Dreams and the future

So I learned something today, it really sunk in.  Sometimes what you dream of is a lot harder to get then you think.  Its a lot of work to make your own headway.  Today was one of those days where a 9-5 job really felt appealing.  Now at night I am relaxing again a little, just enough to right out my current mindset, but it really is a much simpler life working set hours and to someone else's drum.  boring as heck and sometimes frustratingly boring, but way less complicated.

Making the game

So it's been forever since I started writing blogs.  So what's happened to me since the last time I wrote about myself?  The good, I left my old job and started my own(well partnership) video game studio, Red Meat Games!  Its still a baby company but we have two products officially released, which is kinda cool!  I met an awesome stalker lady, who has become one of my favorite people of all time (we have been dating for almost 2 years now!)

Still trying to work out and getting back into eating responsibly.  I let myself go a bit and gained 30+ lbs. but luckily I have started losing that weight again and I am down 10lbs again. Ah the constant struggle!

Apparently not exercising and eating takeout makes you get fat!  Luckily I started ramping up my routines again, unfortunately I hurt my wrist so I cannot lift weights or do push-ups, but I increased my walks to about 2 hours a day now instead of 1.

How do you like me now?

So in 2009 I weighted in at 258lbs, I ate 4 whoppers 4 fries and a serving of onion rings in a single sitting.  At that time I really liked my life, I thought I was attractive, but in 2010 I decided I wanted to upgrade my life style and turn my life of something I really liked into something that I would love. Making myself look on the outside as how I saw myself on the inside was a big step in this direction.   The first step of this plan actually came about because of an injury!  

I hurt myself salsa dancing and broke my heel.   I hated being immobile and I wanted to train, do something that did not involve my foot.  That's when  my friend and cousin of Rob told me in May 2010 about a new program that Rob and Andy were starting.  The Ripped in 42 program.  I messaged Rob about the program, and listed all the things I did not want to do and all the excuses I could muster so I  could cake walk through the course but feel good about myself.   Rob return message was "Man you sound like a pussy, I do not think you can handle my class." .........WTF! was my first thought, mother fucker was the second.  

 I hate being told what I cannot accomplish, it fills me with rage and it makes me put twice as much effort into a goal just so I can show the nay sayer up.   Now Rob met me before hand at a few parties, and he figured me out pretty easily, these days you could say he was trolling me.  He gave me bait and I took a big fucking bite out of that bait and swallowed it whole.  Thank God!  After pushing myself I lost 31lbs in my phase 1  of Ripped in 42 to make sure Rob would eat those words (not the best reason but it worked!).  

I am sure everyone who has finished this phase have all felt the same...I can do this, I am a monster, hear me roar!  30 lbs was my goal and I beat it, slowly after the course of the last (almost 2 years) I fought with myself moving two steps forward and one step back. I lost an additional 20 lbs after my first run of phase 1 and I felt, I did enough, so I stopped exercising properly, stopped eating properly and gained 15lbs back...WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? My blood sweat and tears and loss of sleep, I literally woke up one day realizing what the fuck idiot all that hard work and I am going to give up? 

Luckily I did smarten up and I rejoined last fall and took back my life from my fall and today I am happy to say that I weighted in at 170lbs almost 90lbs lighter (105 if you count the stupid time) then when I woke up from a haze of super lazy excuses and 22lbs lighter then my high school weight!  I want to tell all of you that if you have a goal, then you can meet it, it is not easy, it takes work. but If I could (and did) beat my physical demons, then everyone at HW can. We all use the same tools, its just up to us to wake up our minds and fully use them.   I want to say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart to all the people who helped me come this far, Rob, Andy, Jill, Colin, you have an amazing crew and I am proud two have trained with you all and I will continue to do this.  90lbs gone...pish  that's yesterdays news, now its time to start this new life with new goals.

Welcome to my new life day 1, time to work! 

I think the below song by The Heavy will be my theme music for 2012 

Land of the Rising Sun part two

So I know it has been quite awhile since I posted part 1 (well since I posted anything really) So I am sorry for that but here it goes ;)


Were was I? Oh yes, how could anything be better then my first week?  Well I was pleasantly surprised.  After we stopped in the amazing town of Nikko we headed further North into the city of Sendai.  I ate the local delicacies of BBQ cow tongue which was really tasty, and spent the night with some wonderful people just enjoying the city sights, after our small overnight stay our small group split off again to head to different parts of Japan.  Some people had jobs and such to return to.  


My sister and I along with another friend headed to Ishinomaki  where we met up with some of my sisters former  English students, and what a great time we had.  From traveling to mystical island temple to wash money and play with wild deer who inhabited the temple, to spending a night singing karaoke in a small local bar with Japanese senior citizens who would make most western youth lazy by comparison.  I had another wonderful week of exposure to life in Japan from a "small" town point of view.  These wonderful people became more then just our hosts or friends and became our Japanese parents.  From asking the young ladies in the bank if they wanted to marry me (this was really funny) to surfing waves our boat flew over our Japanese parents showed energy, and a zest for life I found amazing. 


After a week spent in the North of Japan, we had to say our farewells to the many friends we made and started our new journey to Southern Japan.  



Now let's get this strait, everywhere I went in Japan was amazing, and I could not believe that as I headed South towards the city of Kyoto that it would still get better! First stop "HOLY COW!" The life size 1:1 scale Gundam in Shizouka!  I had an understanding of how Japanese loved manga and art and animation and revered them almost as much Greeks love their Mythology.  But when we mentioned to our friends family at the dinner table that we wanted to see the Gundam which we could see from the train station in the distance, everyone including our friends parents where excited to talk about it.  Our friends mom even asked if she could go as well! It was amazing to me to see things I loved being treated with so much respect and awe, where here in Newfoundland or Greece, people would just comment about it as just a cartoon as opposed to art. 


After we saw the Gundam it was time to lift our bags and continue on our way to Kyoto....Wow, if I wanted to live anywhere in Japan (which I actually do) I wanted to live in Kyoto.  What a beautiful city, a mix of the modern with the historical, a real live place of fantasy.   Leaving the subway terminal to meet with our local friend Fukachan (XOXO) we found ourselves surrounded  by samurai's, princesses and various soldiers of all sorts, marching through the city streets in a parade.  It was so amazing!   We met with another new friend who had the brilliant idea the following day, to experience the city on rented pedal bikes traveling from temple to temple (thanks Akari XOXO!).  A quick funny note.  After almost three weeks of eating with chopsticks we had dinner at an Italian restaurant and both my sister and I could barely use a fork..they felt really odd in our hands.   


The following days we attended the Fire festival,  met with even more friends from the SWY and visited the Manga Museum, and hike though the city at night! Ate with ninjas (themed restaurant) and I went shopping in a district of Kyoto that was a shopping district for over 500 years! I am Greek so I have been in old buildings and areas waaay older, but this shopping district wasn't a tourist attraction, it was what it was for the last 500 years...just think about that. People where shopping there, doing the exact same thing, trading and selling from almost 270 years before the USA or Canada where even countries!!! It blew me away!


OK I flew across the world to get to Japan, I had super busy days consistently and I also ran every morning, but near the end of  my trip I was starting to feel it.   My sister and I had a few days left and we where going to visit more of her friend's in Osaka but honestly I had no idea what was going on this day, I was exhausted. I am not sure how we got there but on that dark day, I found myself on a table being electrocuted and massaged.  Wow that was the exact thing I needed when I needed it! Talk about being refreshed! Her friend we ended up meeting was Yui and he owned his own massage clinic. What a treat! which paled in comparison to meeting his family and having a fun time shouting "HONDA!" with his son. That night ended with us traveling to the outskirts of Osaka and staying with her friend Yuka.  


Osaka was also brilliantly beautiful, with Japans largest lake and many more castles, we went adventuring again, but this time with Yuka and her younger brother Kunitomo and bumped into our old traveling buddies Mark and Shino!  From dressing up as a Kendo warrior, to experiencing the breath taking views of the local castles the last few days in Japan where just as equally amazing as the first few days...sadly after three weeks, it was time for us to board our final train back to Tokyo and leave on a jet plane back to Newfoundland Canada.     

So many more amazing things happened while I was there, spiritually, emotionally and physically which I just do not want to write about and just keep them as personal treasures for myself.  I will always have a deep rooted love for Japan, and I hope someday I can make a viable living there or as a minimum return trip.  I cannot believe that its already been over a year since that wonderful adventure took place.  Like the name says, I will make sure to travel more and as much as I can.


Cheers,


TheSpartanTraveler

TheSpartanVacationer?

 Hey guys, ok ok I know I was suppose to be posting part 2 to being reborn in Japan. but I had to post this video link of me first.  I am applying for the super awesome job of being the next Transat Vacationer!  Watch the video and let me know what you think!

Reborn! Land of the Rising Sun, Part 1

 Hi everyone!  My name is Christo Stassis and earlier this year I was asked by my sister a simple question. “Hey bro, would you be interested in traveling to Japan with me in October? “ Now for the briefest of moments I thought of expenses, duties, work and a whole slew of things that would normally make me say no. after that brief thought and a little bit of luck, I responded to my sister “That sounds awesome, it’s a plan!”
What a life changing simple plan that was. I always wanted to go to Japan ever since I was a very young age, for me it was not just a place to visit but a place in books, and my dreams.  Something similar to “The land of OZ” a mystical place of samurai warriors, large robots, and sushi.  I am not sure of how many excuses I used in my adult years to give myself reasons not to go, but I was finally ready to move forward in my life.  Now don't get me wrong, I really like my current life overall as a whole, good job, family and friends. However earlier this year I realized something, really liking my life just isn’t going to cut it for me anymore. I am ready to love my life.

First off, I always thought of myself as a pretty attractive guy, however I was overweight and no matter how pretty I felt inside, when I looked in the mirror I clearly saw the 5’7, 258lb man staring back at me. If I was going to visit the land in my dreams then I needed to make my physical self match my inner self. I joined a workout program called ripped in 42 days, and changed my diet to a much healthier one. I pushed myself, losing a total of 31 lbs during the programs time period, and after the program was over I continued to push myself and continued to get healthier.  I am now proud to say that after losing a total of 68 lbs, I now look outside as I feel inside.

The next stage was the actual traveling to Japan. Like I said earlier, traveling to Japan has been a lifelong dream, but to get there I first needed to take care of a few reality problems. The first was who would take care of my pets? The second can I afford this? Third, can I take the time off work? After solving all these issues with the help of family and small term loans, finally this year I was able to realize that dream. What I did not expect was how much this trip would change me on a mental and spiritual level, and of how much traveling there would exceed all my dreams.

OK the reason my sister asked me to go to Japan this year was because she was returning to Japan for a 10 year reunion with the 13th members of The Ship for World Youth program. I was to meet her in Tokyo for the first day, and then travel the country together while staying at her various friends’ homes (mainly alumni from the ship). This instantly made the trip a wonderful experience. The people that attend the ship are already amazing as they are selected by applications to join the program; the people that attended the reunion are the ones that are truly even more exceptional.  Race, countries, distance, language, costs, where no obstacle’s for these people to come together. These people were family, and I was honoured to be so easily accepted and treated as one of their own. I am now proud to say that I did not go visit my sister's friends in Japan; I went to visit my friends.  From this one small reunion, I now have friends from across the globe!  Listening to their stories, experiences and then taking part in an adventure throughout Japan with these people awoke a longing in me to continue to explore, to continue to adventure and to just live life to its fullest. I was bitten by the travel bug.

In that first week in Tokyo I spent the days traveling by subway, seeing and experiencing the different sections of the city. Each day was filled morning to night with new sensations, foods, customs and memories. Ever have a day that was so busy, that in your mind’s eye you felt like it was multiple days? Every day was like that for me.

I experienced so many wonderful things that it would take me a trilogy of books to write about.  A few items that stand out just from my first week in Tokyo however would be, taking a class of traditional Taekwondo from true Korean masters.  I Wandered through Ueno Park, and the nearby Ameyayoko-cho shopping district and my first experience at a Japanese karaoke bar.  On top of all this I also met 50’ish members of the SWY 13 participants and made many new wonderful friends.   

After the first week, I thought “how could this vacation even get better?  I must have hit the plateau and the next few weeks I am sure everything will start to get dull”.  How pleasantly wrong I was! After a first wonderful week in Tokyo, it was time for us to head North with our first stop being Nikko.  In Nikko my sister, a few friends from the ship and I all visited the Toshogu shrine. This shrine hosts many famous carvings including the famous three monkeys who depict the proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.  After a very full day of hiking the shrines sites we were ready to head farther north, towards the city of Sendai.