Run Run Run

Hullo -

Been a while, aye? I am on a two-hour train ride from Nagasaki to Hakata now.. Figured that this is a great time to post and to wrap 2018 up and behind. Japan has been amazing! I have been enjoying it all, the big shopping malls in Fukuoka, the onsens and rotenburos of Beppu, and the atomic bomb memorial, chinatowns, and (surprisingly tasty!) lemon ramens and tsukemens of Nagasaki.

By any measure, the tail end of 2017 to most of 2018 has been an experience of growth. Got my heart crushed very late in December and early in January, as bitter as the wintry snow, and when spring came in April I worked my first ever 100-hour week. The summer and the fall brought some respite, though, with my younger brother here to enjoy New York together. Then the winter came, whence I put my head down and crammed one finance formulas after another, readying myself for the CFA exam in December.

Well, was it worth it, you ask.

Perhaps? I genuinely felt that I am a better analyst - I communicate much better and I manage stress a lot better. I became really great friends with Kyle and Amanda. I almost ran a half marathon (but I ran a 10K!) I knew a bit more about finance. I learned and relearned to forgive and to let go. I learned about what I want in my woman. I learned a thing or two about being alone and about being lonely. I got in shape. I meditated. I ran... a lot.

If there is one most important takeaway from this year, it would be that running solves the vast majority of my problems. No, I’m not advocating running away from problems, but to put on your comfiest sneakers and literally run. Want to lose weight? Run! Stressed and overworked? Run it off! Heartbroken and lonely and have nobody to turn to? Just run! That is why to me, happiness is a pair of decent sneakers and a decent weather outdoors (or a gym membership!) coupled with a cup of hot black coffee, ideally before AND after the run. And this is why good health (and knees) are important - I am so grateful that I have been blessed with a neverending amazing gealth the past year!

In Japan, my caffeinated running pleasure is elevated to another level by their onsens. Nothing beats pretending to be a tea bag inside a huge pool of warm water after a long day of traveling and jogging, all while contemplating the mysteries of life and avoiding awkward eye contacts and abysmal gazes on fellow bathers’ nether regions... Now if only I can eventually learn to say ‘large’ (raaji) instead of ‘register’ (reeji) whenever the convenience store lady asks me what coffee size I wanted...

Happy holidays!