Bryan's News

The Life of Oggy

Mid-year 2023

It’s come to my attention that this site has been neglected for the last few years. I think I’m averaging 1~2 posts per year for the last few years. I’m not sure that’s going to change anytime soon, but at least I can take a moment to catch anyone who is still interested up.

Last year, I had my first encounter with death.
One of my friends from college passed away from leukemia. A lot has changed from that experience. First of all, I want to say that Brian (yeah, his name was the same as mine, but spelled wrong) was the best of our circle of friends. He was the person who kept everyone together. He is the one who planned all the outings and events, and he did everything he could to maintain all the relationships. His last birthday was February 8, 2022. We sent a few emails back and forth, and everything seemed great. The next thing I heard about him was from a mutual friend that he had passed.

That was a tough message to read. For a few days, everything in my life stopped. I really couldn’t think clearly. He was younger and a better person than I have ever been. He was the first person who visited me in Japan from the states. I was really looking forward to introducing him to my family, but now he’s gone, and we’ll never have the chance to enjoy his light again.

It’s only a year later that I’m even able to talk about it, and I honestly don’t know why I’m brining it up. That’s not what I set out to do when I sat down at my keyboard.

Good luck my friend in your final adventure.

Since then, a lot has changed in my life.
His death was a loss for the world, but I hope that I can do a little more to hope to add even a fraction of what has been lost.

I have reaffirmed that I will not waste time. I’ve continued to expand my responsibilities at work, and also my family.
In February, Ryu was born. He is the happiest and cutest little guy that you’ve ever seen. He’s certainly a handful. He gets that from me, but he’s also kind and sweet. That’s from his mom.
Here are some photos (his first 6 months): Baby Ryu’s First 6 Months

I think I’ll leave it with that.
More later (hopefully sooner, rather than too much later)

~B

Reflections on 2022

As is usual for me at the end of the year, I’d like to write a bit on my reflections for this year.
Life is good! I’m beginning to understand what people mean when they say that you catch your stride in your 30’s and begin the most productive years in your 40’s. At 38, I think I’ve finally begun to catch my stride (after years of errors).

So I’ll break this down a bit, beginning with the most important: Family.

I met Kaori last year, and we got married this year. There wasn’t a ceremony. We just went to the City Hall and filled out the paperwork.
We moved into her family’s spare house at the end of last year. It’s been nice to not have to pay a massive amount of rent. We do have to deal with the yakitori (chicken on a stick) restaurant on the first floor (it’s not as awesome as I thought it would be).
She got pregnant in May, and things have been pretty chill since then. I’ve been drinking significantly less, and am probably in the best overall health I’ve been in years, although I haven’t been exercising recently.
My relationship with my father is still pretty great. We visited this year and had a blast. It’s good to spend time with him. I wish I could more often, but with all things being what they have (pandemic, war in Russia causing prices to go up, etc), I have to be happy with what I can get.
My relationship with my mother has even taken a positive turn. That’s all I’ll say about that for now.

Second, work.

Oh yes, work has been… interesting. It’s been crazy busy. By that, I pretty much mean that I’m always working. Officially, I work 8 hours per day, 6 days per week. But reality is rarely the same as the expectations. I pretty much always work. And don’t get me wrong about it. I’m not complaining. I’ve had some pretty amazing opportunities. First, my program is doing really well. In the first full year of operation, we’ve signed on over 70 schools. I’ve trained around 100 teachers, and we finally hired my first official subordinate.
On top of that, I was able to negotiate a contract with an amazing American program teaching coding for children that gives us exclusive distribution in Japan for 3 years, so I guess I can add international contract negotiation to my resume.
And last, we signed with a third coding program, so a lot of my time has been working to Frankenstein it all together into a singular program (still ongoing).

Finally, service.

Most of my service this year focuses on Toastmasters. Anyone in the states who has seen me speak will know that I am terrified of speaking in front of crowds. Even after all these years in Toastmasters, it never gets any easier. While the nervousness and fear never really go away, practice makes it easier to deal with. I am happy to say that I can speak in front of a crowd without breaking down.
This year, I was elected to the Public Relations chair, which is a glorified social media manager. Anyway, not by my doing, but I’m happy to say that we’ve already gotten 4 new members in the last 6 months. I plan to participate in the upcoming contest. We’ll see what it’s all about when I get there.

So there it is. It’s my run-down of 2022.

If I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be “Busy.”

I’m really beginning to understand the value of time. Cherish every moment, because when it’s gone, it’s gone.

Have a happy New Year and see you in 2023!

2022 Mid-year Update

It’s amazing how much life changes. Sometimes the changes can be good and sometimes they can be bad. As I grow older, I learn more and more that life just doesn’t care. It will go on no matter what.

Life, uh, finds a way.

Ian malcolm

So a number of things are currently in process. First, I’m happy to say that my last meeting as a district officer in Toastmasters is coming to an end. Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I had a terrible time in this role. I think it was partially due to language and culture, but it taught me a few lessons, but no, I didn’t get the kind of enjoyment out of the service that I do from the club that I help lead.

With work, I have greatly expanded my responsibilities. I’m currently leading 1 program, managing another, and in different levels of developing 3 others. The goal for all this is to be able to offer our customers a selection of classes that they can recruit students for and make some additional profits. Having said that, there’s one big lesson that I’ve learned from this. There’s no money in being a franchise distributor. At least, there isn’t at first. After looking at the numbers, I feel that I would prefer to either be the content creator (high risk) or a franchise owner (limited reward).

So from that, I’ve decided that I’m going to start developing new skills. I think that if I can find a few other areas that I really enjoy, then I can use them to supplement my income down the road. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy what I do. It’s challenging, interesting, and I’m never bored, but if I’m looking at it from a purely financial perspective, I’ll never be able to get what I want doing what I’m doing now.

And that brings me to my last point. I got married in January, and I couldn’t be happier. She is kind, thoughtful, and warm in all the right ways, and even has a small bit of sarcastic humor mixed in. Basically, she’s perfect for me. She makes me want to be a better man. You know, all that cliche stuff.

Anyway, more news about that later.
I’m going to try to start posting at least once a month on this site, maybe more as I explore writing as an opportunity.
But as I said above, more on that later.

2021 Year in Review

Well, looks like it’s that time of the year again. Actually, it’s getting more and more that this is the only time that I actually make posts anymore.

So in my annual tradition, I will make my bullet pointed year in review post to discuss all the crazy things that happened this year!

  • I was fully promoted to Program Development Manager. That means that I’m not teaching full time (I still have a model class to test the stuff that I’m developing). My responsibilities have changed a lot. Now I’m developing a whole new curriculum, training teachers in a number of other schools with it, and sending them out to teach the program. This has a number of stresses that go along with it, but ultimately, it’s a very very positive and rewarding experience.
  • In Toastmasters, I was promoted to Area Director. This added responsibility put me as the first support person for 6 local clubs (4 regular clubs, and 2 prospective). I learned a lot about working with executive teams. Mostly though, it’s that most people are not people of action. They talk a lot and rarely get a lot done. It’s very different from my approach, and it taught me a lot of patience. Having said that, it’s not something that I want to repeat next year. I’m pretty sure that my tenure on the Executive level will end after this year.
  • As for health, it’s been up and down this year. I was, at one point, in the best shape that I’ve been since high school. I was vigilant on exercise and eating right, but now my shape has started going back to resemble something of a ball. At least it hasn’t reached the point of being like a yoga ball yet… We’ll see after all the celebrating during the winter months.
  • On the personal front, my divorce was finalized. It was a bittersweet event. I never have to deal with her again. I don’t have to provide any kind of financial support. After 5 years (a significant chunk of my life) everything is completely finished. Having said that, I also have no access to my son. It’s sad, and it was something that took a while for me to deal with, but it is what it is, and it is nothing more than that. I must look to the future.
  • On that note, I met someone. Actually, I met lots of someones, but one in particular. We dated for a while, and took a couple trips together, and it got serious toward the end of the year. We just finished moving in together, and I even proposed to her (she said “Of course!”). I’m looking forward to introducing her to anyone who still reads my blog once the whole coronavirus thing dies down and we can start living a normal life again.

So that’s pretty much it. It was a very busy year, probably the busiest single year of my life so far. Now that I’m moved and starting my life anew, I’m hoping that I’ll be able to find time in 2022 to really invest in learning how to rest and relax. If nothing else, I plan to start working on my routine again, and to get back into the shape I lost after summer ended…

Happy Holidays!

2020 in Review

I usually try to make some kind of end of the year post, but I’ve been thinking about what I want to try to do this year. I have to admit that it’s been a crazy year. There have been struggles of all sorts, but also successes on most fronts. The global pandemic gave me some extra time where I could sit and think on a few things. It also opened up some doors for me. So instead of cryptically hinting at everything, let’s get into the bullet point style review.

  • I was fully promoted to head teacher in April (it actually began in January with a 3-month trial). This was the first time that anyone has ever trusted me to manage a team. I had to get really introspective to consider what my leadership style was. It was a very bumpy first few months, and then the next thing…
  • The pandemic began in Japan. Actually, many people at the time thought that Japan was the first place with a major outbreak (even before Wuhan was a major culprit). The massive luxury cruise ship that was forced to dock for weeks to quarantine everyone with a disease that nobody could explain. This brought some new challenges to my leadership when the entire country went on lockdown in April for two months. I had to negotiate with three different parties to make sure that there was enough work to justify keeping everyone on payroll while simultaneously making sure that the work was meaningful. Once we started working from home, I had to make sure that everyone understood how to do the work. It was a very stressful time, but looking back, it really helped shape my approach to leadership, and it gave me new opportunities.
  • This new style of working from home was great for me, because I had already had a lot of experience working remotely, but now I got to learn a new skill: Content Creation. Yep, you read that right. For a while, I was a YouTuber (well, kindof…). I was making 2-3 new videos every week that focused on different kinds of activities within our program. We started off thinking that we could do one a day, but in order to get the high quality that my school prides itself on, we quickly realized that we were going to need to spend more time per video. Overall, we made some very good videos that really helped improve the quality of our program.
  • Right about the same time as the lockdown, my company explained that they are looking into creating a new program, and it was an IT related program. They knew about my skills and asked if I could help get it started. I didn’t realize at that time what it was going to turn into. This is a robotics program, and my company is going to be the franchiser. So I will no longer be a teacher… officially. My role is going to be (has been) to develop curriculum for the program, develop a training program for teachers in the program, and to do the training and evaluate the teachers. We are looking at opening in April with 20+ franchises. Yep… I’m in way over my head. Having said that, I am going into this confident that I can get the job done.
  • At the same time that I was entrusted with two leadership roles at my company, I was also elected as the president of my Toastmasters club. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment. This was a very different experience than what was going on at work. Instead of being the only manager leading the entire group, I got a very capable group of officers whose roles were clearly defined. My biggest struggle here was to learn how to delegate (I’ve always approached difficult challenges independently). While I won’t have any real feedback about my club’s actual performance until after next July, it does seem to be going well. We are hitting most of the milestones that I set. We are growing. Everyone seems reasonably happy, and whether by my influence or not, everyone is improving. So, I’m happy with my current level of performance. It’s just important to remember not to ease up.
  • Considering the new positions, I started a new study on leadership. I delved into so many books, podcasts, etc. that try to tackle the subject, and reread some that I had already read (my current favorites being Dale Carnegie and Jocko Willink). This also led me to evaluate my own strengths and weaknesses as a person (not just a leader). This was an intense procedure. It kinda reminded me of my spiritual crisis when I was in high school. It was a good time for some introspection, joy, depression, and every kind of emotion that you could possibly feel, and led to my next point;
  • A reassessment on relationships. What is the difference between a good and bad, or rather, constructive and destructive relationship. I think I came to some conclusions on relationships that have begun to guide the way I look at people in general. Basically, I’ve decided that a relationship, from any perspective, should be a mutually beneficial venture. This has shaped my outlook in a number of areas;
    • Family – Blood is thicker than water. It’s also harder to clean up. Family deserves a chance, but they don’t get a pass just because they’re family. If a familial relationship is proving to be destructive, then it’s probably best to get out. This idea has helped me to move on from my failed marriage. I made a lot of mistakes, but ultimately, the relationship was destructive for us both, and would have (if it hadn’t already) caused lasting damage on my son as well. This conclusion helps me sleep well at night.
    • Friends – My friends are the brothers and sisters I never had, and I will always see them as such. Whether we see each other everyday or once every 5-10 years, the roots we set in the past will always connect us. As long as we are both feeling the benefits from the friendship, I’ll always be there for them. If the relationship becomes a drag, feel free to let me know. We can address the problem and take any necessary steps from there.
    • Colleagues – It’s hard to separate work and private life. I have done everything I can to do that since I started leading my team. Becoming a leader has been both a rewarding and lonely experience. Of course, both leaders and subordinates are people, with their own natural thoughts and feelings and need to connect. Having said that, having to be part of decisions which could potentially negatively affect the people you care about takes its toll…
  • Beyond the study on leadership and relationships, the coronavirus lockdown taught me something important about myself. I need an outlet. When I was back home in the states, it used to be driving. When I was in my car, I could belt out in song, talk to myself (I swear I’m not that crazy), or just quietly think to myself as the world passed me by. Being in the position that I’m in now, I was finally able to buy a car. Renewing my license was a pain. I was lucky that I am such a packrat with my data. But now, on the weekends, you can find me randomly driving around Chiba (the prefecture to the east of Tokyo, where I live… Because driving in Tokyo sucks).
  • Finally, since my separation, I’m in a position to start looking at my financial well-being. This new focus is what allowed me to buy a car (I paid cash). I’ve started investing a sizeable portion of my income each month to my retirement, and more to investments. On top of that, I’ve built up a small emergency fund that will help in case something really bad happens (like another lockdown). I’ve never been this secure in my life, and honestly, I’m not sure what to make of it.

So there you have it. My 2020 in review. Despite the continued spread of the many different variants of the coronavirus, I’m happy to finally be moving up in the world in some respects.

I hope you could also find the beautiful silver lining in what was ultimately a terribly dark year. It’s the silver lining that makes life worth living!

See you next year!

PS – Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

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