got to give my hubby a BIG hug and a kiss after not having seen him for a month – the best part of the trip!
6. Went to bed and woke up at 4AM the next morning due to jet lag.

I’m almost over the jet lag and have explored our community a little bit but have mostly been taking care of houskeeping things like stocking the pantry and getting various things in order at our new home.  More later….

Ja mata (see you later – I think…)

Japan Soc – Social Bookmarking

In my quest to learn more about Japan and get involved in the Japan blogging community I have joined a new social bookmarking site called JapanSoc. This is a project developed by Nick Ramsay of LongCountdown and you can read more about it here. The site is similar to Del.icio.us and Digg in the way it works but focuses on Japan related items.

If you are like me and want to find out what’s happening in Japan take a moment to join. From now on you will see the following link at the bottom of my Japan related posts:

When you click on it you will be adding my content to the list of other informative and cool Japanese items and contributing to the ongoing conversation about Japan. So go on, join and Soc it to me and the rest of the Japan bloggers out there…

8 for 2008

Let me start by saying these aren’t your typical new years resolutions. Of course I want to lose weight, quit smoking, be nice to the planet etc. but none of these are on the list. These are more philosophical and personal. So here they are – My 8 for 2008:

1. Keep a positive attitude in the face of adversity (i.e. being understood in Japan)
2. Learn more about myself and what I can contribute to the world… what’s my legacy?
3. Live each moment to it’s fullest – notice and appreciate the little things.
4. Keep in touch with family and friends – make new friends…
5. Learn how to use my new camera so that I can share my experiences with friends everywhere – a picture is really worth a thousand words and I want to capture more ‘emotion’ in my photographs
6. Work on my creativity – think outside the box! Design a knitted garment, write a short story, etc..
7. Don’t get bogged down with the everyday – enjoy my time in Japan to the fullest. Here’s a link to my list of things that I want to do and see.
8. Dream about what shape my future might take – if you don’t have a dream…..

7 From 2007 – Reflections on the Year

7 Memorable Moments

1. Planning A Giant Luau for the San Jose Giants.
2. Watching the San Jose Giants win the California League Pennant.
3. When my step-daughter sought my advice – I never thought it would happen!
4. Turning 40 – I turned 20 in Canada, 30 in Japan, 40 in the United States and can’t wait to see where I’ll be for 50!
5. Enjoying a week-long visit with my parents in California.
6. Visiting California for an early Xmas with my step-kids.
7. Finding out that I am headed back to live in Japan.

7 Favorite Things

1. My new D-SLR camera that I will be putting to good use in Japan
2. Yarn
3. Cooking in my slow cooker
4. My Friends & Family – as each year passes they become more and more precious to me!
5. Skype -my new way to communicate with friends & family, even from Japan…
6. Knitting & Crochet – a great way to relax
7. My new Blog

7 Life Lessons

1. Good things do come to those who wait patiently and try to live a good life
2. An unexpected result is not necessarily a bad result
3. Good friends stick by you
4. Don’t take things for granted – they may end sooner than you think
5. A good marriage is hard work and a lot of compromise
6. Getting older is a state of mind
7. Live life with a sense of wonder and you will be richly rewarded

Inspired by Mary Jo at Fly Away Cafe.

Look for my 8 for 2008 tomorrow….