Sadly, I have also left the comforts of the beach for the hustle and bustle of Tokyo again. That is just temporary however, as I will be moving to London soon.

So, a short summary of momentous events. In the middle of all that, you may have noticed there was a major earthquake, tsunamis and a nuclear scare to deal with. No one said life is easy!

But now, for the first time since I left investment banking, I truly know what being busy means! Yep...no more slacker Kirk!

First of all, I finally got a visa! Woo hoo! It is an investor visa, which I received because I have formed my own company. If that was all, I wouldn't be so busy, but I am using that company to start and run a surf shop in Kugenuma, Japan. I have spent the last two months getting ready for this and the opening is scheduled for December 20th.

I am really excited about it, but also very worried. It is a big commitment of both time and money. And I worry that my Japanese isn't good enough to take on a project like this. I can communicate, but it is not sophisticated enough for nuance or persuasion. Then again, my English can be pretty awful too, so who knows?

Anyway...wish me luck!

In any case, I have been very, VERY busy recently. Mostly, because I have been living on borrowed time in Japan. My current visa expires in December, although that is a much better than being illegal, which I kind of was for two weeks in October while I waited for what turned out to be the rejection of my first visa application change. Actually, since the immigration department had my passport I couldn't go home anyway.

I am in the process of applying for an investor's visa and I should get that. I really hope so, because I have formed a company and signed a five-year lease for a location in Kugenuma...I am opening a surf shop!! Woo hoo! It is exciting, but it really seems to be one of those jobs you have to save up for. However, I think I can make it work...wish me luck! Hoping to open in mid-December.

It is hard to get the perspective with these photos...seeing the size and frequency of the waves coming into Zushi Beach is absolutely amazing. I wish I had some pictures of Shichirigahama...I will go there later, but I am sure by then the peak will have passed.

I hear that in Shichirigahama, the waves are up to triple-overhead height and they are breaking onto the coastal road...which is 3-4 meters above the beach.

It is hard to tell how high the waves are at Zushi Beach, because I haven't left my apartment but it looks like they are over head-high. I could go down to the beach and take pictures, but there doesn't seem to be much of one to go to.

Absolutely incredible!

This year, I stayed home to watch. Actually, I just couldn't get myself motivated to organise something and the beach was already so crowded when I was on my home at 5pm, that I didn't even consider going out there to watch. The street in front of my apartment was still full of people arriving halfway through the show...enough so that they started running into the people leaving early to avoid the rush to the trains.

In any case, the view from my balcony was brilliant and at least I know that now should I be here next year. I can have a home party!

As for the rest of my time recently, I have been at the surf shop.

The key issue at the moment is my visa application. Can I stay? Do I have to go? I'll write more about that later.

Now that the beach is emptying out, I think I will head over to the beach bars for a few beers.

Not that I have much to write today.

It is cool and raining here, which is a surprise since rainy season ended a week ago.

Yesterday, I awkwardly fell on top of my board while getting off a wave and bruised a rib (at least I think I did...one of those things that does not seem serious enough to warrant a doctor visit, but painful enough that I wonder if I should). On top of that, later in the day, I stepped on a sea urchin. I was wearing booties, but the little bastard was sufficiently annoyed to shoot one of its spines through the bottom of the shoe. None of that is particularly serious, but it did make me wonder why I got out of bed.

Oh, I am working at the surf shop now. It might be better to say I am helping out as I am not receiving a salary, but I do get free lunch, free beer and surf wax. And I am learning how to run a shop, which could come in handy later.

That is it for now. I promise to post some pictures soon, so there is something nice to look at.

I did a bit of surfing on Friday and Saturday, so that was nice. I rented a board but skipped the wet suit as I figured the water would probably be warm enough. Most of the surfers did have wet suits, but there were some that didn't, so it seemed OK, but I was wrong: it was REALLY COLD...61 degrees (16-17 degrees celsius). On Saturday, the guy getting into the water next to me was wearing a 5mm suit with a hood/cap thing. Just watching him put it on made me shiver and I hadn't even entered the water yet. Renting the wet suit might be a good idea next time around.

Saturday was the Fourth of July and I cannot remember the last time I was in America for that holiday. We watched everyone on the beach, had a small BBQ and watched the lame fireworks.

Here is IB on the Fourth...

I just loved being there.

Well, three more days and I am back in Japan...wow, time flies.

I almost didn't remember, but last night I decided to check out the beach bars for the first time this summer. I did the same thing last year on my first night in the Zushi apartment, so the context helped me to figure it out. So, I had another beer to celebrate. It was nice.

It is rare to see Mt. Fuji in the summer, but there has been strong off shore winds to blow all the pollution away. As you can see, the snowpack is mostly melted, so it is time to be thinking about hiking up the mountain.

I took yesterday off from surfing and puttered around the house. Even thought I have been getting a lot of sleep, I have been waking up sluggish the last few days, which I blame on the weather. Not that I have to blame anything. In any case, I am feeling more normal today.

Last night, there was an absolutely fantastic thunder storm. I turned out all the lights in my apartment and for an hour or so watched the lightning flash. It was so close that you could not only hear, but feel, the thunder. That was cool.

The end of rainy season is the beginning of summer, and that is not confusing. Around July 20th, it gets super hot and humid and stays that way for two months. That sucks if you live and work in Tokyo, but the hot weather also means onshore winds by the beach, so in Zushi it is much more bearable.

And if you get too hot, there are always the beach bars, which I have mentioned a million times on this blog. They open in two days, in case you were wondering. By some amazing bit of luck, Zushi beach bars open two weeks before the rest of the beaches in the area. So, come on down if you have time. I am heading off to San Diego in two weeks, so you better hurry.

Here is someone surfing in Shichirigahama...

I think today was my best day surfing ever. Of course, I fell a lot, but I also had a lot of good rides. Yesterday's waves were better, I think, but we went to Kugenuma and it was so crowded that you could not really do anything but go straight ahead. That place is going to suck once the beach bars open.

Anyway, another week is done. Woo hoo...