This expression was written in our textbook last semester. It means that it would be silly for me to come to Japan and come back without climbing Mount Fuji. And so, I climbed Mount Fuji. Easy right?

In reality, I had already set as a goal to climb Mount Fuji before I even came to Japan. My sister had done so with Anzu three years ago, and so I had heard a lot about it which had only made me want to climb it for myself. If you want to read about my sister's adventure, please visit:

http://franceinjapan.blogspot.jp/2012/08/conquering-mount-fuji.html

About 3 days before climbing it, I asked my friend Shingo if he could reserve a spot for the both of us at one of the mountain huts. Normally this kind of reservation is done waaaaayyyy ahead of time. In fact, I had planned to climb the mountain with Miguel, who loves climbing mountains and had already climbed it once before, as well as with Shingo and Arisa. But the day we had picked, the weather didn't seem good, so we ended up cancelling. Now this time around, the weather didn't seem good either, so reserving last minute wasn't a problem. Not many people were going to climb it during this type of weather. I didn't have much of a choice.

You see, due to the temperature at the summit, the mountain is only open to climbers during the summer. I was running out of time, and so I had to make a fast decision. On August 31st, I would climb one of the world's greatest mountains.

(The night before)
I packed the necessary clothes, water, and my shoes in my room. I fell asleep, getting ready to climb a mountain the next day. To say the truth, I didn't believe it would be too difficult. I mean, people in their 70s and 80s also climb this mountain, so how hard could it be. That being said, I haven't really climbed many mountains in the past. I wasn't too nervous.

Morning came, and I woke up to my alarm. I showered, ate breakfast, put on my clothes and headed out to the lobby. I found Shingo eating breakfast. Once he was done, he also came to the lobby, and I noticed he was wearing very short pants, and regular shoes. Also he only had brought two layers of jackets. I couldn't believe it. I told him that he should get better clothes. He said he would be fine, but still went to change his pants into jeans... He also brought another jacket, but kept his normal shoes. He said that's all he owned so it would have to do. From the stories I heard from the past, I couldn't help but worry. We left he dorm at around 7:50 in the morning, late for the plan we had made.


After a quick stop at the convenience store to grab our food for the trip, we got on the train at around 8:10. It took us around three hours to get there. Finally we were there. Already 11 o-clock, we wanted to climb as soon as possible. We grabbed more food from a convenience store nearby, as well as a cord for my phone which I had forgotten... and after discussing with the lady at the information centre, we settled to ride the 12:40 bus to the first station of the mountain.

Most people who climb this mountain only climb it from the fifth station. They take the bus up to there, start climbing and reach the top in around four to five hours. Now Shingo and I wanted to climb from the first station, which takes another two hours, or so they say. We started climbing at about 1:10 P.M.














 Now it usually takes two hours to get from station one to five. It took Shingo and I about an hour and a half, so you can imagine the pace at which we where going. By this point, my head started hurting just a bit. I started feeling dizzy, so I made sure I drank a lot of water. Due to the sweating, I didn't need to go to the washroom once until we reached our mountain hut. Good thing too cause it costs about two dollars to do so.















The way down was actually quite difficult. AND LONG!! For more than half the way down, it was just a zig-zag of a sand road. It never seemed to end. Shingo seemed to be tired and refused to go faster, so I ran on ahead, going down at a fairly fast pace. Why was I in a rush: it started to rain. Also, as we picked up our bags from the hut, we were told that it would rain hard around 7 A.M. So I wanted to make it back as fast as possible. But I ended up slipping and slightly hurting my ankle as I went down. I made it to the 5th station, a different one from last time, and waited for Shingo to come. He came about one hour later. We ate a ramen, and waited another 3 hours for the bus to come. I made sure we got on the first bus, not willing to wait another hour for the next bus.

After arriving back at the Mount Fuji station, we rode the train back to our dorm, arriving at around 3:45 P.M. I was tired, cold, stinky, frustrated, but satisfied. I had climbed Mount Fuji...

On Wednesday morning, after our weight training practice, I weighed myself.

Body weight: 67.8 kg
Body fat (%): 8.9 %

This is the lowest I have been in weight in almost two years, including back when I was in Canada.

Work hard. Play hard. Fail. Succeed.

Being abroad for a long time, most people gain a fair amount of weight, as did I. In January, I was at 73.6 kg I believe, meaning I have lost about 6 kilograms. How did I do it? Let's just say I wanted it.

As my mom always reminds me, when you decide to do something, you'll do it. You'll do it because you can. The only thing that's stopping you is you.

In preparation for the upcoming summer training camp, I performed various activities. I obviously packed my bags and such, making sure I had enough shampoo, tooth paste for example. I also prepared my medicine for my throat, making sure I had enough. Since this was my first time going out to a training camp here with the team, I wasn't too sure what to expect, and with my father being worried, it only made me worried. So I contacted many fellow club mates and those in charge to make sure I had the right information. It took many messages back and forth since no one seemed to know anything...


Now one of the biggest parts of my preparation for this camp started two weeks before. In order to perform my best at this camp, and not get any injuries, I had to make sure I was in my best condition. I must say, since it was summer, it wasn't always easy to get myself motivated to go and kill myself doing chin-ups and such. But I managed to get enough exercise in to feel confident.

Yoooouuuussshhhh! Here I come training camp.

So I have somehow managed to make two songs during this semester. If you want to take a listen, here they are!

Now that school is over, I do actually have a break! The judo club is also off for a bit so I can now take time to breathe, think, and yep, you guessed it, plan. Even though it's summer, I want to take advantage of this time to centre myself, to take time to think, and prepare myself for the next wave. So what are my plans for the summer?

First let's talk about what I want to accomplish.

 - I really REALLY need to clean my room. Since I am not even sure that I can stay here in the Kaikan after September, I might as well prepare myself for the worst scenario. On top of that, I found my mind going a little crazy last semester, due to the status of my room. It took me more time to find things and in the end caused me more stress.

 - I would like to make some music. I haven't really talked about my music here yet, but I'm still doing as much as I can to continue making music during my spare time... This summer, I want to make a couple more tracks and a few more mixes. I don't really have time to do so otherwise.

 - I want to go to the beach! And I already made plans to go!

 - I want to keep working out. I have a training camp with the team during the third week of August, so I want to be at my best for that.

 - I want to eat well. I want to gorge myself with fruits since I haven't really done so since I've been here. I also want to find easy recipes that are full of vegetables, high protein, and so-so carbs. That way I'll be ready to go for the next term.

 - I want to keep my studies going. Japanese (language) is now part of me, but I still need to keep at it, especially while I'm here.

 - Lastly, I want to have some fun. I think I've had a lot of fun already since the summer started, which is great.

Now a few events that are going to happen this summer include going to Disney Sea with my girlfriend (August 9^th), the training camp with the team (August 17^th to 22^nd), and climbing Mount. Fuji, most likely at the end of the summer.

Now I have one last goal. I want to write a lot of blogs, so as much as I can, I will try to write one blog a day (or week) for most of the summer. The topics might get a little wild, but that's just more fun isn't it?

Also, I should probably say that most of those with whom I have studied with for one year now will be heading back to their own country throughout the summer. Miguel will be leaving soon, Carlos already left. Slowly but surely, the Kaikan is becoming more and more empty every day. Quite sad to think that I will most likely never see any of them again. But who knows.

(Note to self: I have to keep in mind that I need to start looking into resuming my courses at the University of Winnipeg in January.)

So there's this word that Japanese use VERY often, and that's "yoroshiku". It has no perfect way of explaining it, but if one were to try to translate it in English, it would be something like... "Do with your best efforts." So basically, it's asking someone a favour and for them to do it well.

But what most foreigners don't immediately realize is that this only speaks to the final result. When looking at that task, one doesn't always realize everything that is needed to accomplish that task. Yeah we can simply say: "Don't be late for the meeting." But in order for that to truly happen, this can sometimes include such things as to how you plan your meal, how you plan your day, how you're going to travel, and what you're going to bring where. In other words, when someone ask a task out of you, even though it might seem like a small thing, I believe it takes quite some "effort" to perform it correctly. Key word: Correctly.

Recently, having more and more responsibilities upon me, I have come to realize the importance of this "yoroshiku". It comes even with a certain amount of respect, because the person asking you the favour believes you can accomplish it for her.

Just a little flavour to my thoughts these days.

This next semester has now already started. The first week was very easy for me. I had studied ahead of time and most of it I already understood. This gave me time to study extra on my own time with Miguel. We are studying an extra textbook on vocabulary which is made in such a way that we study a certain amount of words per day, take a small test, and do that every day till the 7^th day where there is a test of the past 6 days. It went well for the first week, but this second week has been too busy and we didn't get very far.

Besides that, our listening class is probably the hardest since Miyagi sensei seems very determined to force our ears and minds to adjust to the Japanese language. Nishiyama sensei is quite kind and gentle, and teaches us in a such a simple way so that we can all understand. Yamamori sensei is just as she was last semester, nice, clear, and funny!

I'm really going to push through this semester, because I think if I get to complete the extra two textbooks I'm studying as well as the course, it will go hand-in-hand to benefit me in everything. Already, some of the vocabulary and kanji I studied are coming up in class.

With that being said, I also plan on going hard in judo practice. I really want to rejoin the normal practice, which I have started since the beginning of April, but I'm still quite scared.

Finding a balance and working hard is what I plan on doing during this next semester. Here I go!

Today, thanks to my father, I was able to recognize Yasuyuki Muneta who had come along with the policed team to practice at Tokai. Why thanks to my dad? Well because he took the time to show me all these videos of the Japanese Judo legends back home.

Apparently, Mr. Yasuyuki has been working for the Japanese National Police Academy and is training their judo team. I was just watching innocently the practice when I spotted his eyes. I recognized him right away. One look at the name on his back, and sure enough, it was him. He was quite loud, shouting at his partner as he fought away. Of course his career is over, but I must say I was quite glad to have seen him in person.


For those of you who don't know, Muneta is a former Senior A (+100kg) of Japan, twice World Champion (2003 and 2007). You can see him in action in this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU8Rym-OpaI

Now I'm also going to take the time to give you all a report on my judo/injury status.

I've gone from a cast, to a brace to nothing at all, to being able to bike, to run, to do weights, and soon, very soon, to practice. I've been doing weights with the team again for at least two to three weeks now, and during most practices, I go downstairs to do weights on my own. I also started running a little bit, and will be going to my first mountain training tomorrow. I officially went to one before, but it turned into a dash training at the university, after which some of us stayed back and played soccer. At first it was ok, and I was running all over the place, but after a few contacts with the other team, I knew I couldn't keep it up without further hurting it. But soccer was still fun since it was something different for once.

I plan on being back into full practice by the end of March.

My weight has reached its highest point since the new year, at 73kg, but has been stable at around 71.8kg for the last few weeks. It is REALLY hard to lose weight when you don't have a great chef cooking all your meals (my mom), or can't practice fully. Plus on top of that, I keep receiving all these cakes and treats from friends and acquaintances haha so that's not helping either.

Yeah so another wind has come to help me carry on this fight.