Day 115 of writing every day.
Today is cloudy and it’s a welcome reprieve from the sunny and pollen saturated days. Having two appointments today, I opted to stay home all morning since I saw no reason to go outside for breakfast to rush back for an appointment at 11 o’clock.
The appointment went by quickly and I just briefly updated my info to a headhunter who reached out to me months ago. I never followed through with applying for any of the postings forwarded my way then but I was busy, depressed, and had no time to properly learn without sacrificing much needed “me time” that was keeping me going since I despised the way things were with work and not being able to enjoy any part of my day to a satisfactory degree.
Afterwards I decided to get some ramen for lunch, as I planned to walk off the calories plus more later today. I came back to another appointment at 1 o’clock in the afternoon, this time for enrolling at an online programming school. This meeting took longer as the consultant needed info to pass on for whatever tailored curriculum they drum up for prospective students.
I was given a refresher tour of the support system they offered and perhaps with my experience learning at an in-person classroom, I had a better idea of what languages to work with beyond the most basic of HTML and CSS. This time I’m hoping to get proficient with React and more, but also be open to languages that could be used both in frontend and backend of things. So I was recommended to learn PHP as a supplement to boost my skill set, as it can have uses in frontend as well and isn’t too difficult a language. I’m trusting the consultant on this but as a popular language in demand, it made sense for me to agree with the idea, especially if I’m coming from a no industry work experience background.
Since I’m on a time limit with my current visa to get a new job or risk losing my permit to stay and work in Japan, I chose the three-month plan that costs about $5,000 or after converting from JPY to USD. I get lifetime access to their library of knowledge for the various languages they teach, a learning support team for advice and help on staying motivated to learn, and a community of learners specific to their school.
Impromptu Cherry Blossom Viewing
The cherry blossoms are already dropping day by day as the peak bloom period has already passed in Osaka. However there was still plenty to see, so I trekked out to Osaka Castle Park after the online school appointment was over. There was still plenty of daylight left and the cloudy weather made it more bearable to be out and about than a warm and sunny day.
When I got to the park, I was curious about the boat rides that resumed with a fury with Japan opened to tourists again and it being cherry blossom season. I meant to ride it some day and I just happened to be there minutes before the next departure, so an impromptu decision was made to just get on (it cost 1800 yen for an adult in the cherry blossom season). I had time to spare before the osteopathic appointment in the early evening, so a forty-minute leisurely boat ride worked out just fine.
The feeling of floating on water while on a boat is definitely different than when you have the ground under your feet. There certainly was some excitement amongst the tourists who got on board for the unique experience, if anything. I was surprised that some tourists seemed cheery the whole ride; a few seemed to have dozed off perhaps from exhaustion after a day of walking around or something.
I sat starboard with a window seat, so I couldn’t get the port side view, but part of the route circles back, so I was able to see some of the same scenery heading back to the docks. There were some turns but it’s mapped out on a pamphlet I neglected to take and keep. I mean I wouldn’t look at it again anyways unless I started some kind of tourism blog and needed it as a source of info like I’m some sort of guide.
Unlike cherry blossom viewing that’s basically picnicking under cherry trees or going around and taking pictures of the blossoms up close, the boat ride offered a way to watch passively as you were given a slow paced ride on the river. People would wave at you from the riverside or from other boats. This could be because there were people on the boat wave to them, but the touristy cheer is something that definitely would not happen between strangers viewing cherry blossoms on land.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 